Should a limiter on the master be the first thing you add before writing a track?

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I usually place a limiter once I have completed the track at the end of the mastering stage. Should the limiter be placed on the master before writing music instead? Or is this one of those questions where there is no wrong answer?

*If this is a stupid question, I apologize in advance*

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I never put anything on the master until the track/tune is finished.

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Learn to properly gain stage and you don't need limiter on master until you decide to actually master!

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CircuitTree wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:23 pm Or is this one of those questions where there is no wrong answer?
It's ultimately a personal preference. It's not uncommon to mix into a compressor, and there are some who argue against it.

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Digivolt wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:35 pm Learn to properly gain stage and you don't need limiter on master until you decide to actually master!
I recently made the switch to Ableton from Logic and I'm still getting used to the prefaders. I really like how there is a separate one by default for each plugin.

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If you're doing sound design with tools that could potentially go too loud - at the beginning.
Reaper has this track auto mute feature that prevents accidental hiccups: you do something stupid - level gets too loud - track goes mute.
Better safe than sorry, etc.

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If you don't master by yourself, don't put a limiter on the master buss.

You can run into mixing problems if you already mix against the limiter. At least, if starting with mixing/leveling I would disable the limiter and enable it again if your mix has the right balance.

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Top down mixing usually starts with some gentle eq and compression on the mix bus. As telecharge mentioned, you mix into the compress. In theory, this causes you to use less compression when mixing individual tracks.

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CircuitTree wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:23 pm *If this is a stupid question, I apologize in advance*
there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.
to that end...

fudge banana popsicle 8)


less stupid answer, im with controlcentre, i don't put anything on the master, till im done with the track.

some folk do use a limiter on the master while mixing, and it works for them. i didn't start out that way, so i just do what ive always done, because it works for me :)

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I mostly use Ableton Live, and often have an Audio Track set to Resampling input to capture a stereo audio file of anything I do in real time - for saving those magic moments that only come once. So I gain stage correctly, but have a limiter on just in case.

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I have a limiter in my master track on my starting template.
My track volume is -12dB so it's rare that anything even tickles the limiter.. But it's there just for safety.

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assuming you gain-stage properly and your whole track is around zero vu, you can either use a limiter to bring up the volume somewhere around full scale, or you can raise your physical volume control, it's either or...
or you can mix really quiet also, if you like, I guess.

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I always have a limiter in the master bus, flat, just to prevent overs.
You are currently reading my signature.

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^ This. I value my ears. It's the first item I add to any DAW template I make.

(There are such things as stupid questions but this isn't one of them)

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No from me. Relying on a master limiter during writing/mixing means I'm doing something wrong - can easily trick you into thinking your peaks aren't overshooting as much as they are. Better to just keep an eye on the meters at all points and ensure no peak clips on any instrument, to deliver the cleanest mix for mastering.

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