KVR Audio

Gadnnr · Post by **Gadnnr** » Thu Mar 16, 2023 4:32 pm

I need a go-to limiter since my daw's default limiter was quite lacking to match my needed loudness and started distorting pretty fast compared to the reference tracks, even after I paid a lot more attention to the dynamics of the instruments.
But my maximum budget is $60... I'm kinda broke.

So I researched a bit and made a list of the limiters inside my budget:

Waves L2
TDR Limiter 6 GE
bx_limiter True Peak
Toneboosters Barricade

Which one would you recommend? If you have other recommendations, please tell me. More control is better since I'll be squashing the track quite a bit..

Thanks!

El°HYM · Post by **El°HYM** » Thu Mar 16, 2023 4:38 pm

I would actually recommend LVC - Limited-Z, there is also a free version of it, if I remember right. Other than that, Limiter 6 is on Sale @ Audiodeluxe and Barricade is also a good choice for the price.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Mar 16, 2023 4:41 pm

I can only speak for the Waves L2 from that list, but I actually like that one a lot because I find that it often gives me great results with very little fussing about. My go-to is Fabfilter Pro-L (and sometimes the Ozone limiter), but sometimes I'll throw L2 on for comparison, start pulling the threshold down, and go, Oh, that's the result I wanted right there.

jethrobull · Post by **jethrobull** » Thu Mar 16, 2023 4:51 pm

Easy .. TDR Limiter 6 GE!
It's an insanely powerful set of tools.
Quality software that's worth well above it's asking price.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Thu Mar 16, 2023 7:53 pm

Out of that lot I'd go for TDR too. You get a good limiter and clipper and compressor plus other stuff, which adds up to way more squashing potential than just a limiter on its own. And TDR is good stuff.

Having said that a good tip would be to check out what multiband up/down compressors are available on the market. Can't remember the name, but one was advertised here recently, and it wasn't particularly expensive IIRC. Check the recent FX forum. I use Squasher in Cubase, which is a fuller-featured and far better/easier to use option than OTT. You can get insane amounts of loudness on these things without the ceiling of distortion you'll get with any limiter (which by definition IS distortion). And then if you want silly loudness levels you can use a limiter after the multiband, and your stock DAW one would suffice because you won't have to crank it up as much.

For pure loudness a multiband up/down comp is far more effective than a limiter. As to whether silly loudness levels actually improve your tracks is another debate.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Thu Mar 16, 2023 7:55 pm

EDIT...of course you can check out OTT itself, which is a freebie. The GUI was biggerized recently, but I still find it painful to use. Other options are easier to use.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Thu Mar 16, 2023 8:11 pm

I just checked back in the FX forum - it's OxyOTT. Going back to page 4 (sorry, can't link it here...I'm on my tablet). Price is bang on your range, though that might have been an intro offer. I like its GUI, very well laid out and very similar to Squasher. Dunno if there's a demo? If there is try it out - they'll likely have some presets which will no doubt include showcase mega-song-squashing mode. Which will steer you away from limiters instantly.

El°HYM · Post by **El°HYM** » Thu Mar 16, 2023 8:16 pm

Forgot to mention, there is also still the original VladG Limiter N°6 available.
https://www.tokyodawn.net/vladg-limiter-n6

Gadnnr · Post by **Gadnnr** » Fri Mar 17, 2023 5:22 am

Thanks everyone! I'll gor for the TDR one!

adl · Post by **adl** » Fri Mar 17, 2023 5:30 am

Gadnnr wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 5:22 am Thanks everyone! I'll gor for the TDR one!

If you want to safe some bucks even on that, try to get it second hand check the marketplace here at kvraudio, I think someone is selling it for 20. Of course there's always a risk getting scammed, so make sure to check the name of the seller in the dedicated feedback thread, if he has sold without a problem things before, usually there's some feedback there. I usually get all my vst licenses second hand here at the marketplace or at other vst selling places. You'll get the license transferred, so it's a legit version of course.

El°HYM · Post by **El°HYM** » Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:20 am

Or just get it from here, for 29 bucks.
https://www.audiodeluxe.com/products/au ... miter-6-ge

e@rs · Post by **e@rs** » Fri Mar 17, 2023 11:45 am

TDR Limiter 6 GE is a great choice, but I think you should also demo DMGAudio TrackLimit.

liquidsound · Post by **liquidsound** » Fri Mar 17, 2023 12:14 pm

Voxengo EBusLim

ramseysounds · Post by **ramseysounds** » Fri Mar 17, 2023 7:26 pm

Waves L2 lives on my stereo buss

Songwriter101 · Post by **Songwriter101** » Fri Mar 17, 2023 7:48 pm

LoudMax is free and works great and is very easy to use.

Try the demo of Barricade out and set the attack to 40-50ms and release to 20-40ms. If the attack is too low you'll get a choked sound and that was the reason why I didn't gel with barricade at first.

Which budget limiter should I get?