Limiting vs Soft Clipping

luctellier · 8th March 2007

I spent almost 4 hours so far today just doing test and comparison between Waves L2 and IK Multimedia Soft Clipper.

My conclusion, you want your mix 3, 4, 6 even 10 db louder? Use IK Multimedia Soft Clipper, set the gain knob to 10 db and play with the saturation type until you like what you hear.

IMO, Waves L2 is good but not for more than 2-3db. As soon as you push it too much, you can hear distortion...

Tomorrow I'll be testing Kjaerhus Audio's MPL1-Pro but so far the demo is really impressive!

What is your typical mastering chain?

iamproof · 12th May 2007

i'm rockin the uad1 precision limiter at the moment......i find it better than the L2/3

Krank · 12th May 2007

The MPL-1 as well as Voxengo's Elephant seem to get consistently good reviews. Please post your impression of it when you're done.

Have you been able to try out Massey's 2007 Limiter on PT?

Ravian · 12th May 2007

+1 for the uad1 precision limiter

its the best i have heard (software)

NuSkoolTone · 13th May 2007

IME I like the PL on the 2bus during mixdown, but not as much during "mastering".

Perhaps there's something I'm missing, but driving the mixbuss it keeps the punch, and driving the input during pseudo mastering gets mushy.

For ITB mastering, I've actually come to like the Timeworks mastering compressor. Waves LinMB was my previous fav.

807Recordings · 13th May 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krank

The MPL-1 as well as Voxengo's Elephant seem to get consistently good reviews. Please post your impression of it when you're done.

Have you been able to try out Massey's 2007 Limiter on PT?

The Elephant two with over sample is a great limiter. It was the first one I said might give some cheap hardware competition. Still its no top flight hardware tube job.

junior · 14th May 2007

anyone here try the nick crow plugs yet? they're free

NickCrow TubeDriver v0.76 and TubeMaximizer v0.3 - rekkerd.org

Spyrow · 14th May 2007

The best I've used is the Sony Limitator. It beats the Elephant and the Waves ones. It preserves the punch where the others have made a very flat song already, and it doesnt close/thin the song as much as the other do. Sometimes it does some kind of distorsion very weird in the highs so you can't use it, depending on your song. Nothing is perfect...

8th March 2007	#1
luctellier Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2006 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,530 Thread Starter	Limiting vs Soft Clipping I spent almost 4 hours so far today just doing test and comparison between Waves L2 and IK Multimedia Soft Clipper. My conclusion, you want your mix 3, 4, 6 even 10 db louder? Use IK Multimedia Soft Clipper, set the gain knob to 10 db and play with the saturation type until you like what you hear. IMO, Waves L2 is good but not for more than 2-3db. As soon as you push it too much, you can hear distortion... Tomorrow I'll be testing Kjaerhus Audio's MPL1-Pro but so far the demo is really impressive! What is your typical mastering chain? __________________ Official Website: http://www.luctellier.com FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/ltellier Twitter: http://twitter.com/luctellier

14th May 2007	#7
junior Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,078	anyone here try the nick crow plugs yet? they're free NickCrow TubeDriver v0.76 and TubeMaximizer v0.3 - rekkerd.org __________________ "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep"... --Scott Adams

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12th May 2007	#2
iamproof Gear Head Joined: Nov 2006 Location: London and Reading Posts: 45	i'm rockin the uad1 precision limiter at the moment......i find it better than the L2/3

12th May 2007	#3
Krank Gear maniac Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 234	The MPL-1 as well as Voxengo's Elephant seem to get consistently good reviews. Please post your impression of it when you're done. Have you been able to try out Massey's 2007 Limiter on PT?

12th May 2007	#4
Ravian Gear addict Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 435	+1 for the uad1 precision limiter its the best i have heard (software)

13th May 2007	#5
NuSkoolTone Gear addict Joined: Nov 2003 Location: NY Posts: 326	IME I like the PL on the 2bus during mixdown, but not as much during "mastering". Perhaps there's something I'm missing, but driving the mixbuss it keeps the punch, and driving the input during pseudo mastering gets mushy. For ITB mastering, I've actually come to like the Timeworks mastering compressor. Waves LinMB was my previous fav.

14th May 2007	#8
Spyrow Gear maniac Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 174	The best I've used is the Sony Limitator. It beats the Elephant and the Waves ones. It preserves the punch where the others have made a very flat song already, and it doesnt close/thin the song as much as the other do. Sometimes it does some kind of distorsion very weird in the highs so you can't use it, depending on your song. Nothing is perfect...