Voxengo Elephant vs Toneboosters Barricade

[Jorock]

bump as I am also curious

[Beatworld]

Don't have Elephant......

But I have FF Pro-L, Sonnox (and a few more).

Just trying the AU demo of Barricade and have to say it is VERY impressive.

(and so is TB ReelBuss..)

[CassidyGT]

I have only tried Elephant of the two, but IMHO it's as good as Sonnox. I know this doesn't answer your question. But in terms of quality it's first rate.

[djanthonyw]

Demoed it. It's good, but it doesn't handle the low end as good as Elephant or Pro-L.

[Beatworld]

Originally Posted by djanthonyw

Demoed it. It's good, but it doesn't handle the low end as good as Elephant or Pro-L.

Could you explain this observation in a little more detail please.

[djanthonyw]

Originally Posted by Beatworld

Could you explain this observation in a little more detail please.

I find that the lowed and doesn't stay as punchy, at least not with house music.

[Beatworld]

Originally Posted by djanthonyw

I find that the lowed and doesn't stay as punchy, at least not with house music.

I see.I haven't tried any house music.

Have you tried cranking the Auto Saturate in Barricade?

As an over the top test try adding 20 DB of gain in Pro-L.
Not surprisingly there is eventually nasty distortion.
Not digital clipping but over the top saturation.

Try that in Barricade with some Auto Saturate and the sound remains relatively clean.

[Aiyn Zahav]

I am also curious about how Barricade compares to Slate FG-X. It really interests me.

[andow]

Why not decide for yourself? As far as I can remember both offer a non time limited demo version!

[TNM]

i really like barricade, so much that it may become my go to! Funny how a 15 euro product has topped the other limiters for me!

[Tatsu]

Barricade is a great limiter plugin. I didn't feel such a need to compare it to other limiters when I bought it. It's surprisingly affordable and no brainer.

[Sailor Hope]

TB Barricade VS Flux Elixir?

Anyone know if there is a actual difference ?

[Beatworld]

Originally Posted by Sailor Hope

TB Barricade VS Flux Elixir?

Anyone know if there is a actual difference ?

I have the demo of Elixir at the moment.

The simple answer is that Elixir more than holds its own with every limiter I've either got (Pro-L, Sonnox, Barricade, ADClip2, L1) or are currently trying demos of (Xenon and Elephant).

I've noticed with Elixir that using multiple limiter stages (instead of default 1) plus higher resolution at the same time is often detrimental to the sound - it adds distortion.

I've only just discovered that so now I've going to do some more intense final testing.
I had been "going for gold" by applying multi stages AND higher res thinking it would produce the best results - it doesn't, quite the opposite on the material I've been testing it on.

In fact it seems to me that keeping it simple by either engaging high res and keeping the stages at 1, or not engaging high res and maybe using 2 stages max produces the best results.

My current feeling is that, once tweaked correctly, Elixir could well be the pick of the bunch transparency and detail wise.

The Difference control is handy - it lets you hear exactly what is being limited in isolation.
Great if you have access to the mix as you can go back and tweak the mix to tame the peaks.

The true peak function is good although I would like to see the actual true peak levels as a read out.

One missing element in Elixir for me is no K-meters.

In summary, Elixir is VERY good once you understand the deceptively simply controls but if you are on a tight budget and don't have any good limiters Barricade is unrivalled value at EURO15.

[stinkyfingers]

here is a comparison/test for "true peak" detection/response...
i have attached a link to the source/processed files and screenshot of limiter settings...(i realize the two have different numerical release times, but the actual release "curve"/time is the same...)
the source file is a series of 7 (different) impulses, 6 have a TP value of 0 dBTP and the last one is +3.71 dBTP...
the first impulse has a sample peak, the rest are ISP...
*before/after TP measured using iZotope RX (highest interpolation order), your measurements may differ (but thats another story/thread...)
both limiters had a ceiling of -0.3 dB and +1 dB of input gain...
here are the values for the 7 peaks after limiting...(dBFS)

Barricade (ISP on)
1 = -0.55
2 = +0.49
3 = +0.10
4 = -0.20
5 = -0.07
6 = +0.18
7 = +0.47
* notice they are all over -0.3 dB except the first impulse, which had a sample peak, not an ISP...

Elephant (4x OS)
1 = -0.41
2 = -0.45
3 = -0.40
4 = -0.36
5 = -0.38
6 = -0.41
7 = -0.43
*perfect score...?

here is a link to the files > ISP limiter test
(...i can't upload here right now for some reason...)

[apoclypse]

Pro-L is my favorite out of the bunch but I just recently got the full Toneboosters pack (at those prices it was worth it) and have been using Barricade. It's pretty cool, it gets has a little bit more distortion and character than I'm used to but its cool. I haven't used Elephant yet, but I've heard good things.

[Aiyn Zahav]

Just want to say, I've had Fab Filter Pro-L for a month or so now and used it alot.

I've put it against Elephant, Sonnox Limiter, Barricade, the new Nu-gen one that just came out yesterday, the Brainworx XL, and while I love most Brainworx stuff I really did not understand this at all, I don't see how you can really use it as a limiter. It distorts so quickly.

I can't remember right now if I've put it up against anything else but I have used slate in the past.

Maybe the closest one behind it was Elphant, but in my usage the Pro-L outdoes all of them. It basically can go louder clearer than all of the above. There is very little distortion and a lot of flexibility. That is if you push it, if you don't push it seems to me to be crystal clear.

A couple of dB of reduction is great and if you want to push it it will easily do 5dB or so without artifacts. I am talking about reduction, not boost. Of course boost will be dependent on your material.

I would say if you push it you will get character and a little bit of distortion, but somehow it doesn't sound bad. It also manages to preserve bass and punch well.

I am always on the look out for something better than what I have for future consideration, I honestly don't think I've found anything better than the Pro-L. I am not even sure what "better" would mean in this case. I find with a good mix I rarely need to push the limiter for loudness, usually it just takes away from the loudness when you push limiters too much.

I have found putting the T-racks clipper just before the limiter and letting it clip between 1 dB and just a little more gives me even more loudness without destroying my (dance music) mix. But it is not always needed. It's just cool sometimes to go really loud like that.

Edit, I take back what I said about Brainworx XL. It's a really good limiter! I love the XL control and I didn't realize first time round that it has internal side-chaining! A really creative limiter.

I am still more impressed with how much you can push Pro-L and still retain your sound, but the XL is also cool because of how much it can change your sound.

You would have to decide which one you liked, but I just wanted to say I do understand XL now and it's pretty good at what it does. You can get very natural limiting from it.