Mastering Problem with L2 or Mixing Problem?

[rock15478]

Hi, I am currently demo'ing the Waves Platinum Bundle and am using the L2 Plugin to make my final mixes louder. Yes, I would prefer to have a mastering engineer do the work, but the clients I have in the studio right now just want their mixes louder...and don't necessarily want them completely mastered. However, I am noticing that as I make my mixes louder, I can hear a nasty distortion type of clip. I can go fix this in the mix, but my question is....is this something I'm doing wrong with the L2 Plugin or is it something I never noticed wrong in the mix until at a louder volume? It doesn't clip the master fader or anything...it just sounds nasty. The way I've been using the L2 Plugin is simply by dragging the threshold and ceiling knobs down until limiting occurs...and then dragging the ceiling back up as loudness. Can anyone help me? Thanks

[Ducky]

There are instances where the L2 simply doesn't work. You shouldn't attenuate more than 6db if you can help it. Also, you may need to play with the release setting.

There are a couple of other things you might be able to quickly do:

See if you have an EQ on a track that is doing some serious attentuation. You might be creating the 'chirp' on that track which L2 is bringing up. If you have a spectrum analyser (INspector XL?), you might be able to find the culprit on an individual track.

It might be a compressor somewhere that is to fast. Again, analyse each track.

You may have some serious phasing problems on a few of the effects tracks... This takes a little more analysing but you will probably need to check this anyway.

All of these things can really drive the L2 nuts. In general, the L2 will work fine. I have problems with the L2 when I have long sustained notes with lush reverbs that the L2 tries to attenuate, even as little as 3db.

One fix I found works like a charm... Use the L1 on individual audio tracks (before ANY effects or EQ) to do the bulk of the limiting. Then use the L2 for a maximum attenuation of 3db.

[lwilliam]

"Nasty distortion" sounds like a digital "over". Are you sure you're not getting too hot a level into the master fader? One or more channels may also be getting overs.

When I run the L2, I generally reduce the output level to about -.2 or -.3 db. Then the threshhold should be brought down gradually until you get a few dbs of limiting. You should not be able to hear any distortion with that.

[Ben B]

The distortion you're hearing is intrinsic to agressive limiting. There are a couple of things you can do to help:

1. Filter out extreme low bass using a high-pass filter somewhere in the mastering chain ahead of the limiter.
2. Increase the release time as much as the material will tolerate.
3. Use more flattering processors to increase the average level of your signal, thus not needing to rely solely on the limiter for this purpose.

I find that the McDSP Analog Channel 2 is highly effective for #3 above, as are more gentle forms of compressors earlier on in the mastering chain. In other words, the less your limiter has to do, the better. Another (though much maligned) solution is to use the soft clipping stage of T-Racks, which will get your mix much louder than most of the limiters out there, with far less ditortion. Try it with an open mind -- I bet you'll like it. (BTW - I personally find this to be the only real useful feature of T-racks - the soft clipper, specifically.)

Beyond this, certain EQ techniques can give the impression of more apparent loudness, such as gentle midrange boosts, presence range boosts, and sometimes low bass cuts (which not only reduce distortion in compressors and limiters, but also help your power amps and speakers work more efficiently).

Best of luck,
Ben B