Master with 2 limiters?

[bonzerboy]

Ok anyone ever heard of this? I met someone told me they use 2 limiters when they master? He told me he uses the Sonnex limiter as his last in his chain then said rt be fore that he uses any other kind of limiter like l1 or l2 and some other one I never heard of. He could not explain it well but to say he gets it a little louder with out working both too hard? Has anyone ever heard of this?

[TOM@METRO]

Some swear by this.

[Jeff D.]

Sometimes you can't get all the way to the loudness you want in one limiter without too much destruction. 2 limiters that use different algorithms can sometimes do the job.

[Trak]

DMG's Limitless has it built in and its a great limiter.

[bonzerboy]

Sounds interesting for sure. I would think you have to be careful not to try to go too loud. I think that was what the guy was trying to explain using the 2 different limiters as in the algorithms. In a since using 2 limiters is like putting a super duper compressor before your final limiter.

[Emi]

Or if you want to use an analog limiter and than a brick wall just in case the analog one skips some transients...But yes, I've seen it and...why not if it accomplish the goal.

But what I really think it's important is the brick wall limiter to be true sample peak limiter, like the Avid Pro Limiter.

[amagras]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

Some swear by this.

Indeed! I for example like to use a multiband limiter followed by a single band limiter. The multiband limiter can do a more transparent work because it will reduce only the areas where there's more energy without reducing the other areas unnecessarily, then a following single band limiter doesn't have to work as much and it can be used just to catch peaks and shape the transients, especially if it's program dependant. This is only necessary if you are planning to have a large amount of gain reduction ie. a super loud master, for a clear mix aimed at the standard K14 one limiter will be as good.

[Sardi]

Like others have mentioned, it’s quite common.

We sometimes need to do this in order to reach what I would refer to as ‘silly loud masters’.

It’s also not uncommon to add clipping into the chain in conjunction with multiple limiters to get it really loud.

Personally, I’m not a fan of ridiculously loud masters, but sometimes you have to do it. For example, one of my mastering sessions last week was to master a remix for a client that was featuring on an already released EP. It was being re-released with additional remixes of the song. I wanted it to be comparable in loudness to the original so it didn’t stick out in the release, and I had to go harder than I normally would as the reference track was LOUD. Like too loud. Full of distortion and pumping. It was actually really bad sounding. I was quite shocked when I first heard it.

Long story short, I had a touch of hardware limiting, followed by some clipping and two stages of limiting, each shaving a little off a time. The result is more natural as no single process is working too hard trying to bring the level up. A coupe of dBs done right in each processor and before you know it, you have a pretty loud master.


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[arche3]

Mastering guys do this. No reason why we can't just to get a reference master for mix approval. I sometimes use slate fgx and then a 2nd brick wall limiter.

There is a good YouTube vid of Bob Katz talking about this along with AD clipping as well.

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by arche3

Mastering guys do this. No reason why we can't just to get a reference master for mix approval. I sometimes use slate fgx and then a 2nd brick wall limiter.

There is a good YouTube vid of Bob Katz talking about this along with AD clipping as well.

I always advise against it for mix approvals.

Clients get used to hearing it this way that when it does go out to mastering, you get issues.

I’ve had this in the past where someone said that the reference mixes were louder than my masters. I had no idea they were listening to SLAMMED reference mixes prior to approval. Again, full of distortion etc. but they got used it hearing it that way so it made it difficult trying to my job when you had that looming over you.


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