Limiter or Compressor?

[Fladlien]

This is a silly newbie question, but I was wondering when it is better to use a limiter than a compressor. I know there are certain applications where a limiter works better, and I have a vague idea of such appliciations, but I'd like to hear some input on the subtle issues of using a limiter instead of a compressor. Any input will be appreciated. Thanks.

[albee1952]

It depends on what you need to do to your signal. Say you have a player that is fairly even level-wise, but every once in a while he slaps his bass, or a singer seems to always spike you when he sings a word starting with the letter P. Use a limiter to catch those peaks but otherwise nat affect the sound. Now a compressor is more for evening out an inconsistant level. At the upper end of signal, the compressor "holds back" the level by the ratio amount(above threshold at 4:1, the signal would have to be 4 db hotter to get a 1 db increase in output or volume. 8 db above threshold would net a 2 db increase). Think of it like this, a compressor squeezes the dynamic range(soft to loud) into a smaller window. A limiter is more like a brick wall where the signal simply can't exceed a certain level.(hence the term "brick wall limiter"). A compressor is good for fattening up a sound while a limiter is good for preventing a digital clip. This is over-simplified but at least will get you thinking. Check out some recording technique books as many have great(and likely better) explanations.

[Chris Cavell]

Rob,

Traditionally, any compressor with a ratio setting of 10:1 or greater is considered a limiter.

Cheers,
Chris

[dissolve]

Someone told me a limiter was a compressor with a 100:1 ratio, I don't know if that's entirely accurate or not

10:1. A limiter is a compressor whos compression ration is 10:1 or higher.

One way is to think of a compressor as an envelope modifier. You can change the attack, decay, sustain and release characteristics of whatever it is you're compressing. A limiter is like a loudness button. It will chop of the transient peaks and make it sound "louder" buy raising the overall energy level.

Best thing to do is understand and learn how they work, do alot of experimenting to learn the sound, and then do alot of listening to mixes old and new to hear how they're used and how you want to use them.

I'd avoid a limiting on a Master 2-bus while mixing. Save that for the mastering stage if it's needed.