[JFreak]

^^ good suggestions.

However first problem was to get levels reasonably high without too noticeable distortion, so once that goal is achieved we may go to more advanced stuff.

Yes it is true that comp-->limit gives you smoother results than just a limit, because you only cut 1-3dB at a time, even if your goal is to pump it up very hard. You also get two sets of controls (slow and fast).

It is also true that putting an EQ in front of a comp/limit makes it possible to.. sculpt the frequencies that get compressed and which are not.. so it should not be regarded as EQ per se. In other words, if you want to compress your treble and leave bottom breathing (this is what is generally considered "punchy") you would place EQ before limiter and have a low-shelf filter cut the bottom frequencies so the gain reduction you see in a limiter is treble heavy.

And the mentioned Sonnox Inflator and subtle distortion is the best kept secret in the industry. With that plugin you get a lot of loudness without disturbing kind of distortion. It could cost ten times more and people would still buy it.

Sometimes after doing the dynamics you might also want to take a look at your stereo image. The more you compress the more you tend to like wider stereo image. So as you said you have Waves, try the S1 stereo imager, but there are better ones available too (such as bx_stereomaker by plugin alliance).

... and of course, if all of this is too advanced for you right now, you can always trial an iZotope Ozone which has presets that you may like and obviously are not used by pro mastering engineers.