How To Use Fruity Limiter

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When I retrieve nearly how to use a limiter, I remember back to the starting time tunes I ever finished.

Happy with the mixdowns, I would blitz to upload them to Soundcloud, only to realize with horror that they lacked whatsoever loudness and punch when played correct afterwards somebody else'south runway. Sound familiar?

If so, a limiter is probable missing from your toolkit. In this guide, we'll cover everything you demand to know nearly limiters, including:

Understanding what a limiter is and how information technology interacts with sound
The main controls at your disposal when using 1
When you should (and shouldn't) use a limiter
Some of the best limiter VST plugins out there (free and paid)

Allow's jump directly in and go through what a limiter is!

Is compression disruptive you?

Go our one-page guide containing everything to assistance yous understand ratio, threshold, attack, release, and all of the compression parameters with simplicity.

What Is a Limiter?

Concepts like compression, soft clipping, and limiting can often sound confusing as a newer producer. I of the reasons is that they lack the same instantly recognizable qualities as a filibuster or a reverb.

Another reason is that they are all derivatives of the aforementioned basic concepts. Fundamentally, a limiter is a class of heavy compression, by and large associated with compression with a ratio higher up x:1 (if you need a refresher on compression, check out our Free Guide to Compression.)

It's for this reason that people are always comparison a limiter vs compressor – they perform like tasks and are based on the same processing.

The purpose of a limiter is to "limit" (genius, I know) the output book of a sound at a maximum level, called the ceiling.

Y'all can call back of a limiter as a tunnel. Whatsoever vehicle below the specified height will drive through with ease, but anything taller will become chopped off like in a Die Hard movie.

In do, limiting is ofttimes used in the mastering chain to avoid the track clipping (i.east. going above 0db) and introducing unwanted distortion.

It as well allows to maximize to overall loudness of the rails, something the immature producer in me wishes he knew earlier. This process is called brickwall limiting.

However, it can as well exist used in the mixing phase, which we will dive into afterwards.

To understand how a limiter works, let's look at the bones controls. I will be using FL Studio's stock plugin for this guide, but virtually limiters will have the same functionalities.

The Basics of Limiting

All limiters have 4 essential knobs: Ceiling, Gain, Attack, and Release. Let's go through each of these ane past one.

Fruity Limiter Controls — FL Studio Fruity Limiter

Ceiling

The ceiling determines the absolute maximum level that the limiter will output. On a mastering concatenation, this will more often than not exist set at 0 or -0.1db to avoid clipping.

When used on an musical instrument channel, yous can set the ceiling to any level that suits your needs. The important thing to recollect is that the limiter will merely be activated whenever sound peaks higher up that ceiling.

FL Studio Fruity Limiter Ceiling Knob — Ceiling (dark-green line) set at -6db

Gain

This controls the volume of input going into the limiter. By pushing the gain up while keeping a ceiling on the output, an increase in loudness can be achieved.

Printing to sound is a great fashion to come across how your sound is being candy. Below you can see how the initial signal (greenish) is outset limited to -6db (orange), and then increased in perceived volume through a gain increase of +6db (blue).

Assail

In ms. This controls how quickly the limiter responds to the input signal and limits information technology.

In Ableton, this part is called Lookahead, and although information technology is technically different from an Attack knob, it plays a similar office.

Release

In ms. This determines how long the limiter will take to cease affecting the signal once the input level is no longer above the ceiling.

Other Controls

Each limiter has its ain distinctive features. Here are some of the most common ones that yous might run into.

Audience Limiting

The FabFilter Pro-L ii (more on that i subsequently) has an Audition Limiting option that allows you to listen to the "delta" signal, i.e. the actual reduction applied to the input indicate.

Stereo Detection

A limiter with a stereo option will provide the option for the independent processing of the L and R channels.

This ways instead of treating the sound similar one mono signal, information technology will catch peaks happening on each side of the stereo field independently.

Multiband Limiting

Fancier options such as the Waves L3-LL (more on that 1 later) provide multiband limiting, setting specific ceiling levels for each frequency ring enabling a more balanced limiting event.

Loudness Metering

Metering is a visual aid telling you the overall volume of your output. Without getting into too much detail, the meter is typically measured in LUFS (Loudness Units Total Calibration) and will tell yous if your track is loud enough (or too loud) for streaming platforms.

five Applied Applications of a Limiter

Although mastering is generally thought of as the main application of a limiter, there are many other instances when you may want to use one. Let's dive into some of them.

Call back that if it sounds skillful, information technology sounds good, irrespective of if you accept used a limiter in the "proper"style.

Mastering

A limiter is one of the nearly common tools used in the mastering chain to maximize the perceived volume of the track while fugitive whatever unwanted distortion.

To attain this, the input signal is increased using the gain knob, while keeping the ceiling at -0.1db for example.

The outcome is a reduction in overall dynamics, but an increment in perceived volume. Be careful notwithstanding to not overdo it by pursuing loudness to the detriment of dynamics.

The loudness war has been a much-debated topic over the last few years, and then remember that louder doesn't always mean amend.

Song Peaks

A limiter tin can exist used to control the peaks of a signal. In the case of a vocal performance with a wide dynamic range, it can catch some of the peaks of loud notes.

Although you should by and large avert whatsoever form of heavy compression straight on a recording, gentle use of limiting can sometimes be useful (see below).

Group Double-decker Limiting

When sending multiple inputs into a bus channel, the output volume tin quickly get out of mitt.

A limiter can therefore act as a peak controller to keep things under control. Adding a bit of proceeds tin then assistance y'all bring out the quieter parts of your bus group, gluing gently the elements together and improving your overall mix.

Audio Design Safety

Less mutual but just as useful, a limiter can besides be used as a rubber mensurate.

If you're doing some crazy neurofunk sound design, you lot might desire to place a limiter at the end of your concatenation, only to make sure you don't blow your ears out inadvertently while adding your fifth OTT to the furnishings chain.

If you are experimenting with "breaking" sounds with multiple layers of baloney and EQ'ing, a limiter tin come in handy to continue the levels down and detect quirky artifacts.

Recording

Heavy pinch should by and large be avoided when recording (unless you know what yous're doing). The reason is that the loss in dynamics resulting from the compression will exist printed to sound and tin never be recovered.

However, some gentle limiting on a guitar or vocal recording tin can aid avoid the signal going "into the red" and clipping. Although it's best to avoid it in the offset identify, this is a nice second layer of safety.

Notation that if your point is constantly going over 0db during your recording, the result probably lies in your input gain beingness set besides loftier. A limiter should simply be used to grab those occasional peaks above 0db.

The Best Limiter VST Plugins (Free and Paid)

Most DAWs provide their own limiter stock plugin. Oft this pick volition suffice for whatsoever producer who wants to get more than familiar with ane.

Below is a list of some of the best costless limiter plugins, and some more advanced options.

FL Studio Fruity Limiter (Free)

FL Studio's stock limiter, which was used as a guide in this article. A great place to start, every bit is the example with a lot of other FL stock plugins.

The visual aid comes in especially handy if y'all are still new to limiting, as it shows you the verbal bear on it's having on your point.

Key Features:

Simple and intuitive graphic interface
Choice of viii set on and release curves (from firsthand to slow)
Built-in compressor which can be used for sidechaining

Learn More

Ableton Live Limiter (Free)

Despite lacking a visual interface, Ableton's stock limiter gets the chore done. Annotation that it's non available in the Lite edition of Ableton.

Primal Features:

Minimal interface
Stereo or L/R mode, enabling contained limiting for the L and R channels
Auto fashion selects the most appropriate release time past analysing the incoming betoken

Larn More than

Logic Pro Limiter (Free)

Logic's stock limiter comes with the classic clean interface you would expect from Apple.

Primal Features:

Graphic interface assuasive to encounter how much proceeds reduction is being applied
2 modes are available, Legacy and Precision (for difficult limiting)
Soft Knee option for smoother outcome

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FabFilter Pro-L 2 (Paid)

The FabFilter suite of plugins needs no introduction, with much of their offering becoming industry standards such as the Pro-Q 3 blaster.

Key Features:

Audition pick, to mind to the delta signal and hear what is being removed
Wealth of presets to cull from
8 different limiting algorithms, ranging from Punchy to Condom
Channel linking allows for contained limiting of the L and R channels

Learn More

iZotope Ozone 9 Maximizer (Paid)

Ozone's Maximizer is ane of the other normally used limiters in electronic music. It can push things loud while still sounding super clean, especially with the IRC Iv Modern setting.

Key Features:

Truthful Peak limiting to avoid inter-sample aliasing
Stereo transient and sustain linking and unlinking
Learn Threshold to target LUFS value
Character control to accommodate behaviour with just one knob

Acquire More

Waves L3-LL Multimaximizer (Paid)

The last shout goes out to Waves with its L3-LL multiband limiter. Don't be fooled by the slightly outdated interface, this one packs a dial.

Key Features:

v-band limiter, allowing for more advanced and precise results
IDR section controls the chip depth, dithering and noise shaping
ix different profiles, ranging from Loud & Proud to Farthermost Analog

Learn More

It should be noted that many other plugins could take been mentioned hither.

Considering limiting is a standard stride in the mastering chain, higher-end plugins such as the Waves Abbey Road TG often incorporate it within a whole suite of other effects.

Final words and tips

Hopefully, you will at present accept grasped the fundamentals of a limiter and how to use 1.

Earlier we let yous get, make sure to check out these last few tips and tricks to get the near out of your limiter:

Equally with nearly plugins, get-go with factory presets, and adjust based on taste
Brand sure to gain friction match your processed signal and your initial signal when you lot A/B test. Louder will often trick you into thinking it sounds better
For reasons that go beyond this guide, limiters tend to bear upon more the low-end of a betoken, so pay attending that you're not losing besides much bass
Similarly, limiting will tend to distort the high-end quicker than other regions, so pay actress attending to that area
If you find yourself needing to exercise heavy limiting in the mastering chain and some elements get over-compressed, information technology might be an indication that something needs adjusting in your mixdown

Also, equally mentioned before pinch & limiting are very similar. So grab our gratis compression cheat canvas beneath to further your agreement!

Is compression disruptive you?

Get our one-page guide containing everything to assistance you understand ratio, threshold, set on, release, and all of the pinch parameters with simplicity.

Lastly, if mastering remains a mystery for y'all (and God knows it was for me when I started), brand sure to check out our Mastering EDM guide. Make sure to likewise check out our Mixing Guide for Producers, equally a lot of what was explained here can transfer over to compression & limiting.