Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Friday Tips: The Limiter-Demystified

29/03/2019

Conventional wisdom says that compared to compression, limiting is a less sophisticated type of dynamics control whose main use is to restrict dynamic range to prevent issues like overloading of subsequent stages. However, I sometimes prefer limiting with particular signal sources. For example:

For mixed drum loops, limiting can bring up the room sound without having an overly negative effect on the drum attacks.

With vocals, I often use a limiter prior to compression. By doing the heavy lifting of limiting peaks, the subsequent compressor doesn't have to work so hard, and can do what it does best.

When used with slightly detuned synth patches, limiting preserves the characteristic flanging/chorusing-like sound, while keeping the occasional peaks under control.

Limiting is useful when following synth sounds with resonant filters, or with instruments going through wah or autofilter effects

THE E-Z LIMITER

Some limiters (especially some vintage types) are easy to use, almost by definition: One control sets the amount of limiting, and another sets the output level. But Studio One's limiter has four main controls-Input, Ceiling, Threshold, and Release-and the first three interact.

If the Studio One Limiter looked like Fig. 1, it would still take care of most of your needs. In fact, many vintage limiters don't go much beyond this in terms of functionality.

Figure 1: If Studio One's Limiter had an Easy Mode button, the result would look something like this.

To do basic limiting:

Load the Limiter's default preset.

Turn up the input for the desired limiting effect. The Reduction meter shows the amount of gain reduction needed to keep the output at the level set by the Threshold control (in this case, -1.00 dB). For example, if the input signal peaks at 0 dB and you turn up the Input control to 6 dB, the Limiter will apply 7 dB of gain reduction to keep the Limiter output at -1.00.

Note that in this particular limiting application, the Threshold also determines the maximum output level.

THE SOFT CLIP BUTTON

When you set Threshold to a specific value, like 0.00 dB, then no matter how much you turn up the Limiter's Input control, the output level won't exceed 0.00 dB. However, you have two options of how to do this.

With Soft Clip off, gain reduction alone prevents the waveform from exceeding the ceiling.

With Soft Clip on, clipping the peaks supplements the gain reduction process to keep the waveform from exceeding the ceiling (Fig. 2).

Figure 2: The left screen shot shows the waveform with the input 6 dB above the Threshold, and Soft Clip off. The right screen shows the same waveform and levels, but with Soft Clip turned on. Note how the waveform peak is flattened somewhat due to the mild saturation.

While it may sound crazy to want to introduce distortion, in many cases you'll find you won't hear the effects of saturation, and you'll have a hotter output signal.

ENTER THE CEILING

There are two main ways to set the maximum output level:

With the Threshold set to 0.00, set the maximum output level with the Ceiling control (from 0 to -12 dB).

With the Ceiling set to 0.00, set the maximum output level with the Threshold control (from 0 to -12 Db).

It's also possible to set maximum output levels below -12.00 dB. Turn either the Ceiling or Threshold control all the way counter-clockwise to -12.00 dB, then turn down the other control to lower the maximum output level. With both controls fully counter-clockwise, the maximum output level can be as low as -24 dB.

SMOOTHING THE TRANSITION INTO LIMITING

Setting the Ceiling lower than the Threshold is a special case, which allows smoothing the transition into limiting somewhat. Under this condition, the Limiter applies soft-knee compression as the input transitions from below the threshold level to above it.

For example, suppose the Ceiling is 0.00 dB and the Threshold is -6.00 dB. As you turn up the input, you would expect that the output would be the same as the input until the input reaches around -6 dB, at which point the output would be clamped to that level. However in this case, soft-knee compression starts occurring a few dB below -6.00 dB, and the actual limiting to -6.00 dB doesn't occur until the input is a few dB above -6.00 dB.

The tradeoff for smoothing this transition somewhat is that the Threshold needs to be set below 0.00. In this example, the maximum output is -6.00 dB. If you want to bring it up to 0.00 dB, then you'll need to add makeup gain using Mixtool module.

Studio One's Limiter is a highly versatile signal processor, so don't automatically ignore it in favor of the Compressor or Multiband Dynamics-with some audio material, it could be exactly what you need.
LINK: http://blog.presonus.com/index.php/2019/03/29/friday-tips-limiter-demy...
See more stories from presonus

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

29/05/2026

InfoComm 2026: NDI Demos NDI 6.3, Hands-On Presentation About Educational Integrations

With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...

29/05/2026

Bell Media Inks New Long-Term Media Rights Deal for Broadcast, Streaming of the Canadian Football League

Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...

29/05/2026

Spring 2026 TV Survey: Vertical Live Matters. The Bigger Story Is Context

Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format Ring Digital's Sprin...

29/05/2026

Germanys Berliner Ensemble Bolsters Backstage Infrastructure With Riedel Stage Systems

Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...

29/05/2026

InfoComm 2026: Solid State Logic Spotlights TCA Tour, Live V6.2 Software, New SSL Live Trade-in Program

Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...

29/05/2026

Gerald Jerry Pierce, Architect of Modern Digital Cinema, Passes Away at Age 73

Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...

29/05/2026

CBS Sports Becomes New Home of Barclays Women's Super League Thorough 2029-2030

Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...

29/05/2026

Calrec Scales ImPulseV to Empower Broadcasters With Greater Choice in Virtualized Workflows

Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...

29/05/2026

Switzerlands Canal Alpha Streamlines Playout to Delivery With Harmonic

Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...

29/05/2026

InfoComm 2026: PTZOptics Showcases Intelligent Video Ecosystem

PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...

29/05/2026

Arizona's Family Sports Debuts Direct-to-Consumer Streaming App

Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...

29/05/2026

DAZN Brings The Canadian Football Leagues Saturday Night Football to the Masses in New Media Rights Deal

Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...

29/05/2026

Comcast Business Supports Advanced Technology Infrastructure at Levi's Stadium for Fan Experience, Venue Operations

Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...

29/05/2026

College Sports-Production Community Gathers in Atlanta for 2026 SVG College Summit

In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...

29/05/2026

TBT Reaches Two-Year Extension With FOX Sports for New-Look $2 Million Tournament

The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...

29/05/2026

Roku Expands Premium Subscriptions Experience with FOX One

Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...

29/05/2026

CBS Sports UEFA Champions League Today Studio Show Heads Budapest for Final as Transcontinental Popularity Grows

In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...

29/05/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBA, NHL Playoffs and Indy 500 Photo Finish Power a Record-Setting Week

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...

29/05/2026

Your Summer 2026 Soundtrack? Spotify's Predictions Are In

The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...

29/05/2026

Akai Pro unveil the MPC Live III Retro

New retro-inspired MPC announced There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...

29/05/2026

Bjooks Beat Gems Kickstarter continues

Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...

29/05/2026

Genelec update Aural ID

Binaural monitoring application improved Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...

29/05/2026

IMSTA FESTA 2026

6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...

29/05/2026

Remembering Gerald Jerry Pierce, Architect of Modern Digital Cinema

Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...

29/05/2026

Roku Unveils Redesigned TV Home Screen

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

Sinclair and AMP Sports to Launch Style of Play' Podcast

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

TV Pharma Ads Are Getting Longer, VAB Says

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality

Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality Kate Luvis May 29, 2026 0 Comments Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...

29/05/2026

Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton May 29, 2026 0 Comments Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...

29/05/2026

FCC Reminds Broadcasters of Their Public Interest Obligations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

Roku Unveils New TV Home Screen

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

Sinclair and AMP Sports Announce New 'Style of Play' Podcast

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

Study: YouTube Leads Global Streaming Ad Growth

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

TV Pharma Ads Are Getting Longer, According to VAB

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration

At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...

29/05/2026

Audiences Are Everywhere. Your Ad Strategy Should Be Too.

Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...

29/05/2026

Rosie Jones's Disability Comedy Extravaganza returns with another new lineup of eight comics

Youtube exclusive special drops today Watch now UKTV today announces another e...

29/05/2026

The Official Trailer of 'Physical 100' Italy, on Netflix From September 11

Back to All News The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...

29/05/2026

Super Garden 2026 winner revealed

At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...

29/05/2026

May 28, 2026

Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...

28/05/2026

How Thomson's Climate Crisis Toolkit is helping journalists tell the climate story

Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...

28/05/2026

Matt Gangl and Pete Macheska on FOX MLB's Huge Night and Unforgettable Postseason Run

FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...

28/05/2026

FOX's Mike Davies and Team on Win as Outstanding Technical Team for 2025 World Series

One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...

28/05/2026

NBC Sports' Rob Hyland Reflects on an Unforgettable Sunday Night Football Season

NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...

28/05/2026

Prime Video's John Ward and Mike Francis on Groundbreaking NBA on Prime Video Studio

The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...