I took most of the compressors out of my mix and replaced them with
limiters and to my ears it sounds better. Am I taking crazy pills or
something??? I'm referring to Waves C1, R-Comp and L1 units. Anyone care to
comment on when to use one vs. the other??? Is it OK to have limiters
inserted literally on every single track, and the main mix???

Thanks,

J

J wrote:
I took most of the compressors out of my mix and replaced them with
limiters and to my ears it sounds better. Am I taking crazy pills or
something??? I'm referring to Waves C1, R-Comp and L1 units. Anyone care to
comment on when to use one vs. the other??? Is it OK to have limiters
inserted literally on every single track, and the main mix???

If what you want is limiting, a limiter is a good idea. If what you want is
compression, a compression is a better idea.

What if you took the limiters AND the compressors out of your mix? It might
sound even better.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I took most of the compressors out of my mix and replaced them with
limiters and to my ears it sounds better. Am I taking crazy pills or
something???

Given that a compressor & a limiter are the same thing (with the controls set
differently) I'd say you're not really taking crazy pills, but just finding out
that you've compressed things at too low a threshold in the past.


Scott Fraser

In article 36,
J wrote:

I took most of the compressors out of my mix and replaced them with
limiters and to my ears it sounds better. Am I taking crazy pills or
something??? I'm referring to Waves C1, R-Comp and L1 units. Anyone care to
comment on when to use one vs. the other??? Is it OK to have limiters
inserted literally on every single track, and the main mix???

Thanks,

J


I'm a fan of using limiting because it leaves the amplitude relationships alone
until a relatively high threshold level is crossed, allowing the sounds to
retain more of their original character. To get a comparable amount of dynamic
range reduction with a compressor, you would have to set a lower threshold and
alter more of the low-amplitude relationships. I find that limiters result in a
more open, dynamic sound but with the advantages of reduced overall dynamic
range.

Of course, there are also times when a compressor is what you want.

-Jay
--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ------x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x-------- http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/~jay/ ----------x

"Jay Kadis" wrote in message
...
I'm a fan of using limiting because it leaves the amplitude relationships
alone
until a relatively high threshold level is crossed, allowing the sounds to
retain more of their original character. To get a comparable amount of
dynamic
range reduction with a compressor, you would have to set a lower threshold
and
alter more of the low-amplitude relationships. I find that limiters
result in a
more open, dynamic sound but with the advantages of reduced overall
dynamic
range.

Of course, there are also times when a compressor is what you want.


Umm, why would one have to set a lower threshold for a compressor if he'd
want it to act like a limiter?

Just set a high ratio and adjust the make-up gain..I must be missing
something here.

"ScotFraser" wrote in message


I took most of the compressors out of my mix and replaced them with
limiters and to my ears it sounds better. Am I taking crazy pills or
something???

Given that a compressor & a limiter are the same thing (with the
controls set differently)

Point taken. A limiter is a compressor fast response and massive amounts of
gain reduction above the threshold point.

I'd say you're not really taking crazy
pills, but just finding out that you've compressed things at too low
a threshold in the past.

Seems reasonable. If you set the threshold too low, gain reduction is
happening all the time, not just on the peaks. IOW, the effect is not too
dissimilar from simply turning down the gain.

In article ,
"Tommi" wrote:

"Jay Kadis" wrote in message
...
I'm a fan of using limiting because it leaves the amplitude relationships
alone
until a relatively high threshold level is crossed, allowing the sounds to
retain more of their original character. To get a comparable amount of
dynamic
range reduction with a compressor, you would have to set a lower threshold
and
alter more of the low-amplitude relationships. I find that limiters
result in a
more open, dynamic sound but with the advantages of reduced overall
dynamic
range.

Of course, there are also times when a compressor is what you want.


Umm, why would one have to set a lower threshold for a compressor if he'd
want it to act like a limiter?

Just set a high ratio and adjust the make-up gain..I must be missing
something here.




To get the same amount of dynamic range reduction with a lower ratio (as in
compression), you need to set the threshold lower as well. If you set a high
ratio, you're limiting.

-Jay
--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ------x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x-------- http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/~jay/ ----------x

"Jay Kadis" wrote in message
...
To get the same amount of dynamic range reduction with a lower ratio (as
in
compression), you need to set the threshold lower as well. If you set a
high
ratio, you're limiting.


Obviously, I just thought you meant something deeper.