[cowparsleyman]

Yesterday I compared a few of my limiters and I was rather surprised with the result.

These were the ones that I compared. (the price is there just to show that potentitally the best might not be the most expensive)

1. Fabfilter L2 - £150
2. IK Multimedia Stealth Limiter - £125
3. Waves L3 maximiser - £29.99
4. IK Multimedia Brickwall Limiter £50
5. Brainworx Limiter - $149
6. Sonnox Inflator - £115
7. Weiss MM1 - £90
8. Fabfilter C3 (See if it was any good at limiting) - £125
9. Aruria Compdiode 609 - $99

I'm aware theat there are some really good free limiters I think LVC Limiter Z, and maybe the stock limiters that come with your DAW's are usually a fine choice.

The song was an up tempo EDM dance track. there were compressors on various submix busses, so I didn't need anything too pronounced, as always anything on the master buss should be enhancing the whole song, by a smidgen.

My approach wasn't to try and use the same setting on each one, but to find a place where it sounded closest to what I was after.

Which one do you think really nailed what i was after? (a tangible improvement in "Danceworthiness" without just making it louder, and not obviously sacrificing dynamic range)

Well I was really surprised, it has been said you should be wary of look ahead linear phase limiters, but this sounded fantastic.

It was the IK Stealth Limiter - then it was Waves L3, notable mentions were the Sonnox (very simple and very clever) and the Arturia (all their emus are very very good) , I was surprised that the Fab filter didn't do it for me, it's a well revered product, but I'll passs this time round.

Hope this helps, and |I'd be very interested to hear what you use/recommend etc.

[Boydie]

@cowparsleyman

Interesting experiment

Big fan of the WAVES limiter here 

[cowparsleyman]

...Update

The Sonnox, with a little care on the settings, is as good as the Stealth as it retains the stereo placement very well, some (the Brainworx True peak Limiter $299) muddies it a bit, if you are using it at the mastering stage.

If you are in the market ofr a new limiter, I would try the Waves L3 out first, then the Sonnox inflator when it's on offer it's usually $138, but is often discounted down to about $50, Oh and that's another thing

NEEVER PAY FULL PRICE FOR A PLUGIN, it'll always be reduced sometime during the year, many Companies wait until Black Friday, but by subscribing to sites such as Plugin Boutique, you can be informed when a deal is around.

Another tip is to buy from US websites, currently 1.3 $ to the £ I have certainly save many of my quids, where vendors can't be bothered to change $ to £ I managed to get the whol of Arturia's FX collection 2 for $65...from PluginFox.com...

Anyway, happy hunting and let me know if you do go for one.

[cowparsleyman]

..another update

Limiters can mess with your mix.

I have been continuing my tests on master bus limiters, and really it's very revealing...

The True Peak Limiter by Plugin Alliance really does affect (somehow) the mix in not a good way, A-B ing between that, the Sonnox and the L3 (Waves), it's clear that the Sonnox affects not just the dynamics but somehow the EQ without making it sound too different, just better.

The L3 always sounds good, but the Sonnox inflator has the edge, it feels as though someone really clever has designed and programmed it.

So don't be fooled by the price, as applies to so much in Mixing, trust what your ears tell you.

There is a video on YT claiming this about the TPL ...