[jelloman]

Originally Posted by Tiny Tortoise

I'm not a fan of this, but most limiters (including all of Reaper's stock JS limiters) do a linked make-up gain to whatever you set the threshold to i.e. threshold at -6 limits peaks to -6dB and boosts the output by 6dB back to 0dBFS peak, and typically have an adjustable output ceiling to trim it back down.

One way to get to your target is you can render an unlimited mix file, then analyse it using SWS loudness tool or any other loudness meter, to find the integrated LUFS reading. You use that figure to set your limiter to whatever number would push your level to -13LUFS, and then you use an output trim (or master output fader to) of -1dB to bring it back to -14 LUFS, peak at -1dBFS. Alternatively, you can hit the limiter first, render and analyse the loudness, then adjust to bring it back to your target.

As an example, let's just say you end up with a mix loudness of -17.3LUFS, before limiting.
-17.3 + 13 = -4.3
you can set your limiter threshold to -4.3, then output trim -1dB, then render your final limited result and you're good to go.

If your LUFS reading is above -13, e.g. let's say it's -11.2LUFS:
-11.2 + 13 = 1.8
You can trim it down by (in this case) 1.8dB before hitting the limiter at a 0dB threshold, and then trim the output by -1dB.

Thanks for this!