Realimit not limiting?

[chumbo]

I'm a musician, not a sound engineer so please be kind if I'm saying something stupid...

I think my understanding of a Limiter is correct in that it's meant to stop the signal going over a threshold, typically 0db.
Well...it's not!?
I'm using the Limiter function in the Render window and I even set it to -0.2db but it's peaking so much it's just a big red blob!
What am I doing wrong or not understanding?
Thanks!

[Glennbo]

Sounds like you are seeing the automatic "Make Up" volume that I wish could be disabled. When I use a limiter, I don't want expansion to be making up for the amount I am limiting.

Try the X42 limter.

https://x42-plugins.com/x42/x42-limiter

I use that one on the sub-masters of every one of my projects.

[nait]

First, a couple of questions...

Where did you put Realimit, is there any processing happening after this plugin, and do you have the volume knob perhaps above 0db whereever the realimit instance is (or even on something that it routes to)?


The limiter will ensure the volume doesn't peak above whatever you set as the ceiling, yes, but if you for example put limiters on all your tracks, setting them to 0db, or even lower, they each would be feeding that level into the master (which would cause clipping with even just two tracks alone depending on what the ceiling was set to). Anything adding more signal after the limiting will of course cause clipping (including having your volume knob up too high)

I personally just use a limiter on my master channel or (in actuality) a group that everything routes to before going into the master. The limiter is the absolute last thing in the chain, otherwise you'll have to lower the ceiling a bit to give some room for whatever else you're adding in.

[chumbo]

Oh man, how embarrassing...you nailed it...I had my track volume set at +-4db and guess what...that's what it was peaking at as well, duh!

Sorry for being such a dumbass but your explanations taught me something and you solved my problem too so a big thanks!

[nait]

Not a problem, I'm sure everyone's been there at some point. I know I have!! Multiple times. LOL

[schwa]

Originally Posted by Glennbo

Sounds like you are seeing the automatic "Make Up" volume that I wish could be disabled. When I use a limiter, I don't want expansion to be making up for the amount I am limiting.

FWIW this is the use case for the realimit "link" checkbox. If you set the threshold equal to the ceiling and link them, then the output level won't change as you adjust the threshold.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by schwa

FWIW this is the use case for the realimit "link" checkbox. If you set the threshold equal to the ceiling and link them, then the output level won't change as you adjust the threshold.

I'm just not a fan of "Make Up" volume because I can hear it. It would be a welcomed button for me that could disable it on ReaLimit. Reduction is all I want out of a limiter.

[schwa]

Use the tools that work for you, but just to be totally clear, if you do what I described above then realimit will not apply any makeup gain.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by schwa

Use the tools that work for you, but just to be totally clear, if you do what I described above then realimit will not apply any makeup gain.

Thanks Schwa. I have used ReaLimit on some things like individual guitar tracks, but for limiting that will hold the line and never do any boosting on my sub-masters I still prefer the way the X42 Peak Limiter functions.

If I only lower the threshold control on the X42, it only begins to knock peaks off that are above the threshold line without changing anything else about the incoming signal. If I goose its input level, then it will shave off more peaks off because more signal is crossing the threshold, but it never boosts anything itself.

A real world example would be I get my acoustic drums mixed, but three times during playback I light up a peak light, so I put an X42 Peak Limiter on the drums sub-master, set its threshold to -1 or -2db and then I never see a peak light again on the drum sub-master.

[ashcat_lt]

Originally Posted by Glennbo

Thanks Schwa. I have used ReaLimit on some things like individual guitar tracks, but...

...I’m going to ignore what you’re saying even though you’re telling me how to make it work exactly the way I want.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by schwa

Use the tools that work for you, but just to be totally clear, if you do what I described above then realimit will not apply any makeup gain.

Originally Posted by ashcat_lt

...I’m going to ignore what you’re saying even though you’re telling me how to make it work exactly the way I want.

Actually, I'm going to do exactly what Schwa suggested.

Use the tools that work for me, and for me, that's the X42 Peak Limiter. It works exactly the way I expect a peak limiter to work, where ReaLimit does not.

[ashcat_lt]

K dude. ReaLimit does what you said you want, too, but whatevs. I just thought it was funny.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by ashcat_lt

K dude. ReaLimit does what you said you want, too, but whatevs. I just thought it was funny.

ReaLimit has a weird way of achieving what it does. If I have to stop and think about how to make it do what I can do without thinking using the other limiter, I'm going to use the other limiter because I really want to work on music.

Not dick with a limiter.

[ashcat_lt]

Move the slider. Click the button. Save as default preset. Never dick with it again.

I guess I can go either way on the actual way it works. It kind of makes sense both ways to me. Maybe for different things, but it's kind of academic because I literally never use this kind of limiter. The times I've tried, I didn't like the results. I have played with ReaLimit a little bit, and didn't actually hate it, and might even try to use it on real things going forward.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by ashcat_lt

Move the slider. Click the button. Save as default preset. Never dick with it again.

I guess I can go either way on the actual way it works. It kind of makes sense both ways to me. Maybe for different things, but it's kind of academic because I literally never use this kind of limiter. The times I've tried, I didn't like the results. I have played with ReaLimit a little bit, and didn't actually hate it, and might even try to use it on real things going forward.

It's the summing of multiple channels (like acoustic drums) where I begin to see peaks. I don't want to attempt adjusting 7 drum channels down to prevent a couple peaks during playback, so I peak limit the sub-master to remove them.

I've had a lot of peak limiters over the years, and they all let me set a threshold that was the brick wall line that cannot be crossed. Just trimming off a few peaks that would have otherwise illuminated a very annoying red light.

[ashcat_lt]

Originally Posted by Glennbo

Just trimming off a few peaks that would have otherwise illuminated a very annoying red light.

Ah heck, the red light is how you know it’s working!

Of course controlling peaks - dynamic range in general - is important. I just do it other ways. Usually via saturation, and I usually use ReaComp for that.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by ashcat_lt

Ah heck, the red light is how you know it’s working!

Of course controlling peaks - dynamic range in general - is important. I just do it other ways. Usually via saturation, and I usually use ReaComp for that.

I use parallel compression with ReaComp on all the individual drum channels, but by the time they sum at the drum sub-master, I usually will see two or three peaks there. I use U-He's Presswerk on the drum sub for its saturation, but I follow it with an instance of the X42 Peak Limiter to brick wall the sub at -1 or -2db to guarantee that I won't be seeing red.