Hey folks,
I do have one question regarding the JS Mastering Limiter's way of working.
As far as I know a limiter is nothing more than a comp with an indefinite ratio and it can work in two ways:
- By setting a threshold, cutting everything above and finally rising the volume of the chopped-off wave up to the ceiling value.
- By increasing the input gain to a desired value and chopping off everything above a given ceiling value.
Because of the threshold slider in the JS plugin I assumed the plugin to be working like the first way.
I rendered a constant sine wave with a peak (and in this case = RMS) level of -15dB, set the threshold to -3dB for testing and expected nothing to happen - as the wave never crosses the threshold. Yet, the audio statistics plugin reveals that the level was risen by 3dB.
So...does anybody know how the plugin works or what I am missing?
Btw: I also tried out JB's Barricade Pro as it is supposed to be one of the best limiters out there, at least in the for-free-field. I thought about using it as a brickwall limiter but I can't find the ceiling value. Am I missing the obvious or is there no such possibility / is it always limiting at -0,16dB (the peak value I observed in an FX chain _after_ the Barricade Pro limiting an audio file with several heavy clippings)?
Thanks for your time and help!
EDIT:
I think I figured it out. It sort of works like way 1 but the volume is not risen to the ceiling level.
Everything above the threshold gets shopped off (in this case nothing) and the plugin has an auto makeup gain function, that is the hole wav is risen in volume by the threshold value (which is why it is 3dB louder without reaching the threshold). Finally, you can attenuate the volume with the limit setting (that was set to -0.1 which is why the volume gain actually is 2.9dB and not 3dB).
So for everyone who is confused by a limiter's workflow (way 1):
It's not: wav -> shopping off at threshold -> rising the whole wav's volume until chopped of peaks reach ceiling
But it's: wav -> shopping off at threshold -> rising the whole wav's volume by a given value (in JS Master Limiter plugin's case the threshold's value) -> attenuate the volume by a given amount (in JS Master Limiter plugin's case the limit; that actually is a trim function and for every part of the wav that exceeds 0dB it works as the ceiling)
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The Barricade Pro - at least the wave/envelope section - works like way 2. You rise the gain (
drive) until the wet signal reaches 0dB, then the limiter kicks in. Further rising the gain results in more parts of the signal reaching 0dB until it finally sounds like shit. Again, you can attenuate the volume by a desired amount using the ceiling (
trim).
I hope I finally understood it and may bring some light in somebody else's head who may be troubled by the same confusion.
If my analysis is wrong I am happy to be corrected!