How to Optimize Maximum Level in Waves L2 Limiter

[@dopameanbeats9540]

Professional tip when commentating on dynamic processes: Don't talk over the output signal, makes it impossible for the audience to hear the dynamic changes that are occurring... Try commentating after pausing the track or after A/B'ing the changes for several seconds so we can hear how the signal is being influenced. Besides that, I really enjoyed the video! You emphasized an important element: the "sweet spot" for limiting, which is typically when the big transients are attenuated between 3-4 dBs. Every genre is different though, presets can help you get in the ballpark but fine tuning the Threshold and the Ceiling is critical for getting it dialed in just right. Experimenting with the release is also a great way to get some cool pumping effects on Subgroups, but typically is not used too much as a mastering effect. Good tips for people starting out!

[@aarona.dubzperson8245]

Mastering is not about the loudness as one gentleman said. I agree that you may, in a lot if instances want your mix to be louder, but for me, personally, I want clarity over loudness. I want both, but I will not play the loudness game because it is really easy to distort. You must have "golden ears" to really understand a quality mix and master. I do everything myself, but I understand that mastering is not just all about loudness. Once you agree on that, I guarantee your home master game will become tighter. The "loudness wars had the whole industry fucked up for a while with the bullshit, but now people (sensible engineers) are starting to go more for the clarity effect... Thats what great records are made of... QUALITY!!!!

[@jeremymardis5590]

+Aaron A. Dubz Person It is about bringing the lower sounds more detailed in the mix , that what compression got created for , know people use it for loudness , it is about eq , compression , harmonics , and spatial stereo customizing , these together will give you more clarity and detail .

[@aarona.dubzperson8245]

No doubt... Peace

[@electrojazz14]

I totally agree, and for that reason "EQ first" is the key then limiting is the icing on the cake, clarity first

[@midnightsocean2689]

Agreed but sadly, listeners still pay more attention to louder tracks over softer ones. :/

[@HTDav01]

As with any technical field, even if an artistic one, there are often several sections to the entire process. First is tracking, second is mixing and last is mastering. Using a limiter is usually done with a very light touch; they are more often used in vocal processing where you have a live or simple vocal to place it on. They are used a lot less on instruments. While some compression is used on instruments or musical compositions, limiters are usually a little more of a last step use to bring the bottom softness up just enough to get into range so your audience isn't riding their volume knob--they are not meant for volume maximization unless you have a complex limiter with sidechain eq or you're running a complex maximizer with an eq backend for stretching the frequency balance. A maximizer is a form of limiter, but allows you "Limit" frequency ranges that push too high or reverse the gain on some ranges so your clarity and musical message are retained. If you are mastering and being paid mucho $$$ the last thing you want to do is kill the mix with a limiter too early in the process. If the mix is great as is, but low in volume, any attenuation could change the way the sound reacts, and a limiter might allow you to get the volume up without overpeaking to see what you may need to adjust to get the best overall sound, but keeping it as the last in the chain is usually better than at the front. Once you know the area you need to adjust, you can boost the levels a bit, set your peak, leave the limiter in the chain and adjust the sound with an eq or other effect. Its always a good idea to leave the limiter open while making the changes, and bypass it on and off throughout, so you can see the affect on the soft and boosted audio. The sweet spot is generally that happy medium where you haven't changed the message at a low level, but you've gotten it to translate to a louder, squeezed dynamic that's easier on the volume knobs of your listeners.

[@iamnyron]

Thanks for that!

[@rhand]

I just watched half a dozen L2 videos and they were all a complete waste of time except for this one - thanks for posting!

[@birthdaydog1244]

thank you ive been going through videos on this all useless now ill watch this

[@marc-olivierjohnson8569]

the ducking by the commentary makes it hard to concentrate on the result

[@808j3]

My tracks used to sound like this...lol.

[@Zickcermacity]

I am become L2, the destroyer of music!

[@GuitarGiddz]

Try putting the Out Ceiling to -0.1/2 and bring up the threshold a touch. The best way to make a song louder is to have the listener turn up the volume control!

[@midnightsocean2689]

True but if modern listeners did that as a rule, the loudness war wouldn't exist and we wouldn't need limiters to increase gain. Limiters could just be used as a safety redundancy to catch occasional rouge peeks.

[@GuitarGiddz]

Loudness war is over - overall loudness levels using LUFS meters means that there is no point bucking your mix with a limited anymore.

[@TimeMarchesOn]

Loudness and Dynamic Range go hand in hand with mastering

[@Pulse2AM]

I've been using this plugin for a long time -8 seems to be the extreme end. I was taught to watch the output meter and if it has movement you're good if it's pinned to the top there's too much limiting.

[@twentytwoz7682]

both great songs by the way, theres alot of good talent out there

[@mortenfjeld8595]

For the second track, that's where i'd break out the multiband compressor/limiter to control the low end vs. high end first, before going with the limiter. There's obviously and upper limit (pun not intended) as to how far you can push it with these kinds of tracks though, and loudness is not an absolute measure, so it might simply need that dynamic range.

[@Aaezil]

There are no wrong or right ways, just what works for you! If it sounds good, it is good :)

[@ronnieallentv]

Thanks. I use Waves products--L1 though. Now I know the proper process.

[@zatzen]

a limiter than doesn't catch every smallest peak but lets it trough and clips them can sometimes sound better - here the snare would come trough, sounding a little bit "dirty", but it would be there. i used the L1 for a long time, but meanwhile i think L1 or L2 are too dull sounding. L316 is another option - but i don't use it for heavy limiting rather than for a little automated spectrum equalization (very loud moments will come close to pink noise)

[@BlackenedNL]

i will be using this more often. thanks

[@Dozadoesit]

anything more that -6 attenuation with l2 sounds trashy; be sure to set your release values to tempo specific subdivisions; I never mess with output ceiling... I set to .7 and leave it there

[@Top_TraxProductions]

Great sharing guys. Tq

[@bootyfullmuzik]

totally agree ... i usually (always) put my multi band juz b4 my limiter

[@CestLaVie73]

very interesting video, thx.

[@vinolamusic]

This is just a limiter on the master before anything else?! Crazyyy

[@electrojazz14]

Good info on how to use the product, although a second track would have helped for clarity, it's always about clarity not bass, so EQ'ing is the answer to lay the basis for a powerful mix, then 2 L2 will seal the whole thing, 3 use your taste feelings and ears and practice, if u still can't do it, be real ask for help to someone that can do the job...

[@atomas59]

Loudness war is over.....set your maximum ceiling output at -1.1 It will sound a lot better and cleaner, and you won't really see the difference, but if you play it on a big sound system....It will sound great....))) Cleaning up your low end? An other mistakes that most people do. Ceiling at -1.1 and carefull while cleaning up your low end.....leaving some is much better. And for god sake, If you have to much low end, or not enough highend...please do that during the mixing part. And most important, don't mix for the iphone listener either.

[@Qasim0121]

Why would it sound better at 1.1? I thought it was the complete opposite? That 0.1 is the best.

[@midnightsocean2689]

It will sound better for sure but unfortunately listeners think louder is better. So many people listen on things like iphones that, engineers are caught in a dilemma between making a track sound good and making it fit the popular formula.

[@juansebastianvilla8938]

Still with this, the track wasn't as loud for a commercial release. Or atleast I don't think. Is it really possible to achieve commercial grade loudness while working "in the box"?

[@Hexspa]

+Juan Sebastian Villa There're other tools you can use such as EQ and multiband compression to gain more loudness.

[@Shoto519]

+Juan Sebastian Villa You cant get a loud mastered track if the mix is uneven like this. There is random peaks sticking up and it has a loud sub bass and like he said it does not sound good when it hits the bass. A limiter is bad at that. What you can do is export your track and compair it to a mastered track and look for difference in peak vs rms and see if there is to much difference on yours and go back to mixing stage and try fix those problems

[@Shoto519]

+Juan Sebastian Villa And like hexspa said its also about multiband and compression. If you push to hard with limiter it will sound squached

[@taggmeister9394]

i dont get y ur working with mono files? i thought the mix should rather be a stereo track?? but i learned a few things though..thanks.

[@Hexspa]

+TaggMeister 939 Not sure if it's really mono. The left and right meters are showing difference.

[@Hexspa]

+TaggMeister 939 look at 2:39 when he opens the sample editor. Looks stereo to me.

[@weststarr2046]

Awesome vid...!!

[@robertmurphy4689]

great tips. Thanks for sharing.

[@Shookonemusic]

I like how u did this, but wouldn't you make some changes to the release of the L2 as well? I noticed you left the release un-changed

[@KidDiamondTV]

Because he's using the ARC Auto-Release feature, so it automatically disabled the release slider. "ARC calculates the release time every sample for optimum level with minimum artifacts. For nearly every possible source, ARC will outperform a fixed release time." - L2 Manual

[@Shookonemusic]

Kid Diamond oh ok! I did not notice that it was set to auto. thanks!

[@VigilanceStudios]

Great advice!

[@TheArkhamRebellion]

I find it strange to opt for a maximizer as the first option to raise the volume of such low-volume tracks that you're working with. Surely some simple taming of the huge transients you have, followed by some simple compression would do a much cleaner job that's easier on the ear? I love the Waves maximizers but I think they are best used when traditional methods are used first to raise the rms, maximizing can be detrimental to the sound when done to the 10db kind of extremes you're using.

[@wilz373]

awesome, thanks.

[@BizzyMo]

great video !! thx

[@waheex]

good video. What I find is some parts of my track nearly hit peak, but others look lower, at least on the waveform. It sounds ok but when I go master, I can't that full sound

[@jeffreymcclelland2136]

Mindburner try some modest compression first.

[@mavensound]

Great tut. What's the second track?

[@soundcreation]

thanks for the vid!

[@thehousejunkies1]

best tutorial...thanks!

[@jeromesimon8916]

Not sure why when i use this limiter my snare sounds more flat and broad

[@SonOfMecha]

...wow, what a tip thank you!

[@KarimYeb]

was really helpful!!

[@HaiderAli-rl5sr]

u just not clear that on which thing behalf u r using threshold and celling ? it's completely clear

[@bubnjarovski]

thanx

[@Baby4Melancholie]

threshold 6 was already enough. why make music loud when we have 24bit technology? Also every converter chip on the market sounds best at -18dbFS. at 0dbFS the ICs produce already distortion especially due to inter-sample peaks.

[@СавелийКраморов-т7г]

Name of a track?

[@Enjuw]

Hey guys i have one question. When i have parts that share similars frequencies i find myself turning up the volume of one part when they are together and turn down the volume when they are separate. So this is normal or the volume has to be pretty the same during the whole song. On a breakdown session it's normal to turn down the volume? (i don't think so) I try to panning but sometimes don't do the work i want

[@thekeygod9810]

Whats the name of the song??

[@TeleporterM11]

Should my limiter be the last or first in my fx chain

[@Klimexetixs]

Last probably.

[@AudioReplica2023]

it depends. You trying to limit the peaks before going into processing or after all the processing. Sometimes I limit a little bit the snare top or the kick to get rid of crazy random peaks that can drive crazy the compressor on the drum bus. That way the compressor will work more efficiently and do what I need it to do. But this is more related to live instruments like drums, acoustic guitars , shakers...ect. The more you mix the more you'll understand when and where use certain tools.

[@claudiochiconela4805]

Thats great, do you mind to help me with waves 9 ???

[@frankfabianmusic]

ive never been able to get a good sound from the L2. i prefer other stuff even the soft clipper in the fireface is a nicer sound

[@ruspution]

cheers

[@BauhinianVibes]

What does the 'Shaping' do?

[@waves]

Hi Bauhinian, the 'Shaping' feature offers three different noise-shaping curves for optimal processing in a wide variety of applications and with a wide choice of source material.

[@TomerChentckingofficial]

i want to hear the full track

[@_banja]

nah

[@freasy123]

Clipping would be a better choice here

[@BeatsAndMeats]

The loudness wars are over guys... no one listens to the radio anymore. Now we can keep our beautiful dynamics if we like. No one cares if your mix is -0.9dB from the last 30 Seconds to Mars record

[@Dozadoesit]

+David Velez truth -- sadly some genres are stuck in that mode and will be for a long time

[@JCNOAOU]

no offence but it aint over just because you say so lol. people still like their tracks to sound loud n proud my guy

[@BeatsAndMeats]

+TheChosenOne People listen to music on KZbin more than anywhere else. And KZbin has started capping volumes at -10db, pretty much single-handedly ending the loudness war.

[@johnnyweatherbie]

+David Velez not only that, but the louder you master your songs, the less accurate the playback is on the youtube version at any quality setting. hard lesson I had to learn

[@iOWNyouFOOLaskYOmama]

The consumers definitely dont care about your opinion. =]

[@zebbedi]

@Enjuw Sounds to me as if you may just want to automate the volumes.

[@AlexJohn2us]

NICE ONE :-))

[@Jorge.O85]

Well that s a piece of cake...

[@Dubstepmatic]

waves rocks

[@Pwayko]

Spoke every time i listened in so it was pointless to a degree other than idea of technic. also didnt explain ways to use release tool.

[@Sarobadj]

MASTER ACREDITO NO 4.1 -3.5

[@iAmFractalSky]

your voice sounds like MartyParty

[@GTSongwriter]

Waves MV-2 does much more and sounds better than this plug-in... I also used MV-2 as a Limiter / maximizer / and compressor.

[@TheMattd546]

How come when I master a song using the L-2 in my studio it sounds great and it is not clipping or even close but I take it to my car and put the volume on my stereo wide open to see if it distorts and it sounds really distorted? I've been trying to master the same 4 songs for 4 months now and even when I try to master it way under the volume it should have it still distorts? is it just my car radio? or my studio? i'm not sure anymore.

[@Averagehazmat]

Did u finshed the song ?

[@compoundaudio]

maybe your car speakers are distorting and not the track

[@piscesman54]

It would be great if these tutorials were done with actual music instead of this dreadful noise.

[@tomix1970pl1]

This is not a problem when he is talking.Why?Music is so weak that there is nothing to listen to?Snare?What fucking snare?There is only some clicking they call snare.

[@datamasked623]

You know, I'm not a mastering engineer...I'm a mix engineer. But, for all you basement beat makers, I'm 100% certain that the purpose of mastering isn't to "make the track louder". You should probably just pay a mastering engineer to do it right. LOL If you seriously think you can get a good master in your basement, you probably haven't been doing music post-production very long. I don't even say that to sound arrogant, because I'm not. But I can't even begin to count the number of guys who seriously think the point is to make the track louder. That isn't what mastering is. That much, I am certain of.

[@jimijaam2591]

Excuse me, bro.... but you have no clue what you just typed LOL If Mastering doesn't make the Mix LOUDER , then why master the Mix in the first place? We can achieve Clarity in the MIX.. especially in the digital spectrum since tons of VST plugins help make Professional sounding Music available at will. People actually know how to MULTI-TASK in 2015. A person can be a Music Producer, Mixer, sound Engineer and Mastering technician Jedi Knight all at once LOL What's so hard about Mastering? All it is , is making a few small subtle changes using state of the Art Vst Plugins or by using kool outboard analog gear. Nothing hard about that. People can use Digital software in their basements to achieve outstanding Masterpieces. I don't see the problem with basements being converted to proper Digital Studios, using analog Music Instruments, amps or digital Keyboards and drum machines. VSTs are part of Life now... get use to it. You need to understand that Digi TECHNOLOGY has caught up to the Analog game. Tons of digital Emulators can do the job just fine... and if every Analog studio were to burn down by tomorrow evening, Music would still continue on Planet earth ... I can assure you that much. ha ha! Do you have any idea what Mastering CLIPPING does to the sound levels? EXAMPLE: Using T-Racks Soft Clipper will boost the sound to extreme levels in the Mastering CHAIN just before using the Limiter for the final LOUDNESS icing on the cake. T-Racks Soft Clipper Settings . SLOPE hard right at 0.0. Output set to -3.0db The Gain at 6.0 db. That will push everything upward making it LOUDER. The LIMITER set to -0.1 and lift up the GAIN to enforce more punch and Loudness. Boom! Done deal.. it's ready for RADIO play, or Club action :D Mastering makes music LOUDER, and that's why people prefer to Master it so it can be competitive with other Music out there. The IMPORTANT thing about Mastering is keeping the DYNAMICS as you use Compressors. To always PUT BACK what Compressors TAKE OUT as you move forward in the Mastering Chain. Keeping the 16k Range as clear as possible while creating an Awesome BOTTOM feel in the Music.. that's the general idea. IF the quality of Music was to simply keep the music RAW, then anyone that MASTERS music is wasting their time . You need to Google more KZbin videos in your basement!!!!! Hahahahahaha

[@datamasked623]

jimi jaam​​​​ You're entitled to think that anyone can master their own music in their basement, but that is just not true. Mastering is many things. For you to insinuate that its easy or that there's DEFINITELY a rightbway to do it is nonsense...which is why most of the "bedroom producers" who send me stuff to mix thinking they are pros because the have a laptop and a DAW sometimes have me sending them their stuff back with a note attached that says "re-record this". Furthermore, your mastered output levels have to be compliant with whatever medium you're trying to print to. The ITB is implementing new standards for loudness. You CANNOT just set your ceiling at -0.1. Do you realize how distorted your songs will be over iTunes or Spotify? Listen to Metallica's Death Magnetic album. That is what happens when it is improperly mastered using incorrect levels...that album sounds like absolute shit. What you're talking about with loudness is called the "loudness wars"...and the industry is trying to end it. Loudness for the sake of loudness is pointless. You don't understand what mastering is. It is, for all intents and purposes, a quality check. You shouldn't be DOING anything to the audio except EXTREMELY minor enhancements. Half the job is coding the ISRC and UPC codes into the tracks. Bottom line, software can't help you if you have no idea what you're listening to...and especially if you aren't level matching your tracks against commercial releases. I notice you said nothing about referencing...just setting your ceiling and squashing it. It takes practice and training to master, not a plugin. Plugs are simply tools.

[@aarona.dubzperson8245]

I wouldn't say you can't get a great master in your basement. You just have to know what you are doing, and realize that mastering isn't just about loudness alone. You can (as long as you have the tools and know how) achieve anything you want to in your basement...

[@chandlerartiss9739]

jimi jaam it doesn't matter what you say its just fact you can't master in your basement, if u think it sounds good then your ears are shit

[@TWEAKER01]

Eric Pederson I am a mastering engineer of 20+ years and I agree. Mastering is a *service* - whatever it takes, collaborating with the artist to enhance their vision for their project, plus quality control. The better the mix, the more mastering ≠ processing.

[@joeysparks5388]

Geese so much talking chit. Just stop!! -.01 ceiling and drop threshold until you notice the most loudness with the least amount of deterioration of your mix. I hate how these guys are so self serving filling a video by talking so much. This video was a straight nightmare. Just fast forward to atleast half. Trust me your not going to miss anything!!!

[@MrJazzyshine]

Your explanation is not clear, talk too much,

[@jessicamoreno7135]

The first track was horrible.