Limiting vs Compression in Mixing Explained

[@genuardimusic]

You're a legend!

[@millionhertz]

Iam speechless in front of so much value... Thank you man for teaching us

[@jeff7775]

"Lower your levels; your gain-staging is shit!" What producer-mixer hadn't said that to themselves a few (hundred) times throughout their careers...? Thanks for the vid! Great stuff👍

[@thexor902]

the average level of your tutorials (nearly ALL of them) is impressive! THANK YOU.

[@TheEqualityComedy]

He uses a compressor on his tutorials.

[@jacksmith4460]

The more I watch your channel the more I realise ...you (maybe Jordan Valeriote too) are the best sources of mixing information on YT. I already use the limiter and compressor in the manner you state, but , I did not know about the technical attack/envelope differences. I mean I could hear a limiter has little to now effect on the sound other than cutting transients, but I did not know why. I'm not one of the advanced, but I'm not exactly a beginner so videos like this usually really help me clear up fundamental knowledge gaps. I'm the type of dude, If I know how something works, I can work out the why myself, or the other way around. So when I have gaps in my knowledge like this, and you clear that up quickly and easily, it helps me in a huge way. Massive thanks

[@ScottFreebass]

I imagine you sitting in a black turtleneck with a sniper rifle by your side while you record these tutorials lol

[@Harbaksh1234]

'Call it' :-)

[@jamesrossmusic6013]

@Scott Freebass #beats ...This guy at Mix Buss TV is providing such a major value in studio compression/ Brick Wall Limiting knowledge... Then a jackass like you comes out with... Such an assinine bigoted comment... You are not funny at all!!!!

[@chadkirk2977]

James Ross bruh chill

[@ezzong]

@@jamesrossmusic6013 what? It's just a joke and even David likes it lol

[@andrewmalekmusic]

David what do you do for a living? 1) Mixer 2) Cleaner

[@czdot]

Seriously, this channel is a godsend. No thrills, no bullshit advice! Love it.

[@davidyoul6262]

This is, no doubt, one of the BEST lessons available on limiting and compression. Thank you! Keep up the great work!

[@vinnien]

Good video. I love using limiters on basses to get a constant volume.

[@MrIliasboufidis]

appendix 1a, sometimes (program-intention related) we also have the option of a clipper. the textures we like in todays productions in combination with whatever dynamic framing helps us, might warrant the choice of a clipper. took me 30 years to realize, very happy to understand. just thought it could get into the discussion,... overall from what i've seen this was indeed one of the best explanations on the subjects so thank you for that! but back to the clipper, it's a tool that can be used in a myriad of ways related to waveform sculpting and i thought i should say something for young readers. be well all :)

[@Thecurlyguy]

I’ve just learned soo much more about compressors and limiters, thank you, lots of useful info there

[@haridaniel777]

I like your analitical approach, it's missing from most tutorials

[@beatsbylogiclevls7760]

This channel is a goldmine for a learner like me. Thanks for your videos, they are the best on youtube in my opinion! :D

[@chriskemp466]

you're really ADDING to what's available for learning mixing! Thanks

[@JulianFernandez]

Short and to the point. Nice.

[@johnnywheels2431]

Good video. Great tips. This helps tremendously 🤘🏼

[@lamentememe]

oh jeez, right now I'm through that moment full of questions when you notice your mix needs something and since yesterday I been watching your videos and Its amazing how you got all the answers or at least show me possible ways to find what Iam looking for. Thanks a lot

[@5urg3x]

Lol i watched this again and lol’d at “because the internet told them”

[@stevepooley4079]

Really good explanation, I finally understand it!! Thank you.

[@fabioramirez852]

Thanks a lot, this was very informative. I like the topics you focus on, instead of repeating the same things over and over, you really go in-depth into the technical field expaining things as I would like them to be explained. Awesome work man!!

[@MrDeleoAndre]

Wow, thank you for that very good and thorough description :)

[@FubeXL]

very good tutorial. You're a great teacher 😁

[@samansepehr2961]

Thanks for making our lives sweet

[@DreTheNomad]

Hey man it is very basic as you said but it is so useful. I never heard anyone break it down the way you did. Great video!

[@nickhindman]

Andre, I'd say that about most of David's videos. Fantastic channel. And while these concepts are sometimes 'basic', you'll be hard-pressed to find them explained this way, and so I suspect a lot of the advanced users are sometimes missing these fundamentals. I watch all of David's videos because even for topics that I think I've mastered, there's always a revelation. Off to rehab my gain staging... ;-)

[@DreTheNomad]

I absolutely agree with you man. That's exactly what I actually meant. Regarding Compressing vs Limiting I kinda instinctively felt it but never heard anyone verbalize it. Dave's videos are great. And just like you I watch many of his videos too. Dave really knows his stuff

[@mantax55]

I've been watching your videos for ages and I totally forgot to subscribe. Thank you for the videos and sharing the passion and love of mixing down. Always fun to watch even if I know in order to gain a different perspective :)

[@lovelucas3653]

As a professional producer I can say for sure I learned couple of new stuff.. Thanks man

[@warwickbaines-bennett7721]

Nice video. I wouldn't apologise for keeping it simple. There's a lot to be said for knowing the basics and you covered them well. I've encountered many a time someone asking what is wrong with their mix and everything pushing into the red from the get go with no trim bus in sight. I think some of those points are so fundamentally important, the day I created a mix template with gain staging in mind was a beautiful day. Awesome work man.

[@mahdimachfar5948]

MAN THANK YOU! YOURE A LEGEND

[@RKTologist]

best video, 2:00 minutes in I completely understood limiters

[@stupendousmusic4190]

Thank you for this! Long overdue. I'm glad to see that there is somebody else out there who understands the difference between compression and limiting. Often use a limiter on clean electric guitars and sometimes on my vocals.

[@petemusgrove7422]

Hi David, Thanks so much for this video, which cleared up two things for me. 1/ I'd been wondering what exactly "choked" sounded like, and now I can recognize it instantly. 2/ Re limiters, I had a "mental default" that limiters were for the master bus only. Now I can see countless past instances where I used a compressor, when I really needed to use a limiter. Again, many thanks :-)

[@leroyjones6170]

Same here. Can't wait to go back to some problem mixes and check this out . Thank you!

[@petemusgrove7422]

Hi Leroy, When I have a track with ridiculously high peaks, I've had a lot of success by stacking limiters one after the other. I choose my most transparent limiter, (Waves Renaissance) set the attack time to zero and then set it to reduce by about 1db - this ensures that only the peak will be attenuated. I stack as many as I need to get the peaks under control and keep an ear out for any tonal changes or artifacts. Since I'll stack 5 or more instances of the limiter, I render the file and then import the new file in afterwards to reduce CPU usage. There's no release time to set on the Renaissance, but I'm assuming that if there were, I'd be setting it to release as fast as possible. Hope that's of help. I'd like to know how you're doing too :-) My best, Pete

[@Middlestepofficial]

I did some great mastering job myself for my band thanks to you. I'm a wireless engineer, figuring out these audio engineering tips quite straightforward. Keep up the good work, your explanations are ultimate!

[@davidcamarda8723]

Excellent explanation of the differences between compression and limiting, and especially explaing how opto differs in the release.

[@Wouterferdinand]

Thanks! One less person afraid to use a limiter when needed! The "gaps" that fall in the mix when using a compressor was a highly frustrated point in my mix.. but not every mix I did had this problem.. Well this is the solution. Thanks brother!

[@argentinatradea9647]

Excelent, really excelent! Thanks a lot! Much love and blesses!

[@DamnHeadHumpers]

Thanks for the video and the explanation of the response curves of FET vs OPTO. I am really into synthesizers, especially modular synths, and I am also familiar with the response of an opto isolator, but I never though of how a FET works in response. It makes sense because the field effect becomes weaker past a threshold and rapidly falls off, and with an opto isolator, they remain conductive for a short while after being stimulated with photons. I basically know fuck all through, and am still learning to make better music and familiarize my self with every piece of technology there is, but I can do so because of the help from skilled people like your self. Thanks!

[@jkf9167]

Tz

[@TRIPPreset]

You are a great lecturer. I didn't want to fall asleep at all. Than you for passing on your wisdom!

[@FelixCarcone]

Amazingly clear and effective tutorial on compression and limiting. As always David, Thanks !!!

[@TheMetea11]

I love this channel. Thank you for all the free knowledge you put out for us.

[@WavetableMetaphysics]

He busted it down. Good shit cuh!

[@proartservices]

That R-Comp has been my go to for bass for 12 years now, and I am just realizing why. It does not matter how long you have been mixing, David WILL teach you.

[@DAMIENrap]

Best explanation i found so far

[@ogasi1798]

such a helpful channel

[@qstaratma9096]

Great presentation and thank you!

[@Freogeteknet]

This helped me so much! Thank you!

[@davidallenhammond2777]

Wonderful talk David, really enjoyed the useful detail and your overall presentation. Thank you.

[@chrizzlerguitaroni1928]

15:56 Golden basic stuff, for me as an unexperienced beginner and hobby musician.

[@SanderPruel]

At first I couldn't take you serious because you sounded like Tommy Wisau, but damn. Didn't expect your channel to be this good!

[@clintonmaher6930]

This was excellent as always - what I'd love to see next is a limiters vs clippers video.. showing the differences and when to use which one. When something like Kazrog KClip sounds so great and pretty transparent when pushed within reason what would be the advantage of using a limiter which usually has more artifacts and degridation when pushed the same amount? Love to hear your thoughts on that.

[@97tanish]

Yeah please, can we have a video explaining the difference between limiting, soft clipping and saturating? I still can't decide when to use what. Thank you.

[@97tanish]

But then clippers also act as a limiter, by not letting the peaks above a given threshold pass. I also read somewhere that it rounds off the peaks of the signal and stuff. When you want to just tame the peaks of an individual track, and not completely alter the dynamics and shape of the sound - you can use a limiter or a clipper. But then which one to use? Can you please make a video which covers only about clippers. The basic principle and uses of it, maybe? Thank you again, sir. Your videos are the best.

[@izvarzone]

clipping doesn't have pumping sound at least, i never heard pumping from clippers

[@Jvaldes609]

as a "newbie" I found this video very helpful. thank you

[@sahawndada]

Subscribed. Great stuff on mix buss tv!!

[@MorisoniProductions]

thanks for this super-clear explanation of these principles. Much appreciated!

[@djvidual8288]

Very helpful, thank you for the explanation.

[@ToHerbiarz]

Thank You so much Man! You are great teacher

[@PharaohLawLess1]

BLESS YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO MY BIG BROTHA!!!!!

[@AdrianRC991]

Thanks for the information...

[@sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

Thank you SO very much, David. I really appreciate you for the information which you have a history of sharing.

[@mandarwadkar2064]

Thank you very much sir ...it was eye opener for me most of the time i was worried to use limiters on Rhythm ...in Indian percs lots of transients happens such as "dhol and other loud rhythm instruments" now i got an Idea how to control those guys .....than you very much for the information sir ... you made my day ...

[@Andrew_Renko]

Oh my, great explanation, man! Thank SO much!

[@steverivera419]

Great video,, I'm in!!

[@atomas59]

Thanks a great deal. One little thing changed a great deal in my dealing with the overall sound. Don't know about the other, but you greatly help me here. Cheers.

[@bmcgoo6027]

Great tutorial - very well explained, thanks.

[@deanmasi6684]

Great video. It definitely helped to serve as a nice refresher for me. As well as helped to clear up a few confusing aspects between the two! Thank you.

[@Kiloeve]

I know it's been some time since this upload, but the timing and phrasing of, "LOWER everything else, your gain staging.. is... SHIT" gets me every time.

[@arthurazoubel5344]

I really appreciate all your videos, you do know what you're talking about and we all glad that you share it with us. I knew, from studying, that the "attack" time is actually the time the compressor takes to reach the full compression ratio, but I also noticed that most people don't understand that this is the case with "release" too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've learned that release time is the time compression reaches the unity ratio after the threshold stops being reached, and not the time compression stops acting. First the signal needs to be lower than the threshold to deactivate the compression and then you have your release time, making the signal at unity gain again. Sorry if I didn't make myself clear enough hahaha, but I'm not an expert in english. One question, though. Do you, by any chance, give online classes by skype or something? Thanks!!

[@arthurazoubel5344]

Ok, I thought you'd say that, but it was worth asking either way! IF, and whenever you decide to offer classes, please, let me know! Thank you for the answer too!

[@KarasamaBeats]

That was so helpful David ! Thank you so much ! Can you make a video on “Which type of compressors give best results on which instruments?” Thanks again fam

[@DiamabrushTools]

Excellent! Thank You!!!

[@noirguitarsuperstar3410]

Very well done video -- I'm glad I found your channel. Cheers!

[@the_newvoice]

Very nice. Thanks!

[@agustinroses4722]

Excelente video! New fan here, love form Argentina

[@MrOliverTube]

great as always. ThanXXXL

[@CarlosGunX]

The attack time on a compressor is the time it will take the compression to achieve 2/3, or, 66.6% gain reduction... Thanks, Mr. David.. Thumbs up!

[@izvarzone]

I wonder if it's same on all compressors? Since they have different algorithms, or different hardware, or trying to get different sound.

[@northkaskazini721]

Thanks man! This was very informative.

[@CostasCh]

For transient enhancements i use transient shapers.

[@catojrgensen8912]

This was absolutely brilliant!!

[@DjHiTech101]

I dig your approach. Great video.

[@irmaocaudenciomatabela1538]

Thank u for sharing with us your knoledge.

[@lalocura1828]

Found it! Thank you

[@josefrancisco6969]

Great video.

[@MorisProLIcKSCoreas]

Great lesson thanks! This is Gold!

[@LifeIsGood1992]

great advice

[@brentbusby74]

"Your gain staging...is shit." I love these videos. Keep up the good work.

[@lipancek]

Great video, very helpful for a novice like me. I noticed you often use limiters (L1, L2) at the end of the chain on bass guitar. What exactly do you go for in this case? Just a few db of transparent peak reduction? Do you use limiters on other instruments this way as well? Thanks in advance for your answer.

[@sonnybrasco9735]

nice vid man

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

Thank you!!!

[@JaminatoRRR]

very nicely explained..attack and release are surely the mystical features of the compressors :-)

[@boopthirajan3163]

Thank you for this video. very useful.

[@MikeBurnsArrangedAccidents]

Outstanding explanation!

[@audioborg3376]

Love this channel and your videos. Keep them coming! My only comment is about the section when you are applying makeup gain specifically on the API 2500. Doesn't the "Manual Make-Up" button need to be engaged? Otherwise isn't in the default mode which is "Auto" makeup gain? This may have been commented on before, I just didn't read all them before posting.

[@xandde1]

GREAT content! Thanks for the explanation! :)

[@MB1z]

great vid , I am watching this again.

[@remix1964]

Thank you man, great video!

[@MegaMixking]

most excellent

[@fasnosturalanov5415]

Great videos. Thank you very much.

[@LucasMichalski]

Thank you for very informative video. Limiters subject is the thing that I'm trying to learn properly for long time. Just one question. I've noticed that many people recommend using limiters for drum bus, adlibs, vocals and guitar solos. Can you please explain more in depth using limiters during mixing especially on things like vocals, drum bus and guitar solos. Recently I experimented with limiter on my drum bus, drums became clearer, more snappy and bit louder. I liked the results but I would like to know why, same with guitar solos. I would like dive deeper in using limiters in mixing vs just puttting your fader up. Thanks. Lucas

[@OshadhaChandikaChamp]

Thanks brother

[@kaulinman9670]

always a great lesson

[@va941]

If there ever is a catastrhope that kills all of our digital data....these will be missed❤

[@davidpicarazzi]

Fuck man I learned so much in this video THANK YOU. I subbed. For me it was a default thing where I wouldn't ever limit because so many people said so but it all makes sense now, compressors are to be used in moderation and NOT to do the work of a limiter

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

Great stuff...why so many commercials? Just curious how you did that.