have you tested if your daw can bring the volume to -13 LUFS or whatever u're going for?

because...

i tested now with reaper and i have no idea what the big fuss is about using a professional maximizer/limitor.

i tested ozone 9 maximizer as compared to just raising the volume in reaper to bring it to -13LUFS and its the same...

can someone explain?

unless we get into dithering which i am not sure about that yet

Edit: ok i feel kinda dumb...

but lets assume i was talking about reapers stock plugin Realimit vs Ozone 9 maximizer :p both sound pretty identical to me

 

Last edited: Aug 22, 2022

Reaper's stock plug-ins are more than competent enough to get a master to -13 LUFS, and should work perfectly for anyone that's in the beginning of their mixing/mastering journey as well as for more seasoned peopled (can't claim to be a "pro", but they would probably agree with me).

One thing to not get hung-up on when you start out is that your mixes does not need to be -7/-6 or whatever LUFS to sound professional. You are more likely to ruin your mix completely (and sound even more amateurish) when trying to achieve loudness like that by just slapping a limiter on your master bus. Be conservative with your mastering FX, and if you can't get the mix louder than -14 LUFS without the limiter having to work overtime, that's okay! If you are happy with how the mix sounds overall, leave it like that. Instead - try to analyze why the limiter had to work so hard without reaching higher loudness values, what elements of the mix could have been dealt with differently etc, and then apply that knowledge/theories to your next mix. It's easy to get stuck on doing endless iterations of one and the same mix without getting completely satisfied with how it sounds or how loud it is, and you will gain experience much quicker by mixing a lot of different songs rather than by doing a lot of different mixes of one and the same song (IMHO ofc).

 

If they sound identical to you, use whichever one you like, and don't waste time concerning yourself with what everyone else thinks.

Which of Ozone's 4 modes did you use? Can you hear a difference between each of them (without first reading/askiing what they're "meant" to sound like)? If not then again, don't worry about it, and use whatever you find most convenient.

A lot of us use different limiters for different situations because like so many other tools, they often respond, and sound, differently in a given situation - whether that's their transient handling, distortion characteristics, ability to maintain/alter stereo field, front to back depth, dynamics within the track, etc.

Personally I don't use limiters for getting pure level/volume that much - I tend to prefer clipping for that particular task because if done right I find it cleaner in a lot of cases.

But it's very much on a case by case basis, and like almost everything else you/we talk about about, it comes down to experience, and spending time by yourself, listening and forming your own opinions (and continually being open to adapting / evolving those opinions as you progress / gain more experience).

 

Last edited: Aug 22, 2022