What do you guys consider the best Loudness maximizing software?

 

Fabfilter L-2 or Ozone Maximizer

 

Most versatile & most used for me is FabFilter Pro-L, for a harder edge Tokyo Dawn Limiter 6 (love this on rock), most punch or for rhythmic tracks TB LaxLimit3 and for softer tracks / transparency, either Pro-L in transparent mode or Flux's Pure limiter . . . a touch of PSP's Twin-L before a brickwall limiter works nicely lots of the time.

 

ik stealth

 

99% of people never use a plugin to its fullest, meaning if you can find one that you can manipulate to the best of your expertise then use that, because I guarantee that will give you better results than the most expensive out there.

Therefore my answer is simply, the best one is the one you can get on with best.

I used Sonnox Oxford Limiter on this:- (I'm happy with the results)

 

Last edited: Feb 29, 2020

I've gotten my best results from using many limiters in serial. A trick I picked up from Mike Dean. I'll usually start with FG-X because it retains transients better than any other limiter, although it overloads fairly quickly (something I hope they fix in the long-promised FG-X 2, but that shit is turning into more of a myth than Detox). Then I'll let Pro L2 do most of the leg work with a super-long lookahead and 4x oversampling. Then to squeeze as much volume as possible, I'll use A.O.M. Invisible Limiter V2 and L1+ to limit a few dB. Somehow after all these years L1 can still take a ridiculously loud signal (-10 to -8 LUFS) and give it 1 or 2 more dB without distorting. Some of that old Waves stuff is so weirdly coded it's like black magic, man.

 

Last edited: Feb 29, 2020

L1 is still a great piece of virtual gear, as is L3. I'm also a fan of the Maserati GRP plugin. It gives a very nice transparent embiggening that doesn't pump and squash with a smooth eq.

 

Elixir followed by 'really transparent' (in the ocean of reviews, tests, tutorials... pop-biased opinions... can't find single "in depth" video LOL..) Limiter.

 

My go-to's are Voxengo's Elephant or DMG Audio's Limitless.
I do continue experimenting with others when I have a slightly different track and have the time; it never hurts to play the field (as long as you're not just fully procrastinating on a mix/master. )
Some of the thers that I've really liked and deserve honorable mentions are, McDSP's Retro/ML4000/ML8000 Limiters, PSP's Twin-L, and HOFA's IQ-Limiter.

 

fabfilter pro L2, t-racks stealth limiter, sonnox inflator
pspvintagewarmer should also be decent, same with aom invisible limiter but i havent tested both for mastering