I know it's a damn old plugin, some good modern tools like fabfilter pro-l and smartlimit by sonible can do things that L2 can't, that's a fact. But using L2 on the 2buss (with not hard limiting, or squashing) can be harmful to a song nowdays? I see a lot of pros using it but a lot of rage on the audio comunity as well. So it gets kinda confusing for me. Some will say, "test it by yourself", but i don't know if i have enough knowledge and ears to judge in a long term job (mixing various styles with music with L2) if it's not working. I'd like to read about your guys experience with this tool. Thanks!!!

 

L2 (software or hardware version) has been used on countless hit recordings and many still use it, but it's also nearly as old as Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriends.

Modern limiters have the advantage of decades of DSP research and don't have to be coded to run on an Intel Celeron CPU from the 90's.

For most track limiting duties it's fine and the simplicity/low-CPU could be a benefit, but for groups and master bus duties I'm sure you could find half a dozen freeware limiters that would be as as good or better.

From December 2000
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/waves-l2-ultramaximizer

 

About "industry standard", it is a total bullsh1t argument

I agree with @DonCaballero.
Mastering limiters moved a LOT.
So this plugin is REALLY dated, capacity and sound wise

It was already 10 years ago when i compared it to others

But i'm VERY picky too
As an example, i hate FGX because of transient mess it introduces

I even preferred the freeware "Loudmax" to L2
https://loudmax.blogspot.com/

My fav paid are Elephant (mojo) or FabFilter (clean)

 

It still does a damned good job, as some other early WAVE-tools. You won´t miss anything, if you use it.
Karl

 

Thing is, you rarely see a limiter going over 1 dB of gain reduction in a pro environment, even if the loudness of that song goes as high as -6 LUFS. There are more steps involved in getting a loud mix and slamming a limiter is never one of these steps. So no one really cares about the limiter because at 1 dB gain reduction all sound the same. As long as it can catch peaks (or, if necessary, true peaks), any limiter would do

 

Read this (it sums things right) :
https://musictech.com/reviews/fabfilter-pro-l-2-review/

 

Thank you all! I found all the awnsers convincing, and after some tests i found out that voxengo's elephant is very close to L2 in the workflow part (not so much to tweak) + a lot of other cool stuff (dc filters, different modes of limiting, etc). Pro-L is soundwise very good, but i don't like to tweak it. Really cool article the last one, @PifPafPif

 

Why does it seem debating maximizers is kind of like comparing crack-whores?
Limiters are kind of like the wife ..
and compressors....well, you know!

 

Try Limiter n6 too (very different approach, it is like a "mastering bus chain") :
https://vladgsound.wordpress.com/plugins/limiter6/

 

I used L3-MM on a few tracks when I began,
it was alright 15-20 years ago I guess, but nowadays I'd say it's a bit dated..

(Now dodging the Limiter vs Maximizer debate..)

The standard modern alternative has always been Ozone's maximizer,
much more advanced/featured tool which has been improving since v4..

I won't disregard v4 or v5, which had a sound/response of their own,
then in Ozone v6-v9 became ever more refined..


The most advanced alternative would be Newfangled Elevate,
having most of the features of Ozone, but with up to 26 independent Bands of processing..

In practical terms I'd say they're equally as good

 

Last edited: Feb 19, 2023

In terms of Limiters it seems FF Pro-L is one of the most loved nowadays..

However I was told a while ago to check out A.O.M.'s Invisible Limiter, (supposed to be the shiznit..)
but afaik is already +10 years old.. can anyone confirm/dispel the myth about this one?

 

Last edited: Feb 19, 2023

If you want a purely technical comparison for cleanliness (distortion, release/attack stability and correctness):

https://gearspace.com/board/gear-sh...sts/1250778-digital-limiter-quality-test.html

From the opening post, verbatim:

There are more limiters worth looking at tested on later pages. ReaLimit, TBProAudio LAxLimit & SML2.

 

The main thing to take into consideration when using L2 is that its maximum dynamic range is 24 bit, so it's ok to use it for the final master to be distributed in 16 or 24 bit, but it's not ok if you need to do 32 bit master or if you use it as track insert during the mixdown, because most of DAWs are 64 bit internal resolution and it will introduce artifacts in that case.

 

Another option would be DMG Limitless..
Despite the crude GUI it seems to be every bit as good as Pro-L, Ozone or Elevate,
having most features like TP, DC, HPF, Trans/Dyn det., 6 band + linear phase crossover..

 

My 2 cents, use a clipper before the limiter that way you limiter won't need to work as hard.

 

A clipper introduces a distinct change in the shape of the waveform by flattening the top.
I limiter seeks to simply reduce the amplitude of the wave, and should be capable of doing this withOUT clipping. If it can not reduce the amplitude without clipping, it just sucks as a limiter.

If you are seeking to only limit, don't introduce a distortion effect.
If you want distortion as well, a clipper is the way to go.
Of course you could use many distortion plugins that do not attempt to boost apparent gain, as well.

I know the terminology these days is not what it used to be, but that comes from people misusing terminology.
There IS still a use for a clean limiter. Not everything should sound like the end of the world.

 

I really like this one, although it crashes on my daw (FL Studio 20.7 R2R)

I love DMG audio but i don't like multiband maximizers. I love tracklimit for individual tracks.

For me it doesn't work for a multiple reasons: i'm very picky about saturation on my 2buss. I do use it, very often, but it's more in a gentle way to transpose something like a vibe instead of compressing through harmonics.
And any clipper will flat top my transients, something that for me is far from desirable, BC some folks think it would make a record sound louder, but with normalization on plataforms it just looses impact in exange of percieved loudness. Matter of taste, but i prefer keeping the dynamics i worked so hard to build on the record and using a maximizer to enhance that in some way. And it doesn't have to work hard anyway.

 

I don't like pushing the clipper that much, just very light transparent clipping is the way I use clippers.

 

L2 ? one of my favourite, not as a final limiter though. That midrange grit Waves True Digital Aliasing Technology™️ is just awesome. The idea is based on the philosophy :

"Every plugin is a distortion plugin if you use it wrong enough."

- Plato (2000 *BPT)

*before Pro Tools

Please watch the video below if you haven't already.

For final limiter, I use Fabfilter Pro-L2 like a normal person.

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2023

Yeah, it's all about the settings in the end.

Gentle persuasion of soft clipping ...
Instead of smashing it with the limiter.