Limiter

In the desktop app. Limiter is a device of the desktop app, arriving in its beta; the web studio does not have it. The examples on this page are made with a reference version of the effect, applied to sound from the studio’s engine: they show what each control does, and the device itself may differ a little in character.

What it is for

A limiter is a ceiling that sound cannot pass. Turn a song up into it and the peaks that would have gone over are held at the ceiling instead of being cut off, so the song gets louder and nothing clips. It is the last device on the master, and the place where the final loudness of a song is set.

Reach for it when the mix is finished and the song is quieter than you want. Before that, it has no job: a limiter does not fix a mix, it only decides how loud the finished one is. Loudness has a ceiling and Loudness for streaming are the two ideas behind it.

Gain

How far the song is turned up into the ceiling. The first few decibels are free: only the tallest peaks are held, and nobody hears the difference. Beyond that every further decibel flattens the song a little more. The drums lose their punch first.

Ceiling

The level nothing passes, in decibels. Set it a little under 0 dB, about −1 dB: turning a song into an MP3 or sending it through a streaming service can raise its peaks slightly, and the margin keeps those from clipping.

Release

How quickly the limiter lets go after a peak. Fast, and the song stays as loud as possible but can sound grainy when pushed. Slow, and it is smoother but can audibly dip after each drum hit.

The reduction meter

The meter shows how much the limiter is holding back at each moment. Touching 1 to 3 dB on the loudest hits is the usual place. If it sits at 6 dB or more all the time, the song is being flattened; turn the Gain down, and if the song is then too quiet, the answer is in the mix, not in the limiter. Meters and loudness shows how loud the result is.