Maximize volume with an audio limiter

What is a limiter?

As explained in our article about compressors, a compressor reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal. It makes the quietest parts louder and the loudest parts quieter, making the volume more even throughout. When the signal peaks reach above the set threshold level the volume level is automatically lowered and vice versa.

An audio limiter is a type of compressor with a high ratio, and generally a fast attack time. Most mastering engineers consider a compressor with a ratio of 10:1 or more as a limiter. A limiter does not allow any audio material whatsoever to leave the limiter over the set threshold value.

Limiters are usually used on the master channel as the very last part of an audio signal chain to maximize the volume of the entire track and keep it from exceeding a certain level.

How use the limiter in Soundation

Quick mastering [Beginner]

There's much more to the mastering process than making your music productions louder, but in many cases, you can make your track sound more "professional" by throwing a limiter on the master. Just be wary of the loudness wars!

1. 1
   Open Soundation Education and create a project
2. 2
   Press 0 to reveal the master channel
3. 3
   Double-click it, this will open up the bottom panel
4. 4
   Press "+ Add effect" and select Limiter in the drop-down menu
5. 5
   In the upper right corner, you can now select one of the pre-made settings
6. 6
   Experiment with pulling the threshold down to find a sweetspot - watch out for clipping and distortion

Customize the Limiter [Intermediate]

Read below about the individual parameters of Soundation's limiter and what they do.

Threshold

Threshold governs when the limiter should start limiting.

Release

Release controls the release time and governs when the limiter will decrease gain reduction.

Gain

Gain often called "make up gain", governs how loud the output signal from the limiter will be.

If you found this interesting you might want to take a deeper look at how compressors and limiters work. Otherwise, hop into our studio and start making bangers!