← Mixing & RoutingOPEN FULL LIMITER LAB →
Mission 51 · World 5
Limiter & True Peak
The last device on every master.
Brick-wall ceiling. The last device on every master.
+70 XP🏅 Loudness
// WHAT IT DOES
A Limiter is a hard ceiling: nothing crosses it. You set a Ceiling (the max output level) and a Gain (how much to push the input up), and the Limiter clamps anything that would exceed the ceiling.
On a master, the Limiter's job is loudness control without clipping. Keep ceiling around -1 dBTP for streaming services — that leaves headroom for codec encoding artifacts.
Think of it like → Like a height limiter at a parking garage — anything taller than the bar gets squashed flat.
▸ WHY YOU CARE
- • Final loudness for streaming/release.
- • Catches peaks that would clip your converter.
// SEE & HEAR IT
SOURCE
0
OUTPUT
0
LIMITER
▸ HOVER A KNOB
Pick a knob to see what it does
Each control has a one-line explanation here. Twist it to hear the change.
INPUT GAIN
1.00 x
CEILING
-1 dB
RELEASE
0.05 s
PRESETS — TAP TO HEAR
OUTPUT SPECTRUM
WHAT CHANGED
- ▸ Defaults — toggle A/B or load a preset to hear the device.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
- ▸ Push input gain — track gets louder until distortion appears.
- ▸ Compare commercial mix loudness with and without limiter.
- ▸ Too much = lifeless, pumping wall of sound.
HOW TO USE
Press PLAY → tap a PRESET → toggle A/B to compare dry vs processed. Twist knobs to hear how each parameter changes the sound.▸ HOW IT WORKS
Input → look-ahead delay → peak detector → gain reduction → ceiling clamp → output.
▸ Signal flow — watch the dot
▸ SIGNAL FLOW
Glowing dot = your signal travelling through Live.
▸ LISTEN FOR
- • Transparent peak control at low GR.
- • Pumping/breathing as GR increases.
▸ WALKTHROUGH (3 steps)
- 1. DO: Drop Limiter on master. Ceiling -1 dB, Gain 0 dB, Lookahead 3 ms.▸ LISTEN: Master sounds the same; ceiling protected.
- 2. DO: Push Gain +3 dB.▸ LISTEN: Mix loudens; tiny GR on transient peaks.
- 3. DO: Push Gain +6 dB.▸ LISTEN: Pumping on kick/bass — too much.
▸ COMMON MISTAKES
- ✗ Using Limiter to fix mix problems instead of polish.
- ✗ Ignoring True Peak then blaming the codec.
// QUIZ (QUICK)
Question 1 / 30 correct
A limiter is a…