Mixing into a Clipper / Limiter

[dcb]

i remember reading joey currently mixes into his mastering chain (correct me if im wrong).
i did that in the past, but felt that fighting against a master bus compressor is not fun (and it isnt ;-).

but what if i mixed into a clipper + limiter ? this would basically leave
my levels where they are. if i turn something up it really comes up (again im comparing to mixing into a master bus compressor setup)

i also speak only for metal mixes here, rock i prefer a smooth ssl type mb compression. i found a cool clipper that i use now : stillwellaudio clipper. really transparent clipper. i like it more than gclip, which to my ears destroys the signal in some cases // my ears start bleeding pretty quick.
not so witht he stillwell...

the pros are : mixing into a clipper will get you to competitive levels faster
than any other method (i think..) because you control in the mix, how far you can push the levels. also : my mixes gel so quickly, its amazing...

so my question : who mixes into a clipper?
what do you guys think about that? love it? hate it?
favorite clipper? anyone use the stillwell stuff?

 

[AEL89]

hey dude,

I usually have a limiter on the 2-bus but I'll be flipping it on and off just to make sure my mix works both ways. I find that I'll mix drums A LOT louder than usual with a limiter on the 2-bus so I try to be careful with it, no more than a few dBs of limiting. I'll often check my mix in mono whilst limiting really hard, that tends to help me get a good balance. I'm using the Maxim plugin by the way - cool limiter but I prefer Ozone in clipping mode!

 

[MetalSound]

i´m always mixing into the finalizer with the normalizer/clipper on. i don´t like the idea of having completely different levels of guitars/drums after mastering.
by mixing with the finalizer in the mastering chain i always know how the mix will sound mastered.

 

[Ermz]

I mix into the 2-bus compressor as well as a limiter/clipper on the end. I need those commercial levels as I'm going otherwise it's too easy to lose perspective. I find it forces me to do a more balanced mix (frequency-wise). The danger is when you remove that chain and everything sort of plonks apart. As long as you find a mastering engineer who understands where you're coming from, it's all good.

 

[lolzgreg]

I don't mix with a clipper. I just have a brickwall limiter on my 2bus at all time with zero in-gain.

Should I be using a clipper? I think that is more a matter of taste.

 

[Harry Hughes]

There are a lot of people that say not to do this, but fuck it, this is not an exact science and people should feel free to take their own approach, so I mix into a master buss limiter and clipper all the time

 

[AerialThesis]

I mix with nothing on the master buss and I get clearer results all the time. I usually try to make the mix peak around -7 dBFS so i can master it correctly after. It let's me master each part of the song differently and let's me chose what I want to clip at the end or not. I believe mixing with a limiter or a clipper on the master bus is lazy. It's a mix dude, you have over 127 dB of room and you guys still manage to clip your stuff before mastering it?

 

[Ermz]

There are a lot of people that say not to do this..

Yet you find out that most do to some degree or other.

Randy mixes into his 2-bus with a massive amount of gain reduction, and even a Sontec EQ. It's just his sound. CLA mixes into a 2-bus taking off very light dBs and also bumps the lows with a Pultec. Andy mixes into a limiter to help approximate the sound after mastering.

Don't let someone else define your sound for you. There is no wrong or right. Do what gets you the best results.

 

[greyskull]

i mix into analog channel (sic) which i have doing a tiny bit of Gr but thats it. limiter later