saturation and limiter

[20Mg]

i have question marks hovering my head in regards to this 2 plug ins. under what condition do you require them? what effect are you looking for when you use this 2 plug ins? i read the post re: making your track sounds larger by the winter guy and yes it definitely clear up some of my query but i guess i still dont really understand it as i havent actually use it on my mix. What are the general settings when you use saturation and do you use limiter individually or in the bus/group bla bla. What is maximizer? is it the same concept but opposite to limiter? i heard heapsss of good comment about voxengo limiter and i might get it once i fully understand the concept.
thanks

 

[DaWolf]

I`m sure there are others that can explain that better than myself. Just wanted to say that there`s actually a plug that does saturation and limiting at the same time, it`s called Gsatmax

http://www.gvst.co.uk/beta.htm

 

[TheWinterSnow]

to keep it short all a limiter is going to do is simulate digital clipping at a lower level than 0db, its really harsh if overdone however if you utilize the right knee setting and limit the track in layers (more than one limiter) than you can get a good result.

In what application are they used? Completely hack off the top part of a peak to that you can achieve higher RMS levels. It is also used to minimize some instruments so that you compensate for their perceived volume before you go into the mastering process. for example snares. When you do master bus limiting, the snare is the first one to get completely murdered in the mix. The fix is too clip the snare so that you take away the peaks, compensate for the volume so that it cuts in the mix and continues to cut even after you have done limiting on the master bus.

Another use is to actually achieve some distortion. To some degree saturation from a limiter helps glue the other tracks together in sacrifice for clarity and dynamic but is usually responsible for a meatier and thicker sound

 

[Morgan C]

Saturation is AWESOME on snares, vocals and bass.

Snares it fattens them up nicely. The transient can start to disappear though, so you might want to compress a tiny bit aftewards. This, plus parallel compression, allows your snares to survive mastering and still be audible.

Vocals it brings out the natural distortion in a vocalist's voice (screaming or singing) and emulates good preamp distortion. I like to use a compressor with a low ratio evening out the take, then a saturator set pretty hard (as hard as I can go without it being obvious or introducing room sound), then use parallel compression (0 attack, 50%ish mix), which brings out the grit better than simply driving the saturator harder.

Bass is the same as vocals really.

It doesn't work very well with toms and kicks because the low-end becomes distorted and nasty, and with guitars it can start audibly clipping, but it may work in very small amounts.




Limiting I use on the masterbus, bass guitar and sometimes snare drums too. I like to overcompress, then clip and limit my snares back into place to get a really nice snap that doesn't stick out too much.

 

[20Mg]

hey guys thanks for the reply.. Didnt really make that much sense to me but i guess its because i havent tried it myself. Will this be available in the MILAR video? i received it late last month but havent got the time to check it out. I guess im able to find tutorial file on youtube aswell?
winter when u said you use limiter for the snare. Then i have to put limiter on the individual track correct? im using Superior 2.. im not sure how to go abouts for that. If i remembered correctly i was unable to find a limiter plug in within the superior 2 console.
Morgoe: when you use saturation on the guitar ( if used correctly ) what is considered as the ideal result? more dynamics? natural?
bare in mind im using mk3 revalver only.. ITB.

 

[Ermz]

A limiter essentially works like a compressor with super-fast attack and a very high ratio (20:1 or above). Whenever a peak crosses the threshold, the limiter ducks the entire track. Contrary to popular belief it does NOT chop off the transient, it simply ducks the entire thing down, so the peak is still intact.

A saturator lightly distorts and compresses the source material so that it gives the impression of being smoother, or richer. It usually leads to a build up of lower mids, or midbass, so you have to watch out as it is a trade-off of 'fatness' vs clarity.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

I personally don't limit my snare, since I have other means of processing but yes you have to put the limiter on the snare track, you could use the a compressor with a high ratio and fast attack like ermz mentioned or you can route the snare channel of SD out into a physical track in your DAW and use whatever limiter you want. I would actually suggest that you send all your mics/drums/channels from SD to a separate track in your DAW, not only is it easier to mix there, and you are putting your drums in the mix along with the rest of your instruments, you can also add whatever plugin you want to each individual drum track. I don't know how to do that with SD but it should be int eh I/O panel in the mixing page of SD. That's how I mix, I have a track for every set of mics/drum so that way I have full DAW control of the drums as if you recorded a live acoustic kit, but you will still be able to go into SD and tweak as you want, like compression, mic bleed , gating etc.

 

[20Mg]

sweet. Ill figure it out in no time. Thx guys I think ill be able to come up with a decent mix in the near future.