Mastering Limiters

I wonder: how are you using the limiter? Did you pull down the threshold a bunch, then pull down the output gain to compensate? How much gain reduction is happening? If it's more than a couple of dB, that's likely a problem. I agree that I wouldn't use a brickwall on an electric guitar. Distorted electrics already have a limited dynamic range. But if you are going for an effect, there is no "wrong way" .. if it sounds good, it sounds good :)

Some questions ...

If you are recording everything to -18dBFS, is that RMS (average) or peak? If it's peak, you can safely turn up the gain on your preamps so that you are recording to -18dBFS as an average level, not as an absolute peak level. It's the average level that is the most important. You can have a transient all the way up to -0.1dBFS, but if the average level is between -15dBFS and -18dBFS, you should be fine. Having said that, the idea about leaving 6dB of peak headroom in your mix is a very good idea.

There's something going on though - if you record everything to -18dBFS, there's no way it should be ending up as -28dBFS on the master buss unless you are lowering the gain/trim/channel mix sliders substantially on each track during mixing. Maybe I missed something there?

Are you recording at 24-bit or 16-bit? That makes a big difference on what level you should record at. If you are recording at 16-bit, you really should be trying to push the input, with some compression if possible. This does have the unfortunate effect of pushing your gear to the point of potentially smearing the sound, so be careful. And if you don't really know how to use a compressor, it will make everything much worse. It's all about compromise.

The other consideration is what the ambient noise floor is in the room you are using. Many home studio rooms have an ambient noise floor above -96dBFS (which is the LSB of 16-bit), if only because of a computer fan. So make sure to position your cardioid mics away from noise and toward the sound source ... this will help with reducing noise problems.
 
After tracking, I do some slight mixing via HP filters whenever I'm using them, some basic compression on bass and drums, then it's time for me to get working on the levels. I solo the bass and drums and try to get that combo up to about -9 peak, but listening for the relationship between them while I do it. That's also the time I start looking at the compressor settings for both of those. The amount of gain reduction is important since it's affecting where the master meter is sitting. Then I bring in snare, heavy/rhythm guitars, hats, OH's, lead guitars, toms, and vocals last. I want the whole thing to hit about -5 or -6 before I bounce it out.
 
Thats a funky link you posted. Made my phone go crazy with virus warnings.
Had to power it off and reboot.
( link to youtube video)

I'm not clicking on anything else you post.
 
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