Explain the difference between compression and limiting..

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scottboyher

scottboyher

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I am still a little confused on these subjects.. I notice when I compress a wav it smashes the whole thing and when I limit the wav it cuts the tops off right where I specified.. Anyway, what istechnically going on when I limit vs. compress (not too technical ;) ).

I am still missing something here.. Help!
 
That helped, thanks!

Question... How does limiting vs. compression relate to Mastering? How do you decide what the song needs as you sit there looking at the wav file?

Is there a certain point when a limiter has to be used because a compressor won’t do the job or vise versa?
 
scottboyher said:
That helped, thanks!

Question... How does limiting vs. compression relate to Mastering? How do you decide what the song needs as you sit there looking at the wav file?

Is there a certain point when a limiter has to be used because a compressor won’t do the job or vise versa?
Click to expand...

Heres a simplified way of looking at it.

You have 2 types of levels. The RMS is an average of the levels and that is the bulk of the wave form and that is reallly what makes a song sound loud or not (perceived loudness). The higher the RMS the louder the song. The PEAKS are the spikes above the RMS and determine how loud the transients are.

Usually you use compression to make the entire song less dynamic and you use limiting to just regulate the peaks and keep the rest of the material relatively as it is. Compression determines how loud the RMS is and Limiting determines how high you want the PEAKS above the RMS.
 
TexRoadkill said:
Heres a simplified way of looking at it.
Usually you use compression to make the entire song less dynamic and you use limiting to just regulate the peaks and keep the rest of the material relatively as it is. Compression determines how loud the RMS is and Limiting determines how high you want the PEAKS above the RMS.
Click to expand...


Thats it! I can see that in the wave form and I understand that... Thanks!
 
So when they say that the ME's today are squashing the hell out of the music to squeeze a few more db's out of it..

They are limiting the peaks and raising the overall volume, kinda?
 
scottboyher said:
So when they say that the ME's today are squashing the hell out of the music to squeeze a few more db's out of it..

They are limiting the peaks and raising the overall volume, kinda?
Click to expand...

no, they are making it sound better :)
 
Better? What does that smiley mean? Does it mean you're friendly and happy, or does it mean you're making a joke? It's a joke I'm hoping for. :)
 
They are also EQing as well as limiting and compressing. And, averaging volumes across multiple tracks, spacing the quiet spots between tracks, fade ins and fade outs etc. Lot's of stuff in addition to smashing the tracks dynamics.....:eek:
 
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