Limiters/Aural Exciters

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Phosphene

Phosphene

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Whats a good brand/model of Mastering limiter, without going overboard on price?

I sort of know what an Aural Exciter does (wth harmonics that are pleasing to the ear or whatever).....what is the real scoop on these suckas and is it worth looking into getting one?

j

www.mp3.com/phosphene
 
The Waves stuff gets accolades -- couple of grand though...

There are no "cheap" mastering tools that are worth anything. And an Exciter (Aphex or otherwise is NOT a mastering tool....)

I use them occasional to rescue poorly-recorded tracks or occasionally in place of EQ on a track or two, but that's about it.
 
If your not going to get Waves L2($2000) the next item on the list that gets decent results (after tons of failed experiments and even more training) would be the DBX Quantum II. Its still about $1500.

SoMm
 
However, I've seen used Quantum I's going for $500-600 or so on eBay. The main difference between Quantum I's and Quantum II's is that the II's allow PC control.

I own a Quantum I in mint shape, which I got for $500, and I have to say it was money well spent. I also have the Waves L2 hardware and it has a lot going for it as well. Very easy to use, and you really do have great control over the volume of the final mix. Can really be abused if you are not careful!

The thing about the Quantum is that you have to toss the presets and really get in there and experiment with it. If you do that, and have somewhat of a clue as to what you are doing and need from it, the Quantum will give you some great results.
 
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The software plugin route would probably be your least expensive solution.

Sonic Timeworks makes a mastering limiter that is such a ridiculously good value for the money, it's almost sick. I know it kinda' looks like a toy, :D but it is a seriously good tool :

http://www.sonictimeworks.com/p_masteringcomp.php?PHPSESSID=d97b318c96330025fc51d293afa1714b

On the outboard / hardware side of things, one of the best-kept secrets is the Aphex Dominator. You can usually score these for around 5 hundredge if you're an astute ebayer.

As for the Aural Exciter, I don't know that I would go that route. It's too easy to get sucked in and to overdo it. They've been known to destroy plenty of otherwise perfectly good mixes. You'd be better off learning your way around a decent Parametric Equalizer.
 
I agree, it's way too easy to go overboard with the aural exciter thing. But that's easy to do with limiting as well.

Good suggestions so far in this thread. It may be worth it go the software route, as it will cost less than hardware in most cases. The other issue is that if your mix is in digital, like a DAW, you will need some seriously good converters to have any advantage going out to analog limiting and then back to digital. Without those converters, it's better to stay digital and use a good plugin. That will be cleaner anyway.

The Aphex dominator is a good suggestion for analog though. I have a Waves L2 hardware unit and it's great for limiting, although at around $2,000 they are pricey.

But really, I agree with chessrock, avoid the exciter thing for mastering/finishing your mixes.
 
chessrock said:
The software plugin route would probably be your least expensive solution.

Sonic Timeworks makes a mastering limiter that is such a ridiculously good value for the money, it's almost sick. I know it kinda' looks like a toy, :D but it is a seriously good tool :

http://www.sonictimeworks.com/p_masteringcomp.php?PHPSESSID=d97b318c96330025fc51d293afa1714b
Click to expand...

co-signs...if you want your mix to retain its depth and clarity while still being loud ST mastering compressor is the way to go...if you want your mix to be extremely loud, smeared and 2 dimensional sounding go with the L2 plug in
 
Teach, you say clear, I say brittle. But smeared is smeared. They do the job.

MP
 
mallcore pop said:
Teach, you say clear, I say brittle. But smeared is smeared. They do the job.

MP
Click to expand...

you think ST Masteringcompressor sounds thin? on the contraire it usually makes my drums and bass more punchy just by putting it on the mastering bus...different strokes for different folks i guess?i thought the L1 sounded better then the L2..but YMMV
 
After playing around with the two programs a bit, I'm not sure if this is really the case . . .

I just tried using basically the same settings on the same selection of music. Basically I purposely took a sample of something and squashed the shit out of it mercelessly in both plugins and compared the results.

After zooming in on the wave forms, the Timeworks sample clearly flattened out some of the waves . . . like someone dropped an anville on their heads. :D The L1 and L2 waves looked surprizingly in tact. I've read in various places that L1/L2 will redraw the waveform so as to avoid the anville-head effect, and this appears to be the case upon comparison. It's right there in front of me, clear as day.

Now I'm not sure what other effects or artifacts the two programs are imparting, but it would be my guess that there probably are some other things going on with the L1/L2 and the Timeworks that make them sound different, because regardless of how it seems to crush the poor waves, I can't exactly say I don't like the sound of the Timeworks, which I find odd.
 
i guess its that 64 bit internal precision thingamajig...how much DB's of head room is that? :eek:
 
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