Logic 9 Adaptive limiter

[ENNO]

Quick question, When i throw the Adaptive limiter on the stereo out i can make the track louder and give myself an extra 2dB headroom....is there a catch to this? Will it mess with the dynamics of the track or screw it up in any way....its almost like cheating its so easy??

[therapist]

You're not gaining head-room. I guess that's the catch.

[setspeed]

it's a compressor. if you're gaining 2dB in volume, then you're losing 2dB in dynamic range.

you'll find the adaptive limiter will, in general, smear the transients off some of your drums, although if you're only taking 2dB off then it shouldn't be too prominent. try jacking up the input gain so it's taking off 10 or 15dB and you'll get a very audible idea of how it can affect the sound

[ENNO]

it's a compressor. if you're gaining 2dB in volume, then you're losing 2dB in dynamic range.

you'll find the adaptive limiter will, in general, smear the transients off some of your drums, although if you're only taking 2dB off then it shouldn't be too prominent. try jacking up the input gain so it's taking off 10 or 15dB and you'll get a very audible idea of how it can affect the sound

oh jeez...your right. To be honest, everything sound honkey dorey when i just pull -2dB off it. would this sound fucked up on a system if i played it out?

[setspeed]

no, it should sound ok if you're only taking 2 or 3 dB off the master out (and you don't have any other limiters or compressors on there). But the Adaptive Limiter is not always the best tool for the job; IIRC it is designed to sound a bit ragged. Try the normal limiter to see if that's any improvement, or a 3rd party one like Voxengo Elephant, or the Sony Oxford. But in general, most people will limit their master out a little bit before playing in a club.

[breakmonster]

The stock Limiter's in Logic are NOT ideal for the being put on your stereo output because they severely affect the low end and muddy things up a lot. It's such a nice easy way to bring up the volume that it's very tempting to use, but you will notice a HUGE difference between using a limiter and getting your track professionally mastered. My 2 cents - don't use limiters on your main out EVER. Guys like Chase and Status, Sub Focus, and Datsik have all said the same thing. I've read about this quite a bit because I got in the habit of doing that for a while as well...just to boost the volume...but if your going to actually release a track - get it professionally mastered.