How much is too much limiting?

The more gain reduction you have, the more you’ll hear the artifacts of your limiter. In a good master, you don’t want to hear the limiter working; therefore, ideally the gain reduction limit you have on the limiter should be no more than 2.5 dB.

How should I set my limiter?

To set a limiter, first identify the loudest section of a song. This is the part where the limiter will react most drastically. It is best to check for distortion in this area. Once you’ve found the loudest part of the song, insert a limiter of your choice on your master bus and listen to your recording.

How can I make my mix louder without clipping?

You can make your mix louder without clipping by using a limiter. A limiter allows you to set peak loudness, preventing clipping, while also allowing you to increase the volume of all other sounds in your mix.

How do I know if my mix is clipping?

You’ll know when you have severe clipping because you’ll hear it. It sounds like the audio is starting to ‘break up,’ which is light distortion. The more severe it is, the more distorted the music begins to sound until it can become unrecognizable in an ocean of noise and loudness.

What RMS should my mix be?

If you want to send your mix off to get mastered, you should aim for around -6dB Peak, and anywhere from -23 dBFS RMS or LUFS to -18 dBFS RMS or LUFS average. That’s the quick answer, but as usual, it’s a bit more nuanced than that.

Should I compress mix before mastering?

Handing an overly compressed mix off to your mastering engineer leaves less room for the mastering processing. This often includes some type of additional compression as well as limiting, so squashing the dynamics out of every track should be avoided before mastering.

Should you mix with a limiter?

If you limit while you mix, you will end up fighting with the limiter. You will have a skewed idea of your dynamics, and musicality can easily be lost. This isn’t a good thing. Don’t make things harder on yourself by putting a limiter where it won’t shine.