True Peak Metering - Is Your Loudness Meter Lying to You? (part 2/2)

Continuation on Level Metering

If you haven’t seen the first post on the previous two loudness metres, please see those first as the points mentioned about LEVELs and the conclusion go hand in hand with those mentioned previously.

Mastering the Mix’s LEVELS

Finally, in LEVELS, not only are the readings more harsh towards the ‘mistakes’ you make in your mixes and masters, but it can also show you the levels of bass in your music. However, their algorithm asks you to mute the kick and bass to get a more critical suggestion of how to organise your low end. This may be because the kick, snare, and the bass, for example, are more subjective choices, depending on the type of genre you make. Additional presets for different formats, and a more detailed stereo width certainly makes it worth giving the plugin a trial run, at least. It certainly feels more transparent with RMS level, as the other two appear lower in the red (distortion).

Discipline

If there is an issue in your composition, mix or master, LEVELS will light the specific issue in red, and sometimes just clicking on it to make it green, or ‘right’ doesn’t work and you have to restart the track. This gets you into the habit of fixing the issues before playing the track again and seeing if any of the six aspects turn red. Not all of these are set in stone and the frequency, loudness, etc, should be subjective according to taste and genre of the music.

LEVELS - True Peak Reading Basilisk Boss Battle shows +0.1 dBFs on LEVELS meter

Extreme Energy shows +1.0 dBFs on the LEVELS Meter

Takeoff shows +1.0 dBFs MusicToday80 on the LEVELS Meter

In these three examples, you can see that the meterings for LEVELs and Youlean show an identical number in the true peaks. Although results can vary song to song, these identical results illustrates a telltale sign that Logic’s true peak readings are incorrect. Mastering the Mix and MixbusTv goes into more depth on the DAC conversion which causes the many different readings and inaccuracy.

What’s with the fuss about RMS Level and True Peaks? Don’t we use LUFS now?

At a time where radio and streaming platforms are obsessing over loudness normalisation, knowing what happens to your music when it translates into the real world may be another important thing for you to be aware of, especially with sub-standard DAC converters, (i.e low quality speakers that have audio crackling). LUFS integrated loudness is a more accurate loudness measurement for how we perceive loudness, which in turn, becomes much more subjective than measuring with RMS and True Peaks.

Headroom vs Dynamic Range

It can be argued that distortion can often sound nice in certain genres, such as rock and EDM. It is true that, if done well, the distortion may not even be heard in the first place or sound like distortion at all. Colouring and aesthetics may be part of the genre, and so whether you choose to stay in the red, enter the red or avoid it at all costs, it is something that you should decide at the end of the day.

Do What Sounds Best to Your Ears

The most important part is that you know that you are fully conscious or fully aware of your levels, frequency content, headroom and dynamics. You don’t have to worry about headroom so much, as long as it sounds right to your audience and you know you are making an impactful, memorable track. Use your ears, but take the varying results from these loudness meters with a pinch of salt.

Conclusion

Don’t use your DAW’s true peak meters, especially Logic’s. If you are worried about distortion, treat the harshest meter you have (i.e LEVELs, Youlean, etc) as the correct peak metering plugins, if you don’t want your speakers to crackle. Again, use your ears as well. Objectively, distortion can be a good thing, but even better, having an awareness of the numbers will give you that final confirmation that your music is phenomenal!

Thank you for reading my first article about loudness meters. I cannot wait to produce to you my next article, of which I will discuss the benefits of using character-driven and transparent limiters in your mix and masters.

-Alex [KiloeveReviews]

‘Transparent’ vs ‘Character-Driven’ Limiters for your Music (part 2/2)

Continuation on Limiters

If you haven’t seen the first post on the previous two limiters, please see those first as the points mentioned about LoudMax and W1 Limiter in some aspects relate to VladG’s and TDR’s Limiter No. 6 limiter plugins.

‘Character-Driven’ Limiters - (VladG) Limiter No6 vs TDR Limiter 6 GE

(VladG) Limiter No6

These next two limiters are certainly more character driven, due to the amount of harmonics you can achieve in the clipping section, even with moderate tweaks. However, you may notice that there is a difference between the options of having the compressor or the limiter first, but you cannot switch round the order of the clipper and the high frequency limiter.

The reason the order of the effects is important is due to a limiter (usually) being the very last effect on a chain. This is to guarantee that the audio doesn’t clip. However, for artistic choices, it may be common for the compressor to be last, if distortion is not an issue. On the other hand, another instance of a limiter may be placed afterwards.

Alternatively, you can also use the output to compensate for all the input gain staging you’ve done. An unfortunate downside to VladG’s Limiter No6 is the threshold seems to be set in stone for the compressor. However, compared to TDR’s Limiter 6’s clipper, I find the clipper more ‘fractured’ in its impact, as well as being much more ‘warmer’ in its tone.

If you want to achieve a more transparent tone with VladG’s Limiter No6, applying gain reduction after the clipping will add more headroom, whilst not making much of a difference to the sound. If it’s overcooked, however, even with a gain reduction, the effects of clipping may be more revealing in non-transient audio, (i.e doesn’t work on piano and acoustic guitar but is appropriate to drums). Therefore, in the case of clipping, I find TDR Limiter 6 GE’s slightly more transparent than VladG’s.

I have used Limiter No. 6 for drums and synths several times, and it has been really helpful for when it comes to mastering, because your final limiter won’t be working as hard on keeping those transients down. This is because all the transients have been shaved down, whilst not making much of a difference in sound. I would recommend not overdoing the clipping on the drums, otherwise the effect becomes too obvious. I also recommend using this limiter sparingly on vocals, piano, violins, etc, especially if you are aiming for cleaner, and purer sounds. Did I forget to mention it’s FREE too? No excuses! You are getting five audio effects on one plugin, and all of them do a good job, without having to pay a nickel.

TDR Limiter 6 GE (Tokyo Dawn Records)

If you purely want the original audio to be boosted cleanly, TDR’s Limiter No6 does the job perfectly well through its peak limiter. That’s not to say you can’t add tones with the clipper. In fact, when it comes to the gain and threshold, you have more range to play with in all the sections. The best feature of Limiter 6 GE is the many different presets, helpful for achieving different types of masters.

You can also switch the order between the compressor, high frequency limiter, limiter and clipper. In the case of adding more character to your sounds, the variety of choices gives you more opportunities to sculpt your music. In terms of tone, having these options for carving a character makes it comparatively easier to achieve, than if you were to use VladG’s Limiter No6.

Furthermore, what VladG’s limiter doesn’t have is the ability to solo the high frequency limiter, which can, for example, be useful for detecting sibilant vocals. A 16bit dithering option is another perk from TDR’s limiter, as you don’t have to worry about dithering a WAV file in 16bit when bouncing. Combined with oversampling, this can smooth up the warmth generated from the limiter. On top of this, having a low frequency clipper is really helpful in terms of containing the bass, which can complement the high frequency limiting.

A bonus feature is TDR Limiter No. 6 GE acts as a loudness meter as well (somewhat similar to Loudmax, but considers RMS, true peak and LUFS).

This plugin only costs €50, and they have generously provided an unlimited trial version, except you cannot save, recall or automate anything. The combination of the different compression modes, the meters, switching round the processes, and the ability to solo makes this one of the best, effective limiters out there! You can think of this as the sequel to VladG’s Limiter No.6, as Tokyo Dawn Records and VladG have both worked on that plugin together. Tokyo Dawn Record lists VladG’s Limiter No.6 as one of their discontinued products (even though both are being updated constantly). These two limiters are no joke, and especially with automation, aiming for an impactful, loud, dynamic and meaningful master has never been so straightforward.

Summarising the use of ‘Transparent’ and ‘Character-Driven’ Limiters

Transparent limiters should predominantly be used for clean sounds. LoudMax and W1 Limiter do this fairly well, especially since gain compensation isn’t something you need to heavily worry about, especially with these two limiters. However, if you use LoudMax and W1 Limiter in a certain way, you can use them for adding colourful, creative effects. On the other hand, limiters with character in them, such as VladG’s and TDR’s can also be used transparently, but can add saturation, warmth and smoothness via oversampling and dithering.

Conclusion

I recommend you use all of the four limiters. If you try out Limiter No. 6 GE, and you are considering €50, you may be interested to know this is the same company that makes gain staging considerably easier, has made a dynamic EQ, made two versatile limiters, and can form many different characters through their plugins. It is certainly a contender for a great master limiter. TDR, at the very least, has provided a trial version, and unlike other companies, the audio doesn’t distort or stop playing every three seconds. If you are new to limiting, I recommend you try out Loudmax and the W1 Limiter first, as some may understandably find both TDR Limiter No. 6 GE and VladG Limiter No. 6 complicated and intimidating. In that case, if you happen to find the idea of combining compression, high frequency limiting, clipping and gain staging difficult, I would recommend you hold off on Limiter No. 6 GE and VladG Limiter No6, at least for now.

Sometimes, less is more for your mix and masters. Even if you just apply a touch of clipping, compression, high frequency limiting and limiting, you may be able to hear the significant changes and you can still shape your music quite successfully. Earlier in the post, I mentioned the idea of limiters sneaking in clipping for the best results possible, which further endorses the idea of combining different effects together to help achieve the best results possible. In this case, VladG and Tokyo Dawn Records are blatant about this in their GUI. Relying solely on limiters, no matter how powerful they are, can be a risky approach and may raise unwanted artifacts. All limiters will eventually reach their limits.

Thank you for reading my article about transparent and character-driven limiters. Here is a list of topics I will be covering in the next few weeks:

• “Walk in the Park” Dynamic Processing - A comprehensive, straightforward guide for musicians on the differences between compression, limiters, clippers, gates and expanders

• Analog Obsession - What makes this company’s plugins feel so analogue?

• Review of Alesis V25 MIDI Keyboard - 6 months after the purchase

• A review of Blue Cat Audio’s chorus, flanger and phaser.

• Pre-fader metering - Easier gain staging and less clipping

-Alex (KiloeveReviews)

SofieSings Free Activity Resources

One day I was sitting and playing on my guitar on the other day, my little daughter looked at me with excitement in the eyes. She crawled up on to my lap and started plucking the strings on the guitar. I started playing the instrument with her, and now we were having a lovely creative moment together. These are the moments I treasure. When my daughter was born I longed to show her the beauty of music. But then when I started searching for music related resources on the internet to show her, it felt a bit overwhelming. There are defiantly stuff out there, but I was specifically searching for quality music activities. I also wanted something that where preferably some that where not too expensive. Then, after roaming the internet for some time I decided to take the matter into my own hands. I created SofieSings.

So what is SofieSings? At SofieSings you can access music activities for babies, toddlers and children. The activities are based on research, personal experience and is tested and tried by families. There are things you can do both inside and outdoors. You will find story telling’s, drama, dance, songs, and games. There is something for everyone, and the best of all… it is all free! On this page you can also find a blog and podcast which is hosted by me, if you are looking for further inspiration. Access the webpage here. I am looking forward to seeing you there! Sofie