How to Use a Limiter (The Right Way)

Welcome back to Feedback Audio.
Today, Lex breaks down limiters. What they do, how they work, and how to use them without absolutely destroying your mix.

Limiters show up in every mixing and mastering session, but most people use them wrong. In this video, we cover the fundamentals in a simple, beginner-friendly way so you can get clean loudness without clipping, distortion, or pumping.

Using a real session from Fredericksburg, VA rapper Sean D. Brown, Lex walks through how to set ceilings, thresholds, gain reduction, LUFS targets, and how to avoid the common limiter mistakes that ruin dynamics and low-end impact.

What You’ll Learn

• What a limiter actually is
• Limiters vs compressors
• How to set your ceiling
• How to set your threshold
• How much gain reduction is too much
• LUFS targets for masters
• When to use a limiter (and when not to)
• Why your 808s distort
• How to keep your dynamic range
• How limiting affects different genres
• Why your mixes need headroom before mastering

Plugins Used

• Waves L1 Limiter - https://tinyurl.com/39d6zkcj
• iZotope Ozone 9 Maximizer - https://tinyurl.com/4sutdkyy

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Timestamps

00:00 Intro
00:21 What a limiter actually is
01:06 Session overview
02:20 Basic limiter controls
03:36 Setting the ceiling
04:04 Threshold and gain reduction
05:26 Real example with vocals and 808s
06:17 LUFS and loudness targets
07:20 Reset and limiter setup from scratch
08:23 Genre differences (acoustic vs hip hop)
09:33 Avoiding limiter distortion
10:41 Dynamic range considerations
11:36 Why producers over-limit their beats
12:00 Final thoughts / Outro

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