An audio limiter is a type of compressor that prevents an audio signal from exceeding a certain maximum level. It ensures that the loudest parts of a sound do not go beyond a set threshold, avoiding distortion or clipping.
A limiter works like a compressor but with a very high ratio (usually 10:1 or higher, often ∞:1). This means that once the signal reaches the threshold, the limiter completely stops it from getting any louder.
This limiter uses lookahead technology to prevent your signal from distorting. It means that there is a small delay after the signal is processed. Keep in mind that the delay it produces is the attack time you set.
For more information on audio, see Working with audio in scenes.
Input
- Input gain (dB)- pre-gain, -24 to +24 dB. Applies gain to the signal before Compression starts.
Limiter
- Limit (dB) - Don’t let signals above this level pass the limiter.
- Attack (ms) - Amount of milliseconds the signal has to rise above the threshold before gain reduction starts.
- Release (ms) - Amount of milliseconds the signal has to fall below the threshold before reduction is decreased again.
Advanced
- ASC enabled - When gain reduction is always needed ASC takes care of releasing to an average reduction level rather than reaching a reduction of 0 in the release time.
- ASC level (0-1) - Select how much the release time is affected by ASC, 0 means nearly no changes in release time while 1 produces higher release times.
- Compesate for latency - Compensate the delay introduced by using the lookahead buffer set with attack parameter.
Warnings
- Signal overload - if the peak level is above 0dBFS, the signal overload indicator will be active for two seconds.
- Peak Overload (dB) - last measured peak value in dBFS.
(The operator is available in Composer R1 2025 and later releases)