LoudMax best loudness maximizer ever?

[Marco Raaphorst]

Just started using this one: https://loudmax.blogspot.com Look-Ahead Brickwall Loudness Maximizer. Better than iZotope Maximizer. Better than Reason's Soft Clipper in Limiter. Better than Limiter6. Better than Ableton Limiter.

The natural sound of this is mind blowing. And free. Unbelievable.

[Loque]

Thanks for the info. I am very skeptical...(in general to limiters/maximizer)...

[Marco Raaphorst]

Thanks for the info. I am very skeptical...(in general to limiters/maximizer)...

skeptical in what sense?

[Loque]

Thanks for the info. I am very skeptical...(in general to limiters/maximizer)...

skeptical in what sense?

Like i have G-Clip and you can crank it up like sh!t and it still sounds quite good. Add some oversampling to catch the distortion right and its even more ok.

In the end every compression/limiting changes the overall sound if used to extensively and the dynamic is reduced. I am not that into using such devices to push my stuff finally +4db louder...I use them only to catch some peaks here and there, which ran out of control and this job does nearly every of those devices. Good to have a bit control over softening and lookahead.

[Marco Raaphorst]

skeptical in what sense?

Like i have G-Clip and you can crank it up like sh!t and it still sounds quite good. Add some oversampling to catch the distortion right and its even more ok.

In the end every compression/limiting changes the overall sound if used to extensively and the dynamic is reduced. I am not that into using such devices to push my stuff finally +4db louder...I use them only to catch some peaks here and there, which ran out of control and this job does nearly every of those devices. Good to have a bit control over softening and lookahead.

Loudmax kills them all. It shapes fast transients super nicely. Sounds like tape without distortion

[Marco Raaphorst]

I am using -1 db on this thing. safety belt.

[zabukowski]

Thank you - good catch !!!

[selig]

Thanks for the heads up - makes me think about how to best compare brick wall limiters. I really don't like how clippers sound, and prefer the sound of limiters, probably based on the type of music I tend to produce and the fact I'm not needing much limiting since I get loudness much earlier in the mix process.

Curious how you guys compare these devices when choosing?

In the past, I've fed the same signal into multiple devices and switched back and forth between them to see if I can hear a difference. I also compare to the original signal, but you have to lower the level of the limited signal since by design they all add gain.

But I wonder if there's a better comparison test, so asking others how they approach these tasks!

[ScuzzyEye]

Just started using this one: https://loudmax.blogspot.com Look-Ahead Brickwall Loudness Maximizer. Better than iZotope Maximizer. Better than Reason's Soft Clipper in Limiter. Better than Limiter6. Better than Ableton Limiter.

The natural sound of this is mind blowing. And free. Unbelievable.

I think the Ozone Maximizer may be doing iZotope a disservice at this point. The Limiter in Ozone 8 has so many more operating modes, and can be very transparent, if desired.

But I'm glad I saw this one, because the notes in that post are interesting. I learned that there is an ITU-R paper on true-peak measurements, BS.1770, and at the same time their recommendations don't produce entirely accurate results. I'll have to see how Ozone 8 does its true-peak calculations.

[Marco Raaphorst]

Thanks for the heads up - makes me think about how to best compare brick wall limiters. I really don't like how clippers sound, and prefer the sound of limiters, probably based on the type of music I tend to produce and the fact I'm not needing much limiting since I get loudness much earlier in the mix process.

Curious how you guys compare these devices when choosing?

In the past, I've fed the same signal into multiple devices and switched back and forth between them to see if I can hear a difference. I also compare to the original signal, but you have to lower the level of the limited signal since by design they all add gain.

But I wonder if there's a better comparison test, so asking others how they approach these tasks!

LoudMax has extemely low distortion but is quick. It is way better than Ozone for sound imo. It will soften sharp transients but in a super subtle way.

I guess software becomes better and better and some of the free stuff is the best software which is available.

[aeox]

Thanks for the heads up - makes me think about how to best compare brick wall limiters. I really don't like how clippers sound, and prefer the sound of limiters, probably based on the type of music I tend to produce and the fact I'm not needing much limiting since I get loudness much earlier in the mix process.

Curious how you guys compare these devices when choosing?

In the past, I've fed the same signal into multiple devices and switched back and forth between them to see if I can hear a difference. I also compare to the original signal, but you have to lower the level of the limited signal since by design they all add gain.

But I wonder if there's a better comparison test, so asking others how they approach these tasks!

LoudMax has extemely low distortion but is quick. It is way better than Ozone for sound imo. It will soften sharp transients but in a super subtle way.

I guess software becomes better and better and some of the free stuff is the best software which is available.

After testing LoudMax I don't really like it.

You can't control the attack, and it just destroys transients. It also distorts low end really quick.

I actually get better results with Mclass Maximizer

[Marco Raaphorst]

LoudMax has extemely low distortion but is quick. It is way better than Ozone for sound imo. It will soften sharp transients but in a super subtle way.

I guess software becomes better and better and some of the free stuff is the best software which is available.

After testing LoudMax I don't really like it.

You can't control the attack, and it just destroys transients. It also distorts low end really quick.

I actually get better results with Mclass Maximizer

using the same input level on Maximizer compared to range on the LoudMax? LoudMax has way more range than Maximizer, can't go very extreme which is not what you want in most situations.

[Marco Raaphorst]

best to hear how unbelievable clean it sounds is to use the link button. you can hear even using lots of limiting it still sounds fantastic will the Maximizer will distort and clip and create nasty attacks.

[ScuzzyEye]

best to hear how unbelievable clean it sounds is to use the link button. you can hear even using lots of limiting it still sounds fantastic will the Maximizer will distort and clip and create nasty attacks.

Do you have a dry audio clip, and then the same one processed by LoudMax you can post? (Preferably in as a .wav.) I'd like to play around with Ozone to see if I can get it to behave anywhere near what you get from LoudMax.

[Marco Raaphorst]

don't have time for it at the moment. you can try it yourself. plugin is free.

[ScuzzyEye]

don't have time for it at the moment. you can try it yourself. plugin is free.

I was already looking at it. It's fine, I just wasn't as blown away with it as you seemed to be. There's not a lot of controls, so I don't think I'm missing anything. I was just wondering if you had an example of something you thought it did really well, and I didn't want it to feel like I was cheating myself by doing a crappy job dialing in LoudMax, while spending time to get Ozone sounding great.

I'll put up a comparison later this evening. I'll build a short passage out of some Rex files or something so anyone can re-create the base track in Reason.

[aeox]

After testing LoudMax I don't really like it.

You can't control the attack, and it just destroys transients. It also distorts low end really quick.

I actually get better results with Mclass Maximizer

using the same input level on Maximizer compared to range on the LoudMax? LoudMax has way more range than Maximizer, can't go very extreme which is not what you want in most situations.

IMO there is never a need to go that extreme on the limiter.
It's not benefiting the track in any way, and the transients are completely lost.

[aeox]

best to hear how unbelievable clean it sounds is to use the link button. you can hear even using lots of limiting it still sounds fantastic will the Maximizer will distort and clip and create nasty attacks.

Do you have a dry audio clip, and then the same one processed by LoudMax you can post? (Preferably in as a .wav.) I'd like to play around with Ozone to see if I can get it to behave anywhere near what you get from LoudMax.

You guys can use a clip of one of my tracks

[ScuzzyEye]

You guys can use a clip of one of my tracks

I can do that. Shooting for what, let's say a reading of -12 LKFS at the end of the clip?

[aeox]

You guys can use a clip of one of my tracks

I can do that. Shooting for what, let's say a reading of -12 LKFS at the end of the clip?

[Marco Raaphorst]

Here's a version I did using Loudmax (using the above fil) set at -1 db and the threshold so I got to -12 LUFS integrated:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U6qvCP ... u9P8V8Pgm/

Is that ok for a test?

[ScuzzyEye]

Is that ok for a test?

I think that should be perfect. I'll do the -1 dB threshold too. File is protected though. I could request access, but probably best if you made it public so anyone checking the thread can compare without bugging you.

[Marco Raaphorst]

Is that ok for a test?

I think that should be perfect. I'll do the -1 dB threshold too. File is protected though. I could request access, but probably best if you made it public so anyone checking the thread can compare without bugging you.

sorry, this link is better:
https://marcoraaphorst.stackstorage.com ... Jnru8EpFf3

[ScuzzyEye]

I used each of Ozone's Maximizer modes. The RE only has I and II, but the VST adds III and IV.

Threshold to produce -12 dB LUFS, ceiling of -1 dB.

I nulled each of Ozone's outputs against each other, and they're very similar except of the transients. There's something slightly different with LoudMax though out much of the spectrum, but still the transients are most different.

Anyway, I put them all in a zip. http://scuzzyeye.com/tests/Aeox%20Test% ... Ozone).zip

[NekujaK]

This is one of the most transparent limiters I've run across... and it's currently on sale:
https://www.jrrshop.com/ik-multimedia-stealth-limiter