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[Darius van H]

Just a quick heads up for anyone who didn't hear about or try the new FabFilter Pro-L limiter:

http://www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-l.php

I've been using this for a few weeks and am really impressed with the sound and tweakability of this plug. It can be pushed quite hard before getting ugly and distorted, as well as working great at more conservative settings.

Anyone else try it and have any thoughts / observations?

[Macc]

I think it's an excellent limiter, and I'll be buying it in the new year.

The sound is very good, and you have the ability to really tailor the sound as a part of the overall chain. Some limiters are kind of restrictive, they just do their thing, whereas with this you have a lot of options on how to set it up.

I'm in dynamic mode almost exclusively, btw. Generally I'm using longish attack times (~400-500ms), short lookahead and seeing what the release does for the material. When you need to go really really loud, you can start bringing the lookahead up and attack down to smooth things out a bit.

Sits nicely alongside Elephant, they have a fairly different sound. Elephant has a sort of.... sheen (?) to it which I like, but isn't always appropriate. This one feels more 'sterile' (for want of a better word), which isn't a bad thing in a limiter.

Anyway - it's a good 'un!

[Waltz Mastering]

As soon as my 30 day trial was up I had to send da money.

Might have been a previous thread here mentioning the Fab, but over all one of my favorite limiters.  Probably best I couldn't get the Fg-x to work for me after all.

[jdg]

been using the trial a bit, its deep.

got some amazing results with it a few times, and some terrible ones at other times.

[Patrik T]

My "a-new-limiter-test" is to apply a little limiting to already limited material. Saves time.


Best Regards
Patrik

[TotalSonic]

Definitely on my to do list for next year is to finally install the demo and try the Pro-L out - especially considering the amount of accolades for it from people whose ears I trust.  

I also like the fact that there's no "it's not a limiter" hype behind this one!  (unlike another company with a recently introduced new limiter who shall remain nameless).

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Andy Krehm]

I've had it for a month and a quick glance at my recall sheets show it's being used more than 90% of the time. I've got several other other choices but it's getting to the point where I just start with the FAB limiter and then if it isn't working, try something else.

I too like the versatility in the advanced mode.

[lowland]

I've been giving it a go this afternoon - very good, I'll likely buy when the demo period is up at the end of January. I've been liking the Loudness Maximizer in Ozone 4 and its relative simplicity, but Pro-L has a bit more clarity/less graininess for me plus is easy to set.

[subvertbeats]

Yep, Ill likely be buying too Nigel.

Bob introduced me to it whilst I was over in December, and since getting home Ive been using it on almost all projects.

Good stuff for sure.

[Andy Krehm]

I'm still liking this limiter as much as when I first posted but have discovered a glitch, at least with my processing setup (Mac G5 Dual/PTs 8/RTAS).

When I recall a setting, the volume doesn't always go to where it was saved. A mouse click on or near the volume display restores it to where it was saved. This doesn't happen with any of the other saved settings.

Anyone else notice this?

[hnewman]

Finally demoing this now.  Like the sound, but it takes forever to render.  Anyone else encounter this?  Suggestions?  I have not spent much time optimizing Sequoia's CPU handling, but I'm guessing that would not effect the plugin engine anyhow...?

[lowland]

Still liking Pro-L.

Got up the courage to use it on an actual job, a well-recorded cast album, the other day and the producer gave the limiter a big thumbs-up. Musical theatre records typically have quite a bit more dynamic range than a pop album, and what we ended up with was in the pop loudness range without sounding strained on the big sections. Obviously most of that was down to good mixes with lots of loudness potential, but I liked the way this limiter could shoot for something a little louder than I would usually go for (at the producer's request) and keep us both happy!

Incidentally, I used the 'Allround' algorithm without touching the advanced settings, 4x oversampling, max GR of around 3dB on top of normal gain-staging through the chain. I notice that on my system when you alt-drag the threshold slider (so the output is correspondingly reduced and you can hear the effect of limiting without a change in loudness) the linkage only seems to work in an upward direction: when you pull the slider down with alt still held the output doesn't go up but stays at the lowest point. I think the two should be linked in both directions, I don't imagine it would be hard to program.

[Macc]

hnewman wrote on Sun, 02 January 2011 22:51

Finally demoing this now.  Like the sound, but it takes forever to render.  Anyone else encounter this?  Suggestions?  I have not spent much time optimizing Sequoia's CPU handling, but I'm guessing that would not effect the plugin engine anyhow...?

It certainly takes a lot longer to render with 4x oversampling on. With oversampling off it is much faster, but with the obvious drawbacks.

I seem to be preferring either no oversampling or 4x... I don't like the 2x so much. It could be placebo but I hear something different about it...

Anyway, like the limiter a lot, though Elephant is still getting used on certain stuff that doesn't get on with Pro-L.

[Thomas W. Bethel]

I purchased it before Christmas and have been playing with it a lot but have not used it on a session as of yet. I really like it.

[hnewman]

Macc wrote on Thu, 06 January 2011 14:47

hnewman wrote on Sun, 02 January 2011 22:51 Finally demoing this now.  Like the sound, but it takes forever to render.  Anyone else encounter this?  Suggestions?  I have not spent much time optimizing Sequoia's CPU handling, but I'm guessing that would not effect the plugin engine anyhow...? It certainly takes a lot longer to render with 4x oversampling on. With oversampling off it is much faster, but with the obvious drawbacks. I seem to be preferring either no oversampling or 4x... I don't like the 2x so much. It could be placebo but I hear something different about it... Anyway, like the limiter a lot, though Elephant is still getting used on certain stuff that doesn't get on with Pro-L.

You are correct, it was the oversampling that was causing the slowdowns.  Still getting a feel for the limiter, it's interesting at the very least.

[SafeandSound]

Whilst Elephant is undoutably a great limiter I always find it is in second place or when my primary limiter is not quite working out. It has a rather thick character to it to my ear and audio sounds a little different when its running through which suits around 10pct of material IMO. I use it as an effect limiter. It is certainly a contender for best value limiter thats out there.
Props to Aleksey for it.

I will have to have a listen to the Pro-L limiter at some point.

[mastertone]

SafeandSound wrote on Sun, 09 January 2011 12:08

...when my primary limiter is not quite working out.

Which is?

[Andy Krehm]

Andy Krehm wrote on Sat, 01 January 2011 11:20

I'm still liking this limiter as much as when I first posted but have discovered a glitch, at least with my processing setup (Mac G5 Dual/PTs 8/RTAS). When I recall a setting, the volume doesn't always go to where it was saved. A mouse click on or near the volume display restores it to where it was saved. This doesn't happen with any of the other saved settings. Anyone else notice this?

I received a email from the Pro-L guys and thought I should post it in case I am not the only one who didn't notice this!

From: Floris Klinkert,  "FabFilter Software Instruments"

Hi Andy,

Ah, I think I know what you mean now! At the top of Pro-L's interface, near the Help button, you see a little lock icon. That's the 'Lock Output Settings' button. If it's enabled, all output settings (like Output Level and Gain, but also Dithering and Oversampling etc.) will -not- be changed when loading presets. This makes it easier to compare how different settings work on a piece of audio...

So if you disable that setting, Pro-L will load all parameter as you expect, also the Output Level.

[Slip]

lowland wrote on Thu, 06 January 2011 17:32

I notice that on my system when you alt-drag the threshold slider (so the output is correspondingly reduced and you can hear the effect of limiting without a change in loudness) the linkage only seems to work in an upward direction: when you pull the slider down with alt still held the output doesn't go up but stays at the lowest point. I think the two should be linked in both directions, I don't imagine it would be hard to program.

This must be a bug. It works here as intended, alt-drag simply reverse links the gain and output controls and works both ways.

I've got this working on both Windows 64bit and 32bit in Reaper and Wavelab 6 (can't stand the new version 7.. what a mess).

Cheers!
Niklas