Produce Like A Pro
Combining hard clipping with limiting for clean loudness
Marc Daniel Nelson demonstrates how to achieve clean loudness by combining hard clipping with limiting. He uses the SIR StandardCLIP to distort signal peaks before they reach the FabFilter Pro-L 2 limiter, allowing the limiter to work less aggressively and maintain transparency. By monitoring the limiter's effect on the mix, Nelson identifies areas where distortion occurs and adjusts the clipper to handle these peaks. This multi-stage processing approach helps retain the punch and clarity of transients, particularly in the snare and kick, while achieving higher loudness levels. The limiter breathes more easily, resulting in reduced artifacts. The monitoring of limiting artifacts is a built-in feature of the FabFilter Pro-L 2, but it can also be achieved by listening to the limited and unlimited mix simultaneously, with levels matched for loudness and phase flipped on one of the two.