using my limiter?

[tracatak]

if i have a eq----distortion ----limiter....will the limiter control the distortion lettin it be distorted to all hell but not lettin it go too much in teh red....or ami misunderstanding the process....recently i had the eq/dist/limiter and the limiter seemd to let me go nuts with the distortion without makeing it sound too loud n crunchy...am i using this correctly or is there a better way or am i way off..thanks

:devilish:

[MARKEG]

i think it's a good idea to look at distortion as an effect.. imagine if you didn't have the limiter. too much of that distortion would just sound crap. so you get a really nice sounding distortion and then use the limiter to bring that lovely distortion out into the mix (and if you set the limiter right, it wont go into the red).. But if you drive that limiter too much, you will only bring out the real shittiness in the distortion. a nice balance of great distortion (ie knock off your limiter for a sec and listen) and good limiting (ie not tooo much) and then the eq at some point before the limiter to make real nice small adjustments when ya got the whole chain on ;)

[jesus]

Leave the limiting up to who ever's going to master it, if its going to be released.
If your just doing it for general learning then first of all you should probably do the EQ after the distortion. dist->eq->limiter .
Limiter just crushes the dynamics (difference between quiet to loud) so it doesnt go into the red, although it will if you push it too hard.
This increases the perceived overall volume, because the quieter dips will be bought up to near the louder peaks, turning the wave picture into a squared block.
It's basically doing compression at a high ratio which is why you get massive jumps in volume when you take the kick out.
Generally there's no need for limiter , except to perhaps 'catch' stray overs , which only matter in a mastering situation.
Much more important is the quality of mixdown that you do.

[tracatak]

wow!! bravo!!,, =) that was explaind very well i actually understood every bit of it..thank very much ..not only do i understand what the limiter does now i also know why..ok im gonna go back in the lab and try and write my next track..ill be back soon with more ?'s ...baby steps ...right?..lol ty again..

[danielmarshall]

I hear what you're saying Jesus, but I think Mark has a point too. Moderately distorted sound can sound a hell of a lot better if you compress it a bit. I suppose using a limiter could do the trick, but you often have no control on how hard it clips (only the threshold). A compressor with a softish knee and a fairly chunky ratio would probably be a better option IMO.

[Electrictribe]

also depends on where you are applying the limiter. If it on the whole track then i'd agree with you jesus but not on individual parts.