Maximizer, Compressor, or Limiter?

enjoybeats

New member
Out of the three listed, which one should be primarily used for making an instrument Clearer/louder? Im asking because i get different answers all of the time about each of them being the best to use .. thanks
 
To my understanding Limiter's/Maximiser's should almost exclusively be used on the master stereo track, or perhaps on samples that have a lot of dynamics.

Compressor's are the tool to use for single instruments/vocals/drums.

Of course there are no rules for making music, and you can use each of them in many different situations because each of them do different things. This is just the impression I have got by reading and experimenting.
 
Compressors and limiters are both used on vocals and drum buses. Usually compressors on other single instruments.
 
basically, a limiter is just a specialized compressor. and "maximizer" is a marketing name.

it's like asking: "What's better, a car, a four-by-four or a Chrysler?"

obviously, the answers you'll get won't be really informative. btw, none of the mentioned tools make your sound cleaner.
 
A limiter allows you to make the track louder while limiting the peaks. The word maximizer is a marketing term for the limiter used to hook young producers that dont know any better. They look for something to make their tracks louder and they see limiter(boring to them) and then they see MAXIMIZER and they think "wow this would MAXIMIZE my music". Its only a term for a limiter to make it sound appealing or some ****.
 
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a limiter allows you to make the track louder while limiting the peaks. The word maximizer is a marketing term for the limiter used to hook young producers that dont know any better. They look for something to make their tracks louder and they see limiter(boring to them) and then they see maximizer and they think "wow this would maximize my music". Its only a term for a limiter to make it sound appealing or some ****.

roflmaol hahahahahaha
 
So the limiter and maximizer are the exact same thing? and if they are, I should probably be using the limiter instead of the maximizer?
 
Look them up on wikipedia, that's what some of these humbug producers have done to attain their satirical knowledge.

Or ask in GC, ask your uber famous friend.

They aren't totally indifferent but they can be, depending on which controls they come with. Some maximisers are bundled into effects like harmonisers, things with resonance and exciters etc

Limiter is more traditional but they all offer some form of make-up gain, or just gain on the whole.
 
A limiter allows you to make the track louder while limiting the peaks. The word maximizer is a marketing term for the limiter used to hook young producers that dont know any better. They look for something to make their tracks louder and they see limiter(boring to them) and then they see MAXIMIZER and they think "wow this would MAXIMIZE my music". Its only a term for a limiter to make it sound appealing or some ****.

Same thing can be said of the word "Monitors". Find a pair of the most professional "monitors" from before like 1995 that weren't just called "Loudspeakers" or "Bookshelves" or "Hi-Fis", ect. until they were put into a studio and the engineer referred to them as "monitors". Now, the box says it for things that don't come close and people are actually convinced KRKs are more "professional" than Wharfedales. Just sayin. lol. :cheers:
 
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A limiter is only a special flavor of compressor. It has no attack time with an infinite compression ratio. It's primary function is killing unwanted peaks. Unless you want to destroy your sound don't use it to remove more than few dBs if you realy need to be load.

A compressor is a much more versatile toy. It features an attack time, and you can control the compression ratio. Its threshold can also be set very low. You can use it to add some colour to your sound or to control the dynamic of a track if you don't have time for automation. I really love the FLUX Pure compressor which is the most complete I know about parameters.

Maximizer can be a limiter, an harmonic enhancer or an hybride of both. That depends of the manufacturer. Just try to get your own opinion.
 
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