Quote:
Originally Posted by Chipotle
In fairness, I just posed almost the same question in another thread: isn't compressing only *lowering* volume? Technically, compressing or limiting is just that, as unimogbert notes.
But none other than Bob Womack answered and essentially said, "Makeup gain is part of the process and always has been", so in the audio engineering world, compression or limiting can make things louder. It can be helpful to understand those two pieces of the process (lowering peaks, boosting overall gain) but they are part and parcel, and that's how audio engineers understand it.
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I've no doubt Bob and some others can explain some of the technical aspects of limiters better than I did. I don't think anything I said was incorrect but it could certainly have been less articulate than needed for full clarity. That said, the OP was asking questions and I tried to be helpful, as I generally try to be most of the time. Sometimes it doesn't pan out for either side.
The part that I think is lost, though, is that learning how to properly use these tools we have is more important than learning every aspect of their design. There are thousands of talented mixing and mastering engineers in the world, the vast majority of whom would not be able to design and build a limiter. And that's fine because that skill is not a prerequisite to being a great mix or mastering engineer. Learning how to effectively use the tools is more important than learning the nuts and bolts about how the tools works. We don't mix and master on paper. We learn through hands-on experience how to use the tools and we use those tools to make music better.