Audio Glossary
Dynamics · aka brickwall limiter, maximizer
WHAT IS
LIMITER?
A limiter is a fast compressor with a very high ratio that stops a signal from exceeding a set ceiling. In mastering, a brickwall limiter is the final stage — it raises overall loudness while catching peaks so nothing clips. Push it too hard and you crush transients and add distortion, so it's about finding the loudest clean setting, not the loudest possible.
How to use a mastering limiter
The limiter does two jobs at once: it lifts the whole track up to your target loudness, and it catches the peaks that would otherwise clip. The art is in how hard you push. A dB or two of gain reduction on peaks is transparent; 6+ dB flattens your drums and squashes the life out of the track.
Set the ceiling to -1 dBTP (true peak on), then bring up the gain until you hit your LUFS target — watching that the transients still punch. If you need heavy limiting to get loud enough, the fix is usually earlier in the chain (clipping, saturation, or better gain staging), not more limiter. Loud and clean beats loud and crushed every time.
Quick answers
LIMITER FAQ.
What does a limiter do in mastering?
It's the final stage that raises overall loudness to your target while catching peaks so the master doesn't clip. Set the ceiling to -1 dBTP and push the gain until you hit your LUFS target without crushing transients.
Why does my master sound crushed?
Usually too much limiting. If you need more than a few dB of gain reduction to hit target loudness, back the limiter off and do the loudness work earlier — with clipping, saturation, or better gain staging — so the limiter only has to catch peaks.
Related terms
The tool for it
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