Audition CC 2017 Hard Limiter

[LRheinz]

Hallo, Audition-User,

Wie kann man den Hard Limiter bei der Bearbeitung so einstellen, dass tatsächlich nur alles über einem bestimmten Pegel abgeschnitten wird und sonst nichts verändert wird? Bei mir wird zusätzlich alles unter diesem Pegel komprimiert. In meiner Not habe ich schon zu Audacity gegriffen, dort funktioniert es wie gewünscht.

Heinz

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Try setting the input boost to 0dB. When I tried this with the Limit to -6dB preset and the input boost removed, nothing below -6dB was touched.

Versuchen Sie, die Eingangsverstärkung auf 0dB einzustellen. Als ich das mit dem Limit auf -6dB Preset ausprobiert habe und der Eingabeaufschwung entfernt wurde, wurde nichts unter -6dB berührt.

[LRheinz]

Danke, SteveG. Das hatte ich schon versucht, auch mit vielen anderen Einstellungen. Die Signale unter dem eingestellten Limit werden immer komprimiert. Ich versuche die Spitzen eines Applauses zu beschneiden, aber leider wird alles unter dem Limit komprimiert. Das heißt, es wird nicht gleichmäßig leiser, sondern die lauteren Teile werden stärker abgesenkt als die leisen.

Heinz

[Bob Howes]

With Steve's setting of having the input boost at 0dB and the limit at -6dB (or whatever suits) anything below -6db won't be changed at all   Have you measured the levels of particular point to see if they're actually changing and it's not just that you're hearing more of the quiet parts because you removed louder peaks that were masking them?

Edited to add:  I just did an experiment (using white noise, some at -3dB and some at -8dB on the same track.  As expected, the -3dB portions were limited down to -6dB but the -8dB wasn't touched at all.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

I did actually check this, both on tone and some real material - and nothing below -6dB got altered in the slightest. I placed markers at points of known level below -6dB in the 'real' file, and their levels didn't alter unpredictably. And anyway, just looking at the levels made that pretty clear.

When I say 'unpredictably', let me demonstrate. This is the 'before' view of the file I used:

And this is the 'after' view with the hard limiter applied. Look carefully at the bit I've highlighted, and compare it with the same place in the 'before view:

You will notice that on the 'before' file, one peak just exceeded -6dB, and it has been reduced slightly, as have very small portions of the surrounding waveform after it. This is caused by the release time setting, but it's the only difference there is.

[LRheinz]

Thank you all for trying to help me. Now I show You my screenshots before and after hard limiting to -8 dB:

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

The larger the level of peak limiting is, the more you will notice the effect of the release time. But more significantly, the longer the peak is, the more effect it will have on the audio in between and following it. I can't see anything in your waveforms to indicate that the Hard Limiter isn't working correctly. It will probably look better if you decrease the release time to about 25ms - but the results may become more audible. With some material, it's even possible to reduce the release time to zero and get away with it. At this point it really will behave as an 'ideal' limiter. But, you will have to test this first, carefully. Also you might find slightly better results if you use the 'true peak' setting, but once again, you'll have to experiment.

[LRheinz]

Changing of the parameters didn't bring any visible effect to the softer waveform. If I'll need full hard limiting, I'll use audacity.

Heinz

[ryclark]

I don't know what you are expecting hard limiting to do to your audio but Audition's version does what it is intended to do. What does Audacity's version do that is different?

[LRheinz]

Audacity cuts exactly all over the limit and changes nothing below. As You see at my screenshots, Audition compresses my applause below the limit. It's not a big problem in this case, but I expected, that hard limiting is only hard over the limit and not soft below additionally.

Heinz

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

If Audacity uses a hard threshold at the turnover point, then it will cause more noticeable distortion at that point than Audition's hard limiter will. I think I know which I'd prefer to listen to, and it's not Audacity.

[LRheinz]

Hi Bob,

You wrote "I just did an experiment (using white noise, some at -3dB and some at -8dB on the same track.  As expected, the -3dB portions were limited down to -6dB but the -8dB wasn't touched at all."

If You repeat this test with a signal duration of approximatly 0:00.1 sec in the whole window, You'll see the same effect as me with my applause.

Heinz