How to master loud with least distortion

In this video I speak about how to use a clipper in mastering to achieve loud master.
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[@sascharenz5456]

Hi,
you reduce the overall gain by 3db and the clipper output by 3db too. Then you push your limiter gain by nearly 3db. Are all of these gain adjustments fixed regardless of the target lufs? Is the 7db increase of the clipper input the only parameter to get the 4db boost you need or am I getting it all wrong?
Thanks

[@boogiesnail]

The first thing I’m reducing is the overall level of the track. I reduce the level by 3 dB. Basically my strategy is here to create a little bit of headroom. Then I go for STANDARD CLIP I choose Hard Clip. From my experience it sounds most of the time more transparent than soft clipping option. I increase the Input Gain by 7 dB to throw it into the clipping. Basically it is just 4 dB over my initial gain reduction. I set the Output to -3dB. Finally I increase gain on the ProL2 limiter by 3.1dB. Basically I increased just 0.1dB. My gain reduction is just 0.6 dB. Of course it sounds also a little bit muddier, squeezed and distorted. But the amount of distortion is not as high as you would get it with two daisy chained limiters. In other words I pay less for achieving this -6LUFS target loudness with the clipper.

[@garrymkrtchyan1833]

@@boogiesnail Hey man, great video tutorial! I wonder what is the specific benefit of reducing the output of the clipper by 3 db and then increasing the input of the limiter by 3.1db? How is it superior to just having the limiter input at 0.1 db if you did not reduce the clipper output? What is the difference that makes the difference here?

[@boogiesnail]

@@garrymkrtchyan1833 Hey Garry, I reduce the overall level of the track by 3 dB to create a little bit of headroom. Finally I increase by 3.1dB gain on the ProL2 limiter. But basically I increased just 0.1dB. With this alternative method using the clipper my gain reduction is just 0.6 dB. Of course it sounds also a little bit squeezed and distorted. But the amount of distortion is not as high as you would get it with two daisy chained limiters. In other words I pay less for achieving this -6LUFS target loudness.

[@PRIDEATH]

Finally a good mastering engineer on the RUclips

[@boogiesnail]

Thank you 🙌

[@abelhopson9785]

Thanks for sharing the limiting techniques.

[@boogiesnail]

You are more than welcome 🙏🏻

[@MEMFISAKA]

*09:35** - no it's not. OS will make "BAP" (snare) sounds like "WHAP". Week hit and transient smeared in time. That's because filtering in the end of the oversampling. Plus upsamling and downsampling can affect transients (teeths of the any sound!) badly. Please, try to blind test OS on and off on 1/2 bar of drums heavy music. Than on solo hard snare. You will hear what i'm talking about! Aliasing when you clip will affect only percussion (in hard clip mode). Everything else will be not touched by processing. So nothing in musical part (tonal) of the mix will be suffer. OS i good for tonal materials that you want to make less spikey (AC guitars, vocals etc). But in my and my ABX blind tests small focus group, OS is poison for the drums. Peace!*

[@boogiesnail]

@MEMFISAKA Thanks for sharing such a detailed insight! You’re absolutely right-oversampling can indeed impact transients, especially with drum-heavy material, due to the upsampling and downsampling processes. It’s a good point that OS works better on tonal elements like guitars and vocals where smoothness is preferred, but may soften drum transients more than intended. I appreciate your input and the results from your ABX testing; it's always valuable to hear these nuanced perspectives. Peace! ✌

[@ravenconacher]

Thank you for sharing.

[@boogiesnail]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@nguyenhuuthien1961]

Thank you

[@boogiesnail]

🙏🏻

[@AI1983-r1k]

Thanks for all the valuable information...

[@boogiesnail]

Welcome 🙏🏻

[@maxalbon9557]

Great vid, thanks Tim !

[@boogiesnail]

Thank you! You are always welcome ✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻

[@anatolyhabarov]

"Hello, gays, Tim here from Boogie..."

[@boogiesnail]

На самом деле, Hey, guys…. Но можно и так 🙂 👍🏻🙏🏻🤝

[@federicgubsburn]

Good job, bro, thanks!

[@boogiesnail]

Always welcome 🙏🏻

[@monole942]

Hi, thank you for interesting information ✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻

[@boogiesnail]

Glad you like it🙏🏻

[@Groove81TV]

fabfilter settings are wrong pro l3 :/

[@boogiesnail]

Pro L3?

[@Groove81TV]

@@boogiesnail channel linking , transient 0 and the release 0 . Lookahead 0 . Always better results . PS nice PSI's :)

[@boogiesnail]

@@Groove81TV Thanks! In fact I'm not a fan of ProL2. DMG Limitless or Sonnox Oxford are my bodies :)

[@ndtunes8731]

​@@Groove81TV what is the correct settings please?

[@creativical]

But why does a clipper distort less than a limiter? It distortrs the waveform of the signal even more by literally cutting the top off of it. Is it because of the time constants of the limiter? Or do the overtones run up into inaudible range so quickly, that there are less overtones in the audible range?

[@boogiesnail]

The idea and the whole thing is how to pay the least amount for the muddy distortion. Two limiters is one option and using a clipper is an alternative method...Of course it sounds also a little bit muddier, squeezed and distorted but with this alternative method the amount of distortion is not as high as you would get it with two daisy chained limiters. It is just a mastering technique...

[@greydogs15]

Thanks daddy

[@boogiesnail]

Welcome 😉

[@undergroundmixtapes3037]

Subbed

[@boogiesnail]

🙌

[@lk0707]

This is only measured loudness. Question is : how to improve perceived loudness ?

[@boogiesnail]

Please have a look at this video: ruclips.net/video/IVBxqwYpiHk/видео.html

[@zimouspero]

Thanks

[@boogiesnail]

🙏🏻🤝

[@emrahalpat]

Timur bey teşekkürler, güzel net aktarmışsınız.

[@boogiesnail]

çok teşekkürler🙏

[@kanastonevevo588]

I would love some contact with you.
Love for you to work on my tracks.

[@boogiesnail]

Thank you 🙏🏻 Once you’re ready please use this address for contacting me: [e-mail]

[@PlatinumMastering]

You forget to mention Dirac room calibration every time

[@boogiesnail]

May be.... I'm using Dirac Live