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Looking for a volume maximizer program (mix relate

Deep_SangDeep_Sang 1,081 Posts
edited August 2007 in Strut Central
Does anyone know of a good program to up the levels of a mix? I think this is called a "maximizer" program, or something like that. Not looking for anything fancy, only need this one function.Hoping to find something that is available for download free, but as long as it's not too much I don't mind paying.Thanks.

  Comments

  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    "normalizer"

    this prolly wont help muc because mixes have too much dynamic range. you need a multiband compressor/limiter to really make it loud. i can do a cheap mastering job for you J****, holler.
  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    Your probably looking for something like Waves L series (L1, L2 or my favorite L3 Multi). The general name for these are maximizers, meaning they will compress anything above a threshold you set, and then automatically boost the levels back up to whatever maximum you choose. They work great in moderation, although some audiophile types shun them. I dont know a decent free alternative, but the waves stuff has floated about on the interwebs for years...
  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    They are also so simple a monkey could operate them, so if its a one off or you dont want to mess with sketchy cracked software, im sure Delay could get your levels up.

    Not to imply any comparison btw him and a monkey.
  • LuminLumin 807 Posts
    Your probably looking for something like Waves L series (L1, L2 or my favorite L3 Multi). The general name for these are maximizers, meaning they will compress anything above a threshold you set, and then automatically boost the levels back up to whatever maximum you choose. They work great in moderation, although some audiophile types shun them. I dont know a decent free alternative, but the waves stuff has floated about on the interwebs for years...

    i use the L1 on the master bus of all my mixes. works really well. just keep the atennuation below -6 and you are good.
  • Deep_SangDeep_Sang 1,081 Posts
    Thanks for the advice yall. I found a clone version of the L1 program for macs on this site:
    http://www.macmusic.org/news/view.php/lang/en/id/2842/

    I'll report back after giving it a try.

    T**- you've got a pm
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    Your probably looking for something like Waves L series (L1, L2 or my favorite L3 Multi). The general name for these are maximizers, meaning they will compress anything above a threshold you set, and then automatically boost the levels back up to whatever maximum you choose. They work great in moderation, although some audiophile types shun them. I dont know a decent free alternative, but the waves stuff has floated about on the interwebs for years...


    The Waves L-series are brick-wall limiters, so they don't really compress. From my understanding, a compressor reduces volume over a given threshold, whereas a limiter removes the excess amplitude information, potentially causing distortion. So if you have a sine wav where the peak exceeds your threshold, a limiter will chop the top of the waveform off. Chopping the top off gives the waveform a square shape, adding harmonics in the form of distortion.

    You will probably want to apply different settings to each section of your mix. Using a limiter on the entire mix at once will likely squash the loud parts into oblivion.
  • G_BalliandoG_Balliando 3,916 Posts
    That's kinda true, but the Waves package has more than just limiters. I use the L3 Multimaximizer on mixes and beats and it does a good job at maintaining the integrity of the recording without distorting or crunching. The main thing is you gotta know how to use them and when to use them. You should have your original mix as close to even as possible before running any kind of compression/maximization, really. You can put the mix into a wave editor like soundforge, put markers at the end of each track/mixpoint and then select each track and "normalize to peak volume" on each one. This gets each track as loud as it can go without clipping based on the highest spike in the selection. Once you have everything as loud as it can go without clipping, listen through to adjust slightly as needed so it sounds good to your ears, then you can run a maximizer on the whole thing. I usually keep the ceiling at -0.1 or -0.2 and put the maximizer bar down to about 4.5 or so. This will thincken the mix and add some girth without distorting or crunching. Works pretty well for me. Waves Diamond Bundle is nice. These are plug-ins though, I don't think you can use them on their own without audio editing software. Maybe I'm wrong on that.
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    That's kinda true, but the Waves package has more than just limiters.

    Hence the "L-series" qualifier.

    Good tips about the markers, although some would argue that the normalization you recommend is unnecessarily destructive when you could just use different limiter settings on each section. To each his own, though.
  • Insulin1200Insulin1200 396 Posts
    software:
    check out universal audio's uad-1 dsp card + plugins, even if on a budget.
    def cheaper than waves.
    arguably, more interesting plugins and emulations too.
    more in the realm of classic analog or characterized pieces. (urei/teletronix, tape echo, roland dimension d(!))
    & their la-2a's, 3a's, and precision limiter are good.


    or get the real thing.
  • G_BalliandoG_Balliando 3,916 Posts
    Right, well, the normalization process I'm talking about doesn't do anything but turn the track up to the peak level. It doesn't compress or alter the wave form in any other way, so that argument would be null. The limiters will alter and compress the wave file to expand it. The idea isn't even really to get them as loud as they can be before you use the limiter/maximizer, but to get them even. And making them all as loud as they can go is an easy way of doing this. You can turn it all down after you even them of course. But you're right, you can do that many different ways. That was just the way I figured out to do it way back when, and I'm too stubborn to learn "new" tricks.
  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    thincken the mix and add some girth

    Location up for grabs
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    Right, well, the normalization process I'm talking about doesn't do anything but turn the track up to the peak level. It doesn't compress or alter the wave form in any other way, so that argument would be null. The limiters will alter and compress the wave file to expand it. The idea isn't even really to get them as loud as they can be before you use the limiter/maximizer, but to get them even. And making them all as loud as they can go is an easy way of doing this. You can turn it all down after you even them of course. But you're right, you can do that many different ways. That was just the way I figured out to do it way back when, and I'm too stubborn to learn "new" tricks.

    Alright I'm venturing into super-audio-geekery steez here.. but I love this shit so here goes.

    When you normalize, or perform any other DSP operation, sound quality is degraded. So the fewer operations the better. There will be always be errors and artifacts introduced in your recording and unless you're working in 64 bit floating point this signal degradation will likely be audible.

    Try this:

    Make two copies of a file. Normalize the first file to 0db, reduce volume to -10db, then normalize again to 0db. Now take the other copy, normalize to 0db and invert the phase. Add these two files together and what you have should be the artifacts that were created during normalization.
  • G_BalliandoG_Balliando 3,916 Posts
    I don't imagine the difference would be noticeable on anything other than high-end reference monitors, minimally at that, right? I'll take your word for it though, I never learned anything formally about digital audio, just experience and reading about it. I just know what I do works, and in the end, I have product that sounds better than what I started with. Sounds like you went to school for this or something. How does the quality deteriorate simply by increasing the decibel? Is it just the way in which the computer processes the audio file? I just wonder how much of this deterioration is actually noticeable on anything but high-end studio equipment.
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    Sounds like you went to school for this or something.

    No school, just a lot of reading. You're right about the difference being hard to pick out without good monitors, but well trained ears could probably identify the processed file on a consumer system.

    How does the quality deteriorate simply by increasing the decibel? Is it just the way in which the computer processes the audio file?

    I'm really no expert on this, but from what I've read DSP algorithms, CPU architecture, bit rate, and sample rate all come into play. I mentioned the sample resolution above because when you're working at that high of a resolution there is little room for error. At 16 or 24 bits, however, quantization error becomes more frequent and severe. There are some excellent articles on Wikipedia if you're interested.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantization_%28signal_processing%29
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantization_noise
  • izm707izm707 1,107 Posts
    I use the L serie (L2 mostly), but i'm not a huge maximizer addict. I'm more into "vintage warming"...
  • PABLOPABLO 1,921 Posts
    I recall in Bob Katz's Mastering Book the general rule "never normalize".
    You're bringing up the volume sure, but you're bringing up the noise floor as well.
  • G_BalliandoG_Balliando 3,916 Posts
    So, what is the solution to making a quiet file louder then?
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    I don't know if this is what you are after but when I do a mix I just have the whole file in that Audacity program, then compress it all so it evens the differences in pressings out a bit. Then I select the whole mix again & amplify it to zero, then I just select the quieter sections & amplify them to zero also.
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    So, what is the solution to making a quiet file louder then?

    Light compression, applied to each section of the mix that possesses different dynamics.
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