FabFilter

Hi

I’m using a few instances of L2 on a track to limit channels and the master. I’ve put it on safe but it seems I’m getting single-moment spikes here and there still. Am I using the wrong settings? Can I expect this or am I doing something wrong?

Hi Andrew,

That should not happen. How are you measuring the spikes?

Cheers,

Hi Frederik

You're right... I was measuring the spikes by checking the headroom in an audio editor. It turns out the problem was that I was exporting to MP3s. The issue went away when I switched to wav and when I converted that wav back to an MP3 the problem returned. I had no idea that MP3s had that potential problem, not that it's noticeable on the audio signal itself.

I have more confidence in the limiter now. Thanks

Hi Andrew,

The conversion to MP3 can indeed generate louder peaks than the original wave file. That's why streaming services prefer tracks to be delivered at -1dBTP, so the conversion to their compressed format has 1dB of headroom and will never exceed 0dBFS.