Mastering Limiter
The final dynamics processor in mastering — maximizing loudness while preventing clipping and digital distortion.
What It Is
A limiter is essentially a compressor with an infinite (or very high) ratio — any signal that reaches the ceiling is stopped absolutely, preventing it from going any louder. It’s the last processor in the mastering chain, responsible for setting the final loudness level of the master and ensuring no signal exceeds the digital maximum. Brickwall limiting prevents any sample from exceeding 0dBFS (or the set ceiling), protecting against clipping and the harsh digital distortion that results from exceeding the maximum level.
How It’s Done
The limiter is placed at the very end of the mastering signal chain, after EQ, compression, and any other processing. The ceiling is set just below 0dBFS — typically between -0.1dBTP and -1.0dBTP (decibels true peak) to account for inter-sample peaks that can cause distortion during digital-to-analog conversion and lossy encoding (MP3, AAC). The input gain is then increased, pushing more signal into the limiter. As the input gain rises, the limiter works harder to hold the ceiling, resulting in a louder master but with progressively less dynamic range. The algorithm determines how transparently the limiter handles transients — modern limiters use intelligent lookahead and multi-stage processing to maximize loudness while minimizing audible artifacts.
Where You’ll Hear It
Every commercially released digital recording passes through a limiter. The “loudness war” of the 1990s and 2000s saw records pushed harder and harder into limiters, sacrificing dynamics for volume — Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” (2008) became the poster child for destructive over-limiting. The shift to loudness-normalized streaming platforms has allowed engineers to back off the limiter and let dynamics breathe again, though competitive loudness still drives many mastering decisions.
For Engineers
The loudness war taught us that louder isn’t better — target the loudness standards of your delivery platform: Spotify normalizes to approximately -14 LUFS, Apple Music to -16 LUFS, and YouTube to -14 LUFS. Push too hard and you lose dynamics, transient punch, and musicality. Use true peak limiting (not just sample peak) to prevent inter-sample clipping — this is especially important for masters destined for lossy codec encoding. When evaluating your limiter’s effect, always A/B at matched loudness — turn the limited version down to match the input level, then compare. If the limited version sounds worse at the same loudness, you’ve pushed too far. The limiter reveals every flaw in the mix — if the mix is well-balanced and properly gain-staged, the limiter’s job is easy and transparent.