l2 ultramaximizer hardware

are they still usable in todays mastering enviroment.. whats the A/D conversion like, is clean or does it have a particular sound.


cheers

skal

Yes, still useable but there are better limiters available for a couple of hundred dollars.  The conversion is not very good, all we ever want in mastering is clean conversion - there's never anything nice in converter coloration.

 

well its pretty cheap , about 400 pounds

ruairioflaherty said:

there are better limiters available for a couple of hundred dollars.  .
 

Click to expand...

which ones ?

skal

Same ones I mentioned in your other threads!  My favorite all round is the Fabfilter Pro-L. Flux Elixir is very good for softer material where no clipping is needed.  Xenon can be good but is buggy on Pro Tools 10 for me.  L2 is still good for crunchier things but there is a lot of distortion.

well trying barricade, not doing more than 1db of reduction sounds clear no dull of the signal as far as i can hear.

i will give pro L  a try

skal

+1 for Fabfilter Pro.

I have had mastering guys swear to me that each l2 hardware unit sounds different. I can't imagine such a thing especially considering it's all software and number crunching.

I would guess the same but maybe the algorithm is different in the plugin.

horvitz said:

I would guess the same but maybe the algorithm is different in the plugin.

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it's possible, the only thing I could think of is that the analog line I/O  age differently in various units? other then that it's all numbers and software so should be the same

Slate Digital FG-X

Slate's FG-X has a noticable distortion in the low mid range when hit harder.
My preference is iZotope Ozone 5 Maximizer

But isn't this topic on hardware, not software limiters?

yes

skal1 said:

are they still usable in todays mastering enviroment.. whats the A/D conversion like, is clean or does it have a particular sound.


cheers

skal

Click to expand...

I dont think anyone in Mastering is using an L2 nowadays, Dont see one being used for a long time.

A/D conversion? Well some people are buying 8Bit Samplers because they say they love the converters, so I guess for some people vintage A/D conversion is good, But not for mastering.
For mastering Vintage A/D conversion is not nice at all.

It's not clean but I dont think it has a particular sound worth of crying for.
It was an innovative machine, and really useful back in it's time.