Ozone 12, Pro-L 2 and smart:limit: limiter settings

This tutorial compares limiter settings in iZotope Ozone 12, FabFilter Pro-L 2 and sonible smart:limit. The speaker explains release behavior through a tradeoff: fast recovery can introduce distortion, while slower recovery can produce audible pumping. His listening examples explore how each limiter handles that balance.

In Ozone, he compares IRC1, IRC2 and IRC3, then tries IRC3's balanced and clipping options. He prefers the clipping sound in this example despite its coloration. In Pro-L, he auditions several styles and discusses uses beyond mastering, including individual tracks, acoustic music and talkback signals. He also adjusts lookahead up to 5 milliseconds. To his ears, the longer setting sounds duller, so he treats lookahead as a sound choice rather than a setting to maximize.

For smart:limit, he selects a funk genre profile and lets the plugin analyze the audio before adjusting its controls. He demonstrates softer and harder styles, saturation, spectral balance and bass recovery. His claim that the natural algorithm resists distortion reflects his experience with the plugin.

The speaker recommends a -1 dB true-peak ceiling throughout. His broader advice is to learn the algorithms, listen to their effects and judge whether the result suits the music and its listeners.