There are two versions: the simplified 元 Ultramaximizer, which is now included in both the Platinum and Diamond Bundles, and the full-blown 元 Multimaximizer, which is a Diamond-only affair. The more basic 元 Ultramaximizer lacks the detailed control offered by its bigger brother. Waves say that we can expect their PLM technology to be put to different uses in future products. The result, at least in theory, is that you can apply more overall limiting with fewer audible consequences. By default, the bands that are attenuated the most are those that contain the most energy, but it's also possible to instruct 元 to concentrate the gain reduction in frequency bands where you think it will be less noticeable. If, at a given instant, this sum exceeds the Threshold value, 元 works out the amount of attenuation that is needed and intelligently distributes it across the different frequency bands. Here, however, the level in all five frequency bands is summed using a patent-pending algorithm Waves call the Peak Limiting Mixer. Conventional multi-band limiters split the signal into separate frequency bands and then limit each band independently. The clever part of the design lies in the relationship between the peak detection and the attenuation. The main controls are still called Out Ceiling and Threshold, and they still apply globally: whatever you do to the individual bands, their combined level is limited to the Threshold value, before being scaled to hit the Ceiling.
Linear-phase crossovers are used to do the splitting, so unless you actually apply limiting, the output signal is identical to the input signal, albeit delayed by the limiter's lookahead value of 80ms. In 元, the incoming audio is divided into five frequency bands.
#L2 ultramaximizer plugin review pro#
Like almost all Waves processors, it's available both as a TDM plug-in for Pro Tools (in which case you need to run it on an Accel card) and a multi-format native plug-in, in each case supporting sample rates up to 96kHz. Waves' answer is 元, a clever multi-band implementation of the same concept.
#L2 ultramaximizer plugin review software#
The hardware L2 and the software L1 and L2 have been around for quite a while now, and have been facing increasingly sophisticated competition. Equally, there's no denying that they can be pushed much, much too hard. I've sometimes found this claim a bit optimistic, but even so, there's no denying that L1 and L2 can achieve some impressive results. Waves say that with most material, it should be possible to achieve at least a net increase of at least 6dB before distortion and other side-effects become obvious. The net gain in loudness is thus equal to the difference between the Threshold and Out Ceiling settings. Output Ceiling then 'scales' the results so that the output signal never exceeds the Ceiling value. There are only two major controls: Threshold sets a level below 0dB to which the input signal is limited, and automatically applies the same amount of make-up gain. The genius of L1 and L2 lies in their ease of use. The second is to dither the final output from your digital audio workstation to 16-bit for CD mastering (see box). The first is to increase the subjective loudness of incoming digital audio, without introducing clipping or other obvious distortion. In this quest for ever-louder CDs, two of the most popular weapons have been Waves' L1 and L2 peak limiters, which the company call 'Ultramaximizers'.
And when record company executives got their heads round the idea that these devices could be used to make their CDs louder than the competition, even the best mastering engineers found themselves under pressure to deliver flatlined mixes. In the wrong hands, however, they could turn a bad mix into an unlistenable master, eliminating any trace of dynamic variation. In the right hands, they could add that last bit of sparkle and polish that would make a finished mix sound like the work of a professional. Take, for example, the digital mastering processors that appeared in the '90s.
Sometimes new technology gives us new ways to screw things up. If you want your mixes to go to 11, Waves' new mastering limiter might be the weapon you need. Here, I've gently boosted the upper-mid frequencies and cut the low mids.
The Multimaximizer version of 元 can act as a mastering equaliser as well as a multi-band limiter.