MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Winners announced

[Vanilla Puff]

So quick Mr Fox
I'm curious about the second dBTP number as I've never really encountered it, can someone enlighten me?

[Hoek]

I would dare to guess it's left channel/Right channel Decibel True peak, second number being your right channel.

[satchboogie]

@DIVESPANNER
Thank you ! There is still lot to do to get a nice master i guess. I miss the highs from it. It is a bit focused on the lowmids.

[Mister Fox]

So quick Mr Fox
I'm curious about the second dBTP number as I've never really encountered it, can someone enlighten me?

I would dare to guess it's left channel/Right channel Decibel True peak, second number being your right channel.

Editing the statistics aren't that quick since it's a manual process, but appreciated.

And yes, @Hoek is correct. The dBTP values are shown in Left/Right Channel. A lot of tools simplify that, even though according to both ITU-R BS.1770-x and EBU R128 specs, summing is only used for LUFS. Else, every channel peak is/should be taken "individually" and the highest readout of any given channel is then used for one single dBTP max value.



On that behalf, the statistics on post #74 have been updated. One previously unavailable entry has been added to the PDFs.

[Vanilla Puff]

Thanks a lot!
Seems someone didn't use channel linking for master limiter

[Mister Fox]

Channel linking shouldn't be a concern, in fact... a (brickwall) limiter should not be a concern/used unless you use it as "safety protection" to catch rogue peaks at -1,0 dBTP (although, not every True Peak/ISP limiter catches everything perfectly).

What metering tools do, is a totally different topic and would exceed the scope of the conversation.

[Vanilla Puff]

I like this talk
Never seen a TP limiter not catching ISPs. Other limiters rely on Over sampling to catch an ISP, but if you know ones that do not work properly in required configuration, I actually would like to know.
Yes. Channel linking is not an issue when we are dealing with only catching an occasional peak or a transient in most cases.

[Mister Fox]

There is this old article by "Saintpid Mastering" (started in March 2016), testing various limiters (both "True Peak" and normal ones that "can" address True Peak through the help of oversampling and long look-ahead times). However, not with a synthetic test, but a mix "boosted" into a limiter and then the 32bit FP (Floating Point) results being analyzed with iZtotope RX.

Here is the chart, last updated about 6-8 months ago:
https://www.saintpid.se/en/isp-true-peak-limiters-test/

Please take note though, that this is an extreme example for "loud material". Also, iZotope RX has different readouts compared to Wavelab 10 (which I use for the statistics sheets). Wavelab is actually a bit more picky.


Another topic (which would break the scope of this thread), is how the limiters behave, and how you should ideally set them up.

For example: Tokyo Dawn Labs Limiter 6 (which is an upgraded version of VladG Limiter No 6). This limiter is built for "keeping things in check", in a quite literal sense. The ISP limiter alone can take care of rogue peaks at low LUFS values, sure... but for really pushed high RMS avg mixes, you need the array. With ToneBoosters Barricade 3 or 4 as another example: due to some internals, setting the ceiling to -1,0 dBTP, and at moderate high LUFS values, can results in the readouts you see on the chart. So a safe solution, for most ISP limiters actually, so to set them to -1,10 dBTP. This way, even if you have overshots, then most analysis tools will still stay in the "green".


Again, big and long topic. In context of the Mix(ing) Challenge however, your should work in such a way that you have a moderate loudness. Considering the -16,0 LUFS ILk (absolute max) value, if you do have rogue peaks reaching over -1,0 dBTP that you need to keep in check with a "safety limiter", either you overdid it with transient designers, or your track is really darn dynamic.

[Vanilla Puff]

Thanks for a good read, Mr Fox!

Another topic (which would break the scope of this thread), is how the limiters behave, and how you should ideally set them up.

oh yes, especially for keeping THD and IMD down.
I know this is off topic, but maybe you have good reads about AAC/MP3 codecs if you came across by any chance?

[LCM!]

My favourite mixes: pabloAT, HOEK, diegonerysts, Dooboop, Elroms, Kirurg, Lug_Senders and dnlptn.
Forgive me whoever I forgot; there are many good works here.

By the way, I forgot to mention that I didn't use anything other than Reaper plugins.