A limiter is a compressor's aggressive cousin. Where a compressor reduces dynamic range by a controllable amount, a limiter's job is to prevent any part of the signal from exceeding a set ceiling. Push a compressor hard enough and it behaves like a limiter. Push a limiter hard enough and it starts doing things no compressor should do, things that can destroy the life of your mix.
The challenge: limiters are easy to use badly. Crank the threshold, crank the ceiling, and you can make anything loud. The result sounds flat, squashed, and fatiguing: a wall of sound with no dynamics, no character, and no soul. Used correctly, a limiter is transparent protection that keeps peaks under control without changing the character of the music.
Here's how to use one correctly.
What Is a Limiter?
A limiter is essentially a compressor with an infinite ratio. Where a compressor might apply a 4:1 ratio (meaning for every 4 dB over threshold, only 1 dB passes through), a limiter applies a ratio so high it's effectively uncappable: nothing above the threshold gets through. The signal is limited, hence the name.
On a mastering limiter the threshold and the ceiling are two different controls. The ceiling sets the highest level anything is allowed to leave at. The threshold sets how far into the signal the limiter reaches, and because the plugin makes up the difference automatically, lowering it makes the track louder rather than quieter. Pull the threshold down 3 dB and you have not capped anything at -3: you have added roughly 3 dB of loudness while the peaks stay where the ceiling put them.
Every limiter has these controls:
- Threshold: How far into the signal the limiter reaches. Lower it and more of the track is pushed up against the ceiling, which is what makes it louder.
- Ceiling (or Output Ceiling): The maximum output level, and the number you set to -1 dBTP. It is independent of the threshold on every mastering limiter worth using, FabFilter Pro-L 2, Ozone's Maximizer and the Waves L series included.
- Release: How fast the limiter stops limiting after the signal drops below threshold. Too fast and you get artifacts; too slow and the limiter holds on too long, pumping the mix.
- Attack: How quickly the limiter engages once the signal exceeds threshold. Fast attack catches transients; slow attack lets some transient through before limiting kicks in.
On a master bus limiter, attack and release are largely about character, not control. The threshold and ceiling are what actually do the limiting. If you can't hear the difference when you adjust attack or release on a transparent limiter, leave them where they are.
The Ceiling: Your Most Important Setting
In modern music production, the ceiling is non-negotiable. Streaming platforms normalize by loudness, not by peak. They measure the integrated LUFS of the whole track and apply one gain change to bring it to their target. Peak level only enters when they are turning a quiet track up, because they leave headroom so that gain cannot push it into clipping. A master that already averages -14 LUFS is played exactly as you made it. A master at -8 LUFS is turned down about 6 dB, and everything you did to get it that loud is undone in a single gain move.
WHERE TO AIM, BY PLATFORM
- Spotify -14 LUFS True peak ceiling -1 dB.
- Apple Music -16 LUFS More headroom than Spotify.
- YouTube -14 LUFS Normalizes much like Spotify.
- Tidal -14 LUFS Masters can sit louder if the original is.
- SoundCloud -14 LUFS Normalization applies to everything.
Set your output ceiling to -1 dBTP, and to -2 dBTP if the master is louder than -14 LUFS. Note the unit: true peak, not sample peak. A file that reads -0.3 dBFS on a sample peak meter can still cross 0 dBTP once it is encoded to a lossy format, and that is where the distortion you never heard in your DAW comes from. Pushing the ceiling higher buys you nothing anyway, because the platform normalizes by loudness regardless.
| Platform | Target LUFS | True Peak Maximum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | -14 LUFS | -1 dBTP | -2 dBTP if you master louder than -14 |
| Apple Music | -16 LUFS | -1 dBTP | Sound Check, no published LUFS figure |
| YouTube | -14 LUFS | -1 dBTP | Measured, not published |
| Tidal | -14 LUFS | -1 dBTP | Normalizes much like Spotify |
| SoundCloud | -14 LUFS | -1 dBTP | Measured, not published |
WHAT A LIMITER DOES
Time
Release Time: Where Most People Go Wrong
The release control is where the character of a limiter lives. Set it wrong and your limiter will pump, breathe, and distort in ways that have nothing to do with the music. Set it correctly and the limiter becomes invisible: you hear the music, not the processing.
Auto-release vs. manual. Most modern limiters have an auto-release function that analyzes the incoming signal and sets release time accordingly. For most applications, auto-release works well. For surgical or character-driven work, manual release gives you more control.
The pumping problem. If your limiter's release is too fast relative to the tempo of the music, you'll hear it breathe: the mix will seem to pulse in time with the beat as the limiter releases and then grabs again. This is called pumping, and it's one of the most common mastering mistakes.
Release time depends on the tempo. A fast techno track needs a faster release than a slow ballad. The release should be long enough that the limiter doesn't grab the next note too aggressively, but short enough that it doesn't hold on so long it distorts the tail of a reverb or makes the master sound like it's breathing.
For a limiter on the master bus, start with an auto-release setting. If you hear pumping (especially on the kick drum) increase the release time until the pumping stops. You want the limiter to release in the space between beats, not during them.
Using Limiters During Mixing
You don't put a limiter on every channel; that's what compression is for. But there are specific mixing situations where a limiter is exactly the right tool:
Bus Limiting
On a drum bus or a bass bus, a limiter can control transients that would otherwise cause problems. A kick drum that peaks 6 dB above the rest of the kit might be pushing your bus into clipping before the rest of the elements get a chance to contribute. A light limiter on the bus (threshold set so it only grabs the top 3-4 dB of the peaks) keeps the bus under control without crushing the life out of the drums.
For this use case: fast attack to catch the transient, moderate release, ceiling set to the maximum level you want for that bus.
Vocal Chains
On a vocal chain, a limiter placed before the compressor catches unexpected peaks before they hit it too hard. If your vocalist has a wide dynamic range and you want a slower attack on the compressor without worrying about transient spikes, that limiter in front acts as a protection circuit.
This is common in broadcast and podcast production, where vocal consistency matters more than dynamic range. Set the threshold so the limiter only activates on the loudest peaks: 2 to 4 dB of gain reduction should be your maximum. More than that and you're back to the over-limiting problem.
Using Limiters on the Master
On the master bus, the limiter is your final safety net before the signal goes to the streaming platform. It ensures nothing exceeds the ceiling, and (if you're going for loud) it adds apparent loudness by catching peaks and pulling them down so the overall level can come up.
The two types of master limiting:
Transparent limiting (glue limiting). Set the threshold high enough that the limiter barely activates. It only grabs the occasional peak that manages to get through after all your other processing. The result is a mastered signal that peaks cleanly at your ceiling and maintains the dynamics of your mix. This is the approach for classical, jazz, acoustic, and any music where dynamics are part of the art.
Aggressive limiting (loudness mastering). Push the threshold down so the limiter works harder, catching more peaks and allowing you to push the overall level higher. This is what pop, EDM, hip-hop, and modern rock mastering typically sounds like: loud, dense, and compressed. The tradeoff is dynamics: aggressive limiting reduces the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of the music.
| Mastering Style | Typical Gain Reduction | LUFS Target | Suitable For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transparent / Glue | 0–2 dB | -16 to -14 | Jazz, classical, acoustic, organic genres |
| Moderate | 2–5 dB | -11 to -9 | Indie rock, folk, singer-songwriter |
| Aggressive | 5–10 dB | -8 to -6 | Pop, EDM, hip-hop, modern metal |
Never limit more than necessary. If your mix already averages -12 LUFS, no amount of limiting will bring it down to -14: a limiter only pushes loudness up. Pull the fader down 2 dB instead. Limiting is for when you are short of your target, and then you want the least of it that gets you there. Use the minimum limiting required to hit your target; your music will thank you for it.
How to Tell If You're Over-Limiting
Over-limiting is the most common mastering mistake, and it's easy to do when you're chasing loudness. Here are the symptoms:
- The mix sounds flat and lifeless. If the limiter is working too hard, it removes all dynamic variation: everything ends up at roughly the same level. The music has no energy because energy requires contrast.
- You can hear the limiter working. Pumping, breathing, or distortion that isn't present in the mix without the limiter. Bypass the limiter and the mix should sound more natural; if it doesn't, the limiter is doing too much.
- The transients are gone. Drums that used to hit hard now sound like they've been run through a lawn mower. The initial attack of notes (the thing that makes them sound punchy and present) has been stripped away by a limiter with too-fast attack settings.
- Distortion on the peaks. If your limiter is catching too much, you'll hear it: a gritty, squashed quality that sounds like clipping. This is especially common in digital limiters pushed beyond their capability.
The A/B test: Set up your limiter bypass so you can compare the limited version against the bypassed version quickly. If the bypassed version sounds more dynamic, punchy, and alive (but the limited version sounds louder), you've over-limited. Back off the threshold until the only thing the limiter is doing is catching the occasional stray peak.
Drop your ceiling by 1 dB and turn your monitor volume up by 1 dB. If the result sounds obviously different from just turning the limiter threshold up by 1 dB, you were over-reliant on gain reduction to achieve loudness, not on actual headroom. Aim for a sound that's consistent whether the ceiling is at -0.3 dB or -1.3 dB.
Loudness Targets for Streaming Platforms
Understanding streaming loudness normalization is essential for modern mastering. Here's the practical breakdown:
Spotify normalizes to -14 LUFS. If your master averages -14 LUFS and peaks at -1 dBFS, Spotify plays it at the original level. If your master averages -10 LUFS (louder), Spotify turns it down to -14 LUFS, which means your song is actually quieter than the one mastered to -14 LUFS, just with more dynamics removed.
The quiet mastering paradox. Masters that are quieter but have better dynamics often sound louder on streaming than masters that are over-limited and loud. The over-limited version gets turned down; the dynamic version doesn't. If your mix sounds quiet on Spotify, the fix is usually not more limiting; it's better arrangement and mixing that builds energy without crushing dynamics.
Target -14 LUFS for Spotify. For most modern music, -14 LUFS is the sweet spot: loud enough to feel impactful, dynamic enough to have energy and contrast. Classical, jazz, and acoustic genres often target -16 LUFS to preserve more dynamics. EDM and pop may push to -11 or -8 LUFS for competitive loudness, but this comes at the cost of dynamics.
Your limiter is a tool, not a loudness dial. Use it to protect your ceiling, control peaks, and preserve the character of your mix, not to squeeze the life out of your music in pursuit of a number on a meter.
Learn how to master your track at home with a complete step-by-step mastering chain, from EQ and dynamics to limiting and dithering.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a limiter?
A limiter is a compressor with a ratio so high that nothing passes above the threshold at all. Where a 4:1 compressor lets 1 dB through for every 4 dB over, a limiter effectively lets none through, which is why it is used as a ceiling rather than as a shaping tool.
What should I set the limiter ceiling to?
A limiter ceiling of -1 dBTP is the usual choice for a master, because lossy encoders can push peaks slightly higher than the file itself measures. Whatever you set it to holds absolutely: at -3 dBFS, nothing in the signal will exceed -3 dBFS.
Why does my loud master still sound quiet on Spotify?
A loud master sounds quiet on streaming because platforms normalize by average loudness, not by peak. A track peaking at -0.3 dBFS but averaging -14 LUFS is turned down to the platform target anyway, so the peak level bought nothing.
What release time should a limiter use?
Limiter release is where most people go wrong: too fast and the limiter distorts the low end, too slow and it holds the whole mix down after a single peak. Set it by listening to the bass, which is the part that suffers first.