Mixbox CS: 3 knob Limiter

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Mixbox CS: 3 knob Limiter

Postby Rocky1958 » Thu Apr 14, 2022 6:58 pm

Hi,

Can anyone give me an overview of how these controls work?
User manual is a bit light on details..
I read that behind the UI there is a Multiband limiter, but the controls are simplified. I understand the release control but not too sure about Drive and Overload..

Cheers, Rocky

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Rocky1958
 
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Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2022 5:13 pm

Re: Mixbox CS: 3 knob Limiter

Postby Rocky1958 » Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:40 pm

I may have found the answer to my own question.. and in this very forum…
Thank you Halma, from 2014….

https://cgi.ikmultimedia.com/ikforum/viewtopic.php?t=8178#p43026

Excerpt -
"And for this we have DRIVE, RELEASE TIME & OVERLOAD. Drive is making things louder (of course). Now what does Overload do? With overload you have some control of how your transients behave when limiting engages (think about it like mix between a softknee clipper that can hardclip too and some tricky auto attack settings). Fully right (positive dB...iirc 6dB is max) the signal is "more clear" and more transients pass and the signal will even become more louder, fully left (negative values) it sounds more clipped and with softer transients, 0dB is somewhere inbetween and +2dB is the recommended setting from the manual of the latter unit with the variable overdive knob if someone want to achieve the original settings from the first unit.
But you have to adjust your RELEASE times as well in order to get the most out of it. I like extreme settings when I wanna find the best settings so I ususally start with the slowest (full right) or the fastest (fully left) release time and then dial in the other way.
Release timings thumprule: fast release = CAN (!!!) distort but sounds punchier and more clear, the slower the release becomes the more the limiter is working until a point where it is contantly on.
Normally I like my drums punchy and I mostly start with Overrload fully right and fastest release settings. Then I dial in DRIVE until my GR meter hits 3-6dB and adjust all three knobs until everything sound fine."


There are some concepts in that thread that I didn’t understand, but it gives me something to experiment with..

E.g.
Limiting is not compression. In compression you use your threshold as your main controller to get your comp working. The more you dial in the more quieter the signal gets. Usually you adjust things afterwards in making it louder again with the makeup gain. Limiting is exactly the opposite. Instead of "making things quieter" you start right away in "making things louder". So what you actually do is you are "adjusting the volume first" and then taking care of the rest (eg getting rid of unwanted distortion).


I had always thought that a limiter was simply a compressor with a hard threshold which couldn’t be exceeded..
So maybe it is the DRIVE knob that brings a lower signal UP to that threshold?

Any further insight welcome..

This is the T-RackS unit it is based on…
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/trclasslim/index.php?p=info
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Cheers, Rocky
Rocky1958
 
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2022 5:13 pm


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