What is Limiter?
Also called: brickwall limiter
A limiter is a dynamics processor that stops a signal from going above a set level, called the ceiling. It is essentially a compressor with a very high ratio and a very fast attack, and it is the last processor in most mastering chains.
A limiter does two jobs in mastering. It catches peaks so the file never goes over its ceiling, and, by pushing more gain into it, it raises the overall loudness while the peaks stay under control.
Push too hard and the limiter starts to flatten transients, pump or distort, and the track loses punch. Many limiters use lookahead, which delays the audio slightly so the limiter can react to a peak before it arrives, and a true peak mode, which also catches the peaks that fall between samples.
A sensible setting for streaming is a ceiling around -1 dBTP, with the input gain set by ear and by the loudness you want, not by chasing a number.
Put it to work
Get a finished master with the limiting and loudness set for streaming.
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