Re: [LAU] Limiters?

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 10:03:22PM +0200, Arnold Krille wrote:
> On Monday 11 July 2011 21:43:41 Folderol wrote:
> > On Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:04:44 -0400
> >
> > "S. Massy" <lists@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I won't jump into this fray of art vs. technique, as its just too dicey.
> > > I agree with you, Fons, on the distortion introduced by limiting; but do
> > > you have any theory as to why most people actually seem to like it? My
> > > experience is that people seem to feel lightly compressed, open mixes
> > > are weak, but will take to a "brutalised" mix enthusiastically. Do you
> > > have a theory? Also, aren't we a bit of a slave to whatever people
> > > happen to like, however much we might feel it is inferior?
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > S.M.
> >
> > I wonder if it is simply the fact that the distortion gives us a clue that
> > the equipment is working as hard as it can. I've noticed that Fuzz on a
> > guitar seems to make it sound louder than a clean signal that is actually
> > a far higher amplitude. More 'width' seems to outweigh more 'height'.
>
> I think (at least) for distorted guitars its the amount of high-frequencies
> that counts to our ears. Pure amplitude isn't everything, you have to look at
> the level per (logarithmic) frequency band. White noise "sounds" louder than
> pink or brown noise too.
But you can't compare electric guitar distortion with the kind of
distortion we're talking about here. Tube overdrive, which is what all
guitar distortions (except fuzz) try to emulate, is basically
introducing new harmonics to the signal. I may be wrong, but I think
limiting kills harmonics, rather than introducing any nw ones.

Cheers,
S.M.
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Received on Tue Jul 12 00:15:07 2011