[Garpocalypse]

Kind of a noobish question here. I have always thrown a compressor on the master whenever I start a new project. Alot of what I use tends to fly deep into the red when i am just playing around and i always thought that would be damaging to my speakers and soundcard. Does putting a compressor on the master so that nothing goes above 0.0 do what I think it's doing by helping me extend the life of my gear?

[liquid wind]

using a limiter on the master is a good idea to save not only your speakers but also potentially your ears. I have TLS pocket limiter(excellent freebie) at the end of my master chain on my default template. it's there as a last line of defense though, when mixing you don't want too much compression on the master unless you're intentionally going for that "protools shat out a brick" sound

[Sixto]

I always throw a limiter on the master track just to protect my monitors. In fact I'm pretty sure most people do it. I wont add the compressor or mess with the limiter functions until the very final stage of mixing, though.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Originally Posted by Sixto

I always throw a limiter on the master track just to protect my monitors. In fact I'm pretty sure most people do it. I wont add the compressor or mess with the limiter functions until the very final stage of mixing, though.

This. Actually, whenever I fire FL Studio up, it has a limiter on the master by default I think. So that's a thing.

[SonicThHedgog]

Is it me or does the fl limiter add db gain :P

[Neblix]

Originally Posted by AngelCityOutlaw

This. Actually, whenever I fire FL Studio up, it has a limiter on the master by default I think. So that's a thing.

TLs-Pocket Limiter > FL Limiter
Also, the gain is up too high on the Limiter template.

I only use FL Limiter for its great side chaining.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Originally Posted by neblix

TLs-Pocket Limiter > FL Limiter
Also, the gain is up too high on the Limiter template.

I only use FL Limiter for its great side chaining.

Nothing says you have to use the template lol. I'll check out TLs-Pocket Limiter though.

[Yoozer]

Originally Posted by Gar23

Alot of what I use tends to fly deep into the red

Turn.

Down.

The.

Volume.

Does putting a compressor on the master so that nothing goes above 0.0 do what I think it's doing by helping me extend the life of my gear?

Use a limiter - it's a compressor that chops off everything to infinitey, and use one that doesn't color (the opposite of "coloring" is "transparent" - and in case of the compressor it means that it only changes the volume).

It's like designing a house with doors that are only 4 feet high and then, instead of increasing the height, you simply decapitate all visitors who are too tall.

[Rozovian]

Yeah, there's no reason to feed crazy amounts of sound into the master and forcing it down with a limiter or compressor when turning down the volume does most of the same anyway.

I'm wondering how much it matter tho. Digital clipping would be as bad for speakers as a square wave with the volume turned up so the output is the same. Does the soundcard receive floating point numbers?

Blah blah blah, I keep a limiter on my master anyway, since I'll eventually have to add one there anyway to prevent clipping when I output. And I turn the levels down so the limiter isn't limiting all the time.

also: Yoozer, nice analogy. :D

[Neblix]

Originally Posted by AngelCityOutlaw

Nothing says you have to use the template lol. I'll check out TLs-Pocket Limiter though.

If there is a limiter on the master, you are using the template.