W1 Limiter

W1 Limiter free limiter by 4Front Technologies

W1 Limiter is a free limiter VST, VST3, Audio Unit, RTAS plugin developed by 4Front Technologies. Compatible OS(s): Windows 64b, macOS.

W1 Limiter is a “brickwall limiter” that is a clone of Waves L1-Ultramaximizer, with “identical output” and an approximation of Waves L2.

Waves’ L1 (and thus W1 – for compatibility reasons) uses three times longer actual release time than the standard RT60 metric. This means that if you set 50ms release in the limiter, it will actually yield with 150ms standard RT60 release time, but users of L1 should be familiar with it.

Starting from version 2.0 W1 Limiter also contains adaptive release logic. The author tried to emulate Waves L2, however could only do this approximately. Also, unlike Waves, W1 allows changing release time while in adaptive mode.

Waves IDR dithering is not emulated.

http://www.4front-tech.com/

Signal Noise SN05-G Brickwall Limiter

Signal Noise SN05-G Brickwall Limiter free limiter by Sender Spike

Signal Noise SN05-G Brickwall Limiter is a free limiter VST plugin developed by Sender Spike. Compatible OS(s): Windows.

SN05-G, as its full name implies, is a brickwall (sample peak) limiter, best suited for the very end of the signal chain, but can easily handle also individual tracks.

Features:

  • 3 stages: limiter, soft clipper, hard clipper.
  • input gain 0-24 dB.
  • ceiling from 0 dBFS to -24 dBFS.
  • limiter attack time from 0.02 ms to 250 ms.
  • limiter release time from 10 ms to 1300 ms.
  • hard clipper release time from 1 ms to 500 ms (limiter on) or 0.1 ms to 50 ms (limiter off).
  • fixed hard clipper attack time.
  • optional soft clipping stage adjustable from 0% to 100% (0% = off).
  • optional HPF for limiter’s side-chain with cutoff frequency ranging from 15 Hz to 2 kHz.
  • limiter bypass (signal passes only through the clippers).
  • Dual GR meter (limit/clip).

https://senderspike.wordpress.com/

Maxwell Smart

Maxwell Smart free limiter by Lively Audio

Maxwell Smart is a free limiter VST plugin developed by Lively Audio. Compatible OS(s): Windows.

Maxwell Smart is a transparent true peak limiter / loudness maximizer with look-ahead. It’s designed to boost the overall loudness while maintaining transients without audible distortion. Maxwell Smart also has 4x ISP (inter-sample peak) detection to tame the ‘invisible’ peaks between regular sample peaks.

Features:

  • Transparent true peak limiter / loudness maximizer with look-ahead.
  • Simple but effective controls to fluently adjust the sound.
  • 4x Inter-Sample Peak (ISP) detection, with the same efficiency as 4x linear phase oversampling, but without any of the common downsides, such as additional sound artifacts or heavy CPU-load.
  • Compliant with the latest international recommendations for true peak detection, such as those described in ITU-R BS.1770-4.
  • 5ms latency (compensated).
  • Support for all sample rates between 8kHz – 384kHz.

KVRDC12

Made with FlowStone

https://livelyaudio.blogspot.com

LSP Begrenzer – Limiter plugin series

LSP Begrenzer - Limiter plugin series free limiter by Linux Studio Plugins Project

LSP Begrenzer – Limiter plugin series is a free limiter VST, LV2, Ladspa plugin developed by Linux Studio Plugins Project. Compatible OS(s): Linux.

This plugin implements a brick-wall limiter with flexible configuration. It prevents input monosignal from raising over the specified Threshold.

Attention: this plugin implements set of limiting modes, most of them are iterative. That means that CPU load may be not stable, in other words: the more work should be done, the more CPU resources will be used. Beware from extreme settings.

{See video at top of page}

http://lsp-plug.in/

LoudMax

LoudMax free limiter by Thomas Mundt

LoudMax is a free limiter VST, Audio Unit, Ladspa plugin developed by Thomas Mundt. Compatible OS(s): Windows, macOS, Linux.

LoudMax is a Look-Ahead Brickwall Loudness Maximizer with a clean transparent sound. It is designed to retain the original character of the music as much as possible even at high compression levels.

Main range of application:

  • Audio Mastering.
  • Output Limiter/Maximizer for web radio stations.

Controls:

  • One slider for threshold, one for the output level.
  • Meters for input, output and gain reduction in relation to the desired threshold.
  • Link: Output slider will be coupled to the threshold slider.
  • ISP: Inter-sample peak detection for true peak limiting.

Features:

  • True Peak Limiting.
  • Supported Samplerates: 2kHz – 384kHz.
  • Latency: 1.25ms (+ 6 samples with ISP).
  • Look-Ahead and Attack Time: 1.25ms.
  • Release Time: Automatic – depending on the input signal.
  • No audible distortion.
  • Possible Overdrive: 740dB.
  • Very low CPU usage.

https://loudmax.blogspot.com/

Free Clip

Free Clip free limiter by Venn Audio

Free Clip is a free limiter VST, Audio Unit plugin developed by Venn Audio. Compatible OS(s): Windows 64b, macOS.

Free Clip is an intuitive multi algorithm soft clipper/wave shaper plugin, available as a Windows VST or mac Audio Unit/VST. The plugin allows you to choose between a range of wave shapes or ‘sigmoid functions’, from the most transparent but harshest hard clip, to the ‘softest’ but most saturated arctangent shape. You can then intuitively set the ceiling level using the slider that perfectly matches the level meter next to it. Oversampling is also available to remove high frequency aliasing; when oversampling is on this does introduce peaks slightly over the ceiling level however, so if you intend to use this plugin with oversampling as the final plugin on the master chain, ensure the ceiling level is set appropriately and/or the post-oversampling clip setting is set.

This plugin is a great way to conveniently transparently boost volume without clipping your daw, whether it be an individual stem or sound effect, or an entire track that you made. It is recommended that the hardclip, quantic or cubic shape be used for mastering, as these introduce no or minimal saturation to the waveform under the ceiling.

The plugin can be also used as a more traditional saturation/distortion plugin by setting a ‘softer’ wave shape, such as algebraic or arctangent – simply lower the ceiling level to provide more saturation to the signal – just remember to boost the output afterwards. Alternatively you can boost the input gain into the clipper for the same effect. In this case, increasing the oversampling value is helpful if you’re hearing high frequency aliasing! Be warned that high oversampling values such as 16 or 32 times can be very heavy on the CPU.

{See video at top of page}

http://www.vennaudio.com/

ClipShifter 2

ClipShifter 2 free limiter | clipper by LVC-Audio

ClipShifter 2 is a free limiter and clipper VST, VST3, Audio Unit, RTAS, AAX plugin developed by LVC-Audio. Compatible OS(s): Windows 64b, macOS.

ClipShifter is a wave-shaping clipping-style limiter that provides enough user controls to be useful in all mixing stages. ClipShifter uses a unique threshold control to change the clipping threshold dynamically based on the transient characteristics of the incoming audio. The sonic characteristics of the clipping distortion can be altered from hard, brickwall-style clipping, to softer saturation with compression. Additional parameters allow the user to control the even- and odd-order components of the saturation.

ClipShifter is released as a free and paid plugin. The paid plugin adds oversampling (2, 4, and 8 times) with selectable double processing, mid/side processing, and a 3-way multiband frequency control. The multiband frequency control can be used to apply clipping to certain frequency bands independently, while the free version applies the audio clipping to the entire frequency spectrum.

Major features

Plugin Features::

  • Clipping style limiter: from transparent sounding compression to hard clipping distortion.
  • Initial and End thresholds controls that can dynamically change the clipping level based on the incoming signal.
  • Controls for Clip Shape (hard to soft) and harmonics (even- and odd-order).
  • Visual display of signals using VU-style, PPM-style, and loudness/RMS meters to monitor input and output levels.
  • Scalable waveform history view with click-and-drag editing of clipping thresholds.

Paid Features::

  • Multiband EQ controls: 3-band EQ crossover, with independent processing of each band through the clipping algorithm.
  • Oversamping: 2X, 4X, and 8X internal oversampling to reduce aliasing.
  • Double processing: additional option to process audio an additional time through the clipping algorithm when oversampling is engaged.
  • Mid/Side processing: Selectable control for processing Mid/Side signals independently.

System Requirements and Specifications:

  • Windows: VST, VST3, RTAS, and AAX plugin formats. Limited-MAX requires Windows XP SP 3 or newer with a processor that supports SSE2 (AMD or Intel processor from around 2004 or later). An iLok device is required to use the AAX format.
  • OS X: AU, VST, VST3, RTAS, and AAX plugin formats. Limited-MAX requires OS X 10.5 or later, and an Intel processor. An iLok device is required to use the AAX format.

ClipShifter can be purchased for $24.95 USD. For more information or to download the free/demo version, visit LVC-Audio.

http://www.lvcaudio.com

Clip Shifter

Clip Shifter free limiter | clipper by LVC-Audio

Clip Shifter is a free limiter and clipper VST plugin developed by LVC-Audio. Compatible OS(s): Windows.

Clip Shifter is a plugin designed to provide saturation and clipping effects to your audio. This can be useful for individual tracks, busses, and overall mixes. The sonic characteristics of the clipping distortion can be altered from hard, brickwall-style clipping, to softer saturation with compression. The threshold controls for Clip Shifter’s clipping can be set to dynamically change based on the transient characteristic of the incoming audio.

Clip Shifter is available as a Windows 32-bit or 64-bit VST plugin.

KVRDC12

http://www.lvcaudio.com