FabFilter’s Pro-L is a professional mastering and mixing plug-in tool with a highly visual real-time GUI display that shows what exactly is happening to your audio so one can more accurately set up the limiting process.
The broad usefulness of FabFilter Pro-L limiter is due to the four advanced limiting algorithms, each with their own distinct character. You could use the Transparent style to maintain the original sound balance and feel but with minimum coloration while Punchy introduces very hearable and vibey pumping artifacts and flavor. The Dynamic algorithm enhances transients before limiting and the Allround algorithm is a safe way to minimize distortion while still making your music loud.
I found Pro-L useful beyond typical stereo mix bus use—such as “reigning in” difficult lead vocal recordings. I found double-tracked and harmony lead vocals seem to “mesh” better in the mix. Using reasonable settings, Pro-L is very transparent with minimal added distortion using any of the styles.
Complete with dithering and noise shaping capabilities, FabFilter Pro-L is available for $229 in both Windows and Mac OS X in VST and VST 3, RTAS and Audio Units plug-in formats.
Barry Rudolph is a recording engineer/mixer who has worked on over 30 gold and platinum records. He has recorded and/or mixed Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall & Oates, Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, the Corrs, and more. Barry has his own futuristic music mixing facility and loves teaching audio engineering at Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA. He is a lifetime Grammy-voting member of NARAS and a contributing editor for Mix Magazine. barryrudolph.com
