Audio limiting is the art of managing and controlling sound energy. Often the goal is to increase loudness by changing level dynamics in the most transparent way possible. Historically, this was done by using an electric circuit that follows the envelope of an audio signal and steers a variable gain to reduce peaks and boost low levels. These methods were later emulated in the digital domain and many variations and flavors have been created since.

LimitOne is different. Our goal was not to eliminate all other clippers or limiters out there, as they all add their own color, but to develop a novel approach and do things in a different way, allowing you to get results that weren’t previously possible.

We found inspiration in two-stage limiter methods and multi-band compressor designs, in how clipping adds color and punch, and we also took note of the problems and artifacts that some processing introduces. Then we imagined what an easy-to-use tool would look like if we would not limit ourselves to existing methods. This led to the idea of a hybrid algorithm that combines the advantages of digital signal processing in the frequency domain and time domain.



€149 (until October 28th 2024) After 249€

https://www.leapwingaudio.com/product/limitone/

interesting, can't wait to check it out.

The video is not very good at demonstrating this. What makes this limiter different and what can it do that other limiters can't?

Finally a limiter that can be operated quickly and intuitively. Before that I used DMG Limitless.

But I still miss a transparent sounding multichannel limiter. It would be very helpful for film mixing and the DAW internal ones just sound bad.

Genuinely curious about that new one. Limitless is still king here, but Leapwing has great tools too.

Very, very interesting. Bob K endorses it, so it can't be bad One thing I can't find: where is the clipper in the chain? I presume it comes before the limiter, but does it say anywhere?

Will definitely demo. ...hoping for an additional loyalty discount

Oh wow, that's brilliant! The combination of the tilt function with the drive allows for a perfect 'record-like' polish, and it achieves a great volume boost with an impressive sense of clarity. ( replacing a lot of the work you'd normally do with other plugins and doing it so well, which is a real time saver). Well done, Leapwing!

Just compared it to the Fabfilter L2 that's at the end of my chain. And I have to say that the Leapwing sounds really good (it's less audible than the L2 to my ears). I might switch to this limiter.

Is there a way to listen to the delta signal? I didn't see any button ...

Compared it to my other go-tos (BusPeak, PristinePeaks, smartLimit, Limitless, Ozone 11 Maximizer & Nugen ISL2).

I´m a fan of Leapwing (I own all of their plugins, so far) but LimitOne doesn´t add anything, my other limiters can´t do.

Thank god, I really have enough limiters atm

Hi there! I’m curious, do the limiters you mentioned (PristinePeaks, smartLimit, Limitless, Ozone 11 Maximizer, Nugen ISL2) have similar features to the Tilt/Drive options in LimitOne? Also, what makes you reach for these specific limiters in your workflow? Just curious about your approach. Thanks!

In fact, I even use more and all have different features but what counts in the end is the result.

I only use limiters in mastering and Atmos mixing (ISL2), therefore my main goal is transparency but also impact / transient handling and of course how a limiter reacts to a given track/ song.

LimitOne is not a bad limiter but it isn´t more transparent than smartLimit or PristinePeaks (which is fantastic - like all RJ plugins - and rather cheap).
Ozone, Limitless and Arturia have a sound that can fit perfectly for a certain track and they´re more punchy than LimitOne, imo.

I ditched Fabfilter quite some time ago, so I can´t say how LimitOne compares to the L2.

As I said, I´m all positive about Leapwing in general (apart from the cpu usage ) but this doesn´t bring anything new to the table for me.

No gain compensation. No Delta. No demo because the site times out for me (probably too many viewers).

The whole marketing spiel for this is rather poor (& annoying). Yes, Leapwing makes great tools, and alongside the Bob Katz endorsement makes one assume that this is another good one… But to claim that this is a ‘new way of doing things’ that will enable things ‘once out of reach’ without explaining how (at all) it does this, is wild.

Mr. Katz also says that this has become his number 1 mastering limiter, whilst the marketing blurb from Leapwing says that this isn’t here to ‘replace’ tools… So which one is it?

It’s pricey, and looks rather basic in relation to other limiters’ feature sets out there nowadays (Limitless etc…). It’s all in the algorithm/sound however, so I am tempted to grab the trial… Though, it’s not exactly being sold to me yet. I watched the videos too, and I still don’t understand what’s so new about this. The only thing currently tempting me is the Katz endorsement. For €149 (on sale!), this has to completely blow Limitless out of the water (which in terms of feature set, it absolutely doesn’t). Or, be ‘invisible’ (which is a bit of a mad thing to say to in regards to limiting but, y’know… Everyone knows what we mean), which Mr Katz says it is regarding ‘moderate’ gain reduction. I’ll probably get the demo this weekend on that claim alone.

Lastly, a tilt EQ? The manual says that this is literally just a ‘pre-limiter’ tilt… I don’t understand why this such a praised feature? Most digital EQ’s have a ‘tilt’ option nowadays, I’d much rather use that (with more control) than have it here (in mastering especially)… Handy? Perhaps… But I don’t understand the attraction too much. I’d rather have more parameters in regard to the limiting, which you know; is what it is. Tilt EQ’s happen in mastering, but they’re deffo rather uncommon (in my experience anyway).

TL;DR - This is expensive and I’m yet to see why. Though, a demo does exist (which is great and I will be checking out), and it has high praise of one of the best… Just a weird ‘launch’, if you will

OK, I don’t have a computer right now so I can’t even test the plug-in. I was the guy asking for others to help me delete 1900 Plugins.

This plug-in looks great and if Leapwing is involved, I know it is a quality product leap wing is one of the few companies I kept…

I enjoy all of their products except for root one which I returned after the problems….

A little more of a discount for previous owners would be nice, but I understand the price is the price….

Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer my questions! I really appreciate it. I’ve actually tested RJ PristinePeaks myself, and I agree—it’s excellent! However, in a blind test, 7 times out of 8, I found myself preferring LimitOne across different types of material (of course, making sure the input levels were matched). It’s interesting how we all have different preferences depending on the project. Thanks again for sharing your insights!

Limiting, such a basic concept but each algorithm handles transients and sound stage so differently. Leapwing makes great products so at the least I'm willing to give this a try.

One day I too will be able to afford a Leapwing plugin.

Unless the tilt eq is some kind of sidechain features, so you tilt the limiting without eqing the audio ?

Ok, but what about the spectral stuff ?? Has anyone some clues about it ?

I just tried it and it is awesome. Very nice feature with the tilt and sounds great. Easy to dial in the perfect tone. However, I use the LAAL before and only 2-3 db on the LimitOne. Perfect combo. Instant buy for me.

I for one cant imagine this is the only spectral limiter. Maybe the only spectral
plugin advertised as a limiter.

You know, because a limiter and a compressor differ by not too much really. *shrug

From the product algo info:
"Pufferfish: A frequency domain processor that aims to optimize the energy distribution across the whole frequency spectrum for a given Drive and Ceiling level. Another way to describe it: a fully automated adaptive multiband dynamics controller."

Not that I have used it in over 10 years now but is this not similar to what Waves L316 was doing with all those bands?

Tried it after my Rockruepel Limit.one and LAAL. Thats going to get confusing....
Yeah its good.
Can have an advantage over the other spectral limiters like Cedar make. Different emphasis on what it impacts. Changes the Density and presentation enough that clients will have a preference for sure.
Not that I need much, 1dB max to get super loud with this setup, but I can still hear a large enough difference.
Good job Leapwing.

This does sound pretty good, I think another good comparison for it, is boost by ursadsp...

Thats what I was hoping for but unfortunately its in the audio path rather than the sidechain. Would be much more interesting in the sidechain. As is its redundant, at least for me as a mastering engineer as I would already have shaped it that way in the chain.

Tastes always differ and the explanation for your preference could well be the spectral part of LimitOne.

Similar to other spectral tools, it can modify the material in way that´s pleasing to our ears.

I personally prefer doing my balancing before the limiter stages, therefore I prefer more transparent limiters, or limiters that have a certain character that suits a style / track best, or the ones I know a client prefers because he/she is used to the sound when making their own fake masters .

I still like Waves L316. From my short time with this one it doesn’t seem to be focused around the ability to “shape” the spectrum through limiting but instead focuses on “where” the limiting is focusing.

I agree it does compact and adds a bit of polish. Similarly to how Gold Clip’s vibe just adds a bit of something when doing what it does. The “Dark” presets are quite useful.

So far I struggle to hear transparence and invisibility with the few tests I've ran. Not saying anything else than that really, will test further.

Interesting!

What it does to the low mids reminded me of Gold Clip, too .