User manual
A brickwall limiter with a true peak ceiling, measured between samples.
Less Limiter is a brickwall limiter measured in true peak. Set the ceiling to -1 dBTP and the output stays under it. The measurement is BS.1770 true peak, which is what lossy encoders overshoot on, so it leaves them headroom. The gain computer runs release, sliding maximum and smoothing in an order chosen so the ceiling holds.
Run the installer for your platform. On macOS the AU and VST3 versions install for all users; on Windows the VST3 installs under Common Files. Factory presets install into your user preset folder and are never overwritten: presets you save land in the same folder and stay yours.
| macOS presets | ~/Library/Application Support/MixLess/Presets/Less Limiter |
| Windows presets | %APPDATA%\MixLess\Presets\Less Limiter |
The screenshot is the shipping interface, rendered by the shipping code. Press I in the plugin to toggle the same control descriptions as cursor tooltips.
Two moments from the same display: at rest, and with material running through it. Print cannot move, so these are frames of the animation rather than a drawing of it.
| GAIN | Gain: drive into the limiter. More gain = louder and more limiting |
| CEILING | Ceiling: the level the output is held under. With TRUE PEAK on it is measured in dBTP, the way encoders see it; with TRUE PEAK off it is a sample peak in dB and inter sample peaks can still exceed it |
| RELEASE | Release: how fast gain comes back after limiting. Too fast distorts lows |
| LOOKAHEAD | Lookahead: catches transients cleanly ahead of time. Adds that much latency |
| TRUE PEAK | TRUE PEAK: limit inter-sample (oversampled) peaks, not just sample peaks |
| TP RESET | Reset the output true-peak hold readout |
Set Ceiling to -1 dBTP with True Peak on. Raise Gain until the loudness sits where you want it; the true peak ceiling holds at the plugin output.
Use the Transparent Catch preset. With the ceiling just below the peaks, only the loudest moments are touched; everything else passes unchanged, and a test asserts that on every build.
Raise Gain past the ceiling and listen as density grows. The release control trades punch against loudness; the meter shows exactly how much reduction you are buying.
| Formats | AU, VST3 |
| Lookahead | 2 ms, 96 samples at 48 kHz, reported |
| Detection | true peak per BS.1770, switchable |
| Factory presets | 4 |
Questions and problems: [email protected]. Legal notices, the privacy notice and third-party licences: mixlessaudio.com.