L3-16 User Guide
1.3 Concepts and Terminology
The Peak Limiting Mixer™
A traditional multiband limiter consists of a given number of limiters operating independently of each other, each set to a particular frequency range. The key to the L3-16’s power is its patent-pending Peak Limiting Mixer™ (PLMixer™) engine, which uses a single peak limiter to control all of its bands.
Dividing the audio spectrum into 16 bands using linear phase crossover filters, the PLMixer™ uses psychoacoustic criteria to intelligently decide how much attenuation to apply to each band, using all available headroom. The PLMixer™ incorporates superimposed Gain and Priority curves that allow the user to set gain (which functions exactly like placing a linear phase EQ before the L3-16’s limiting section) and priority (relative limiting) across the audio spectrum. The result is that inter-modulation distortion is minimized and overall loudness is maximized, while retaining the simplicity of a single master threshold control.
Unlike traditional multiband limiters, the PLMixer™ does not require a wide band peak limiter to catch overshoots generated by individual band adjustments; it automatically controls the gain relationship between bands while maintaining brickwall limiting.
Limiter bands vs. Paragraphic-EQ bands
The L3-16’s Gain/EQ and Priority curves make for a very powerful mastering tool, enabling both paragraphic equalization and multiband limiting. Controlled by a 6-band Paragraphic EQ-style interface, these curves are implemented by a 16-band linear phase crossover engine. The Equalization (Gain) and Priority curves are essentially overlaid on top of the 16 bands, in the way you would overlay a frequency-response curve on a graphic EQ’s sliders.
Separation
The L3-16 linear phase crossover allows control over the amount of Separation between its 16 bands. Separation is basically the cutoff slope (or Q) between the bands. At low Separation settings, crossover slopes between bands are moderate, creating more overlap between the bands. At higher Separation settings, the crossover slopes are steeper, resulting in less overlap between the bands.
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