Waves Audio L3 Multimaximizer, L3 Ultramaximizer User Guide
L3—Multimaximizer
Software audio processor
User's Guide
Waves L3 software guide page 1 of 26
Table of Contents
1. Quick Start Guide
2. Introduction
3. Technology Overview
4. Using the L3
-The Peak Limiter Section
-Threshold and Priority
-Release Behavior Types: Manual, ARC, Smoothed, Scaled
-The IDR Section: Type1, Type2
-Noise Shaping Options: Moderate, Normal, Ultra
5. Controls and Displays
-The Peak Limiter Section: Threshold, Out Ceiling, Attenuation Meter
-Multimaximizer Master Release: Release behavior type, Master Release
-Ultramaximizer Release Control
-Profile
-Peak Limiter Multiband controls
-Crossover controls: Low, Low Mid, Hi Mid, Hi
-Separation
-Per Band Controls: Gain, Priority, Gain and Priority Link, Release
-The Gain/Frequency Graph
-The IDR Section: Quantize, Type, Shaping, IDR Active/Passive Indicator
6. Some secrets of digital audio
-Maximum Level
-Maximum Resolution
-Why use Dithering, and what is it?
-A bit more about IDR™
7. In-depth IDR™ Information
-About Dither and Noise Shaping
-Dither: Off, Type1, Type 2
-Noise Shaping: Off, Moderate, Normal, Ultra
8. 16-bit (and higher) mastering
9. Use the L3 last
10. Important notes on digital clipping
-Peak Normalized Signals
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A Very Quick Start for Mastering with the L3
In a Hurry? For best results it is recommended that you read this manual
through or at least the chapters – Using L3 and L3 Controls and Displays.
However, just to get you started, here’s a bullet proof recipe for quick
mastering with the L3.
• Insert the L3 Ultramaximizer preferably after the master fader and in any
case do not insert any other plug-ins after it or make any consecutive gain
adjustments.
• Play the audio that you are mastering through the L3. Select a portion of
the more intense part of the program.
• Grab the Linked Threshold/Ceiling control located just between the Input
and Output meters. Start dragging downwards and watch the Attenuation
meter.
• Once the attenuation meter begins to register gain reduction, listen
carefully and continue to drag down until you start hearing degradation,
distortion or reduction in level.
• When you hear any of the above mentioned artifacts, stop and drag
upwards until you feel the program sounds transparent or at least not
degraded.
• Take the Ceiling control to -0.2dBfs.
• Set the IDR Quantize factor to match your designated medium, i.e. 16bit
for Audio CD mastering or 24bit for most other applications.
• Apply the process to the complete audio portion.
Following these instructions, you can hardly go wrong. With deeper
understanding of the controls and tools that the L3 offers you could potentially
do much better.
Read more of this users guide to get expert instructions of how to use the L3
to the maximum effect and optimal sound.
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1. Introduction
The L3-Multimaximizer is an integrated Peak Limiter and Bit Depth ReQuantizer. It utilizes breakthrough patented technology that takes the Waves
Maximizers to the next level.
The Waves L1 and L2 Ultramaximizers staged a revolution in digital limiting
and re-quantizing for mastering and other applications. They used
“lookahead” technology to perform wideband dynamic gain adjustment for
brick wall limiting with no overshoots.
The L3 uses Multiband dynamics processing, limiting the full band or the total
of the multiple bands to a certain Threshold factor. This allows the L3 to reach
unprecedented loudness with even more musical sounding results. It offers a
wide variety of different sonic flavors from analog sounding to the smoothest,
most transparent digital limiting you could imagine. These many flavors are
easily accessed by selecting the related profiles and presets. The band split is
implemented using linear phase crossovers so that no phase distortion is
introduced by the crossovers. The only difference between input and output is
a certain amount of pure delay which is 24-bit transparent until limiting is
introduced.
The full L3 is comprised of two plug-ins that offer different interfaces to control
the same essential algorithm.
• The L3 Ultramaximizer maintains the general control surface of its
predecessors the L1 and L2. It also adds a Profile selector to select
different internal settings of the multiband engine. Setting the L3 up is
as easy as setting up an L2. Afterwards, you can toggle through the
profiles to find the best Tuning of the algorithm for the program that you
are processing.
• The L3 Multimaximizer allows full parametric control over very specific
settings of the per band Gain, Priority and release factors. This allows
the user to perform corrective EQ and provides fine tuning choices for
the most meticulous of engineers. In fact, the L3 offers much more than
just limiting. For the most part it can be used on its own as a full
mastering chain.
The IDR (Increased Digital Resolution) technology offers the same good ol’
Waves bit depth reduction system. This allows optimal results when going
from a 24-bit source to a 16-bit CD audio stream. The whole process is
double precision, so dithering to the 24th bit will already provide enhanced
resolution. The superb IDR 9th order Noise Shaping filter will assure that the
noise is as inaudible as possible.
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2. Technology Overview
The L3 is a 5 band peak limiter that brings a new approach for multi band
peak limiting. The L3 does not consist of 5 independent peak limiters
operating separately on each of the bands. Instead, it has one central peak
limiter controlling all of the bands. The L3 is based on a new technology by
Waves called the Peak Limiting Mixer™ (patent pending).
The Peak Limiting Mixer™ examines the signals of all of its input bands. Then
it calculates an optimal attenuation for each of the bands (applies automatic
Gain to each of its input channels) so that the mixed result is peak limited.
In a wide band peak limiter, only one attenuation value needs to be computed
to bring the input to the Threshold. In a multiband peak limiter, there is more
freedom as to how the attenuation is distributed across the bands to achieve
the same output peak limiting.
In the L3, the decision of how to distribute the attenuation across the bands is
made through an optimization algorithm. It minimizes inter-modulation
between bands while maximizing the perceived overall level.
The L3 has far less inter-modulations between the frequency bands compared
with a wide band peak limiter.
The L3 GUI (Graphical User Interface) offers a global section that includes the
same controls as the Waves L1 and L2 wide band limiters. These are
Threshold, Ceiling, (Master) Release, and the IDR section.
The full L3 Multimaximizer offers per-band Gain, Priority and Release
controls. The global Separation control allows fine control over the spectral
balance of the processed output. The global Release Behavior and the per
band Release controls allow for optimizing the proper Release per band,
during which ARC (the Waves Adaptive Release Control technology) is
always engaged. The simple L3 Ultramaximizer offers Profiles of the per band
Priority, Release, Xover cutoffs and Separation.
Another important aspect of the L3 is that it is split into 5 bands using linear
phase filters. Thus, before applying any limiting, the audio path is 24 bit clean
and the only difference is a constant delay of 80 milliseconds.
Waves L3 software guide page 5 of 26
3. Using the L3
The L3 user interface is divided into two main parts: the Peak Limiter section
and the IDR section.
The Peak Limiter section of the L3 Multimaximizer is divided into two main
parts:
-full band controls – Threshold, Ceiling, Master Release
-per band controls - Gain, Priority, Release
THE PEAK LIMITER SECTION
The single most important control is the Threshold control. Until the Threshold
is set, the L3 is idle. It introduces only pure delay, and is otherwise 24-bit
transparent.
Once the Threshold is set, any signal that goes over the Threshold will be
limited to the Threshold. The overall Gain is automatically made up by the
Threshold factor. Thus, a Threshold of 6dB will cause a 6dB boost of the
Gain.
The Ceiling control will scale the output so that the maximum energy will
reach the Ceiling value but won’t pass it.
The Ceiling and Threshold controls are placed side by side with the actual
controls placed between a set of Meters. The Threshold is between the input
meters to help adjust the Threshold by the action registered in the input. The
Ceiling is placed between the output meters in order to easily define the
maximum output value.
Between the Threshold and Ceiling controls is the linked control which will
allow you to move both the Threshold and Ceiling controls together. This is
useful in order to maintain consistency in the overall volume. It also allows
you to better perceive the effect of the limiting on the sound of the program
rather than on just the level.
It is recommended to use the linked control and take the Threshold and
Ceiling down together until sound begins to break, distort or lose loudness.
At this point its recommended to take the controls slightly up and then lift the
Ceiling by 0.2dB (or the value of your choice).
Once the Threshold and Ceiling are set, the choices are divided through the
simplified L3 Ultramaximizer vs. the complete L3 Multimaximizer.
In the L3 Ultramaximizer, the remaining Peak Limiter settings are the Master
Release and Profile. According to the selected profile, the Master Release
factor will be subject to different profile settings and will serve as a general
longer vs. shorter release time. The selected Profile will impose a certain
Waves L3 software guide page 6 of 26
“flavor” for the limiter action. We recommend using the general purpose
default, or toggling through the profiles to select the one most suitable to your
program material and personal taste.
The user can select the Ultramaximizer profiles from the presets menu and
further tweak each and every per band of Gain, Priority and Release as well
as the Crossover frequencies, global Release behavior type and Separation
amount.
Threshold and Priority
The L3 applies attenuation in 5 discrete frequency bands, the sum of which
will be limited to the one Threshold. The Peak Limiting Mixer™ sets the single
Threshold across the multiple bands in equal Priority according to the width of
the band. If a certain band sounds too stressed compared to the rest, then the
user can increase its Priority at the expense of the other bands while
maintaining the summed energy to the same total peak. The result will be that
per the same input energy, less attenuation will be introduced to bands with
higher Priority and more to the bands with lower Priority, maintaining the
same sum.
The little colored lines in the energy meter of each band show its relative
Threshold and will adjust with Priority settings. When moving a certain band’s
Priority you may notice that the relative Thresholds of the other bands go in
the opposite direction.
As you can see, the L3 Multimaximizer user can control the tone and spectral
balance of the program going through the L3 without defeating the peak
limiting process. However, the Gain factor is before the limiter (otherwise
limiting would break).
Thus, adding Gain to a certain band will increase its continuous level. But, the
peak level of that band will still be limited to the same relative Threshold. So, if
you are looking to boost the Gain of a certain band, including its peaks, it will
require a boost in both Gain and Priority. For this purpose we added the
linking control between the Gain and Priority controls of each band.
Waves L3 software guide page 7 of 26
Selecting the Crossover frequencies can also affect the Multiband properties.
To make the most educated “tweaks”, we included solo buttons for each
band. This enables you to adjust the boundaries of each band as you hear the
audio running through each individual band.
The separation control is another unique tool that allows you to mix the sidechains of the per band energy detector. This smoothes out the differences
between bands until 0 separation actually sets all bands to attenuate at once.
However, the per band Gain, Priority and Release settings are still separate.
This Makes it like a wide band limiter with some EQ and multiband release
factors.
The per band Release controls allow you to specify a manual Release
reference value. This value will become a part of the equation that the Waves
ARC (Adaptive Release Control) technology will use to calculate the actual
Release value. The L3 has a Master Release section that allows choosing
one of five Release behavior types. The L3 also has a master control that
allows you to adjust all per band release controls simultaneously.
Release Behavior Types
Waves ARC – Adaptive Release Control technology optimizes the actual
release time in context with the program. In the L3 all Release behavior types
use a certain amount of ARC where some are more adaptive and others less,
or the amount of ARC is scaled across the bands in different ways.
ARC – This is the nominal and default release behavior type. It is set to be a
overall good setting for any kind of material.
Warm – Sets more adaptive release behavior to the Low frequency bands
and more Manual to the high frequencies.
Scaled – Sets more adaptive release behavior to the Hi frequency bands and
more Manual to the Low frequencies.
Aggressive – Probably the release behavior type capable of the most
extreme loudness, however this will work well on acoustic or electronic beat
music where the drum transients dominate the peaks.
Manual - sets minimal ARC. The release time of each band will be as set in
the per band Release control.
To get to know each of the Release behavior types, run some overly
aggressive limiting while toggling through each one. Listen to each type with
low vs. high release reference values, using the Master Release control to
adjust all values. This should allow you to hear the differences between the
types more obviously. Then you will be able to perceive them better when
applying more moderate settings.
Waves L3 software guide page 8 of 26
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