Wave Arts FinalPlug Mastering Peak Limiter & Volume Maximizer Plug-In (AAX DSP)

The AAX DSP FinalPlug Plug-In from Wave Arts is a peak limiter / volume maximizer software component with extensive bit depth truncation and dither options, making it suitable for a final mix. The FinalPlug plug-in has a simple interface. It enables you to select the desired output ceiling level and adjust the threshold level. As you decrease the threshold you can increase the volume.

The peak limiter section works by looking ahead 1.5 milliseconds. When an input peak is detected that exceeds the desired output ceiling, the gain is quickly ducked to let the peak pass. Then the gain is restored relatively slowly according to the release time control. During rapidly changing program material with frequent peaks, a faster release time will achieve better results. During slowly changing material, slower release times prevent excessive modulation distortion. This plug-in has an auto-release feature that analyzes the input signal to determine peakiness, and selects the optimum release time for the program material.

The truncate / dither section is usually used for CD mastering, where truncation to 16 bits can create audible quantization distortion. By adding special dither noise, the quantization distortion can be eliminated, and the dither noise can be spectrally shaped to move it to frequency ranges where it is less audible. This plug-in contains a comprehensive noise shaping section, which reproduces a variety of commonly used noise shapes.

In order to maximize your DSP instance counts, this plug-in comes with two configurations. The full configuration provides all features, while the limit configuration provides just the limiter section. At 48 kHz, you can run 4 stereo instances of the full configuration, and 17 stereo instances of the limit only configuration.