Korg Forums

[Liviou2004]

Hello,

I'm quite sure this topic has been adressed earlier but there is so much thread, I'm unable to find it.
So, here is my question :

What is the difference between Compressors and Limiters in the Kronos.
Normally, a Limiter is a compressor with an infinite ratio, beyond the threshold.
But here in the Kronos, Limiters and Compressors get quite the same parameters (threshold, ratio, attack, release, EQ, and so on)

In the parameter Guide, page 910, it is said that "It is similar to the Compressor, except that the Limiter compresses only signals that exceed the specified level to lower unnecessary peak signals". Right, but it is exactly what the Compressor does : reducing signal level beyond the threshold according to the ratio !! By the way, the Limiter graphic is exactly the same.

On another side, on the Parameter Guide, most Limiter parameters send us to page 905 and 906, which are.....Compressor Parameters.

So, do you have any idea of the difference bertween these two effects in the Kronos ?

[KK]

Hi Liviou,

I just did a test for kicks comparing the Stereo Compressor and the Stereo Limiter and if you set all parameters the same (with the Soft Knee Width at 0 for the compressor), their effect is near identical.

So even though the main difference between more "conventional" compressors and limiters is usually that only compressors tend to make softer input sounds louder, as you mention in the Kronos it seems it is not so true depending on parameter values. My understanding of this is that the Kronos effects offer more flexibility, just like the MS-20 engine goes way beyond the original, etc.

[AntonySharmman]

[Liviou2004]

[Liviou2004]

[Liviou2004]

[blazerunner]

Limiters "limit" the overall volume of a mix

Compress "compress" the signals within that mix

A limiter won't change your sound but will help you keep the signal from becoming too distorted due to the overall loudness of the mix.

Compressers will compress frequencies within your sound and change the overall texture of it depending on what range of the audio you're attempting to compress.

Sometimes people use compressors to reduce loudness on sounds and to give them a deeper more resonate sound like on the 808 for example.

But if you have a sound where you're happy with the body of the audio (lets say a singer hitting a high note) but you need to bring up the volume of that sound it in the mix but you don't want to compress it and change how the singers voice sounds, you'd use the limiter to help keep it in tact as you bump up the audio levels.

They serve different functions but they both are used to "tame" the sound output of your audio so much so that they're bundled together as "compressor/Limiter" combos'.

Or to Keep it simple...

One alters the volume.
The other alters the sound itself.

As far as its use on the Kronos goes though... to me I use it on the sequencer and I find the compressor and Limiter features on the Kronos to be very sensitive at times or not very effective at all depending on what I'm trying to mix. Sometimes I feel I get a better compression effect using the EQ parameters vs. The Compressor effect.

The age of the Kronos really shows with the sequencer.

[CharlesFerraro]

The Stereo Compressor is technically a better limiter than the Limiter or Stereo Limiter in the Kronos in terms of catching peaks. However the Stereo Compressor has more latency than any other processor whereas the regular Limiters have no latency. The Mastering Limiter is also great for catching peaks and boosting volume but it too has latency.

The sidechain parameters are different between the Stereo Compressor and Limiter. Speaking of which the Limiter is a better sidechain ducking unit than the Stereo Compressor since it has no latency.

The time controls have different minimum and maximum values between the two units. The Stereo Compressor has a faster attack time.

Side note, the RMS and Peak labels are actually switched in the Stereo Compressor. That is, RMS mode is actually Peak and vice versa.

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. For more exact details I’ll have to look at my notes.

[Liviou2004]

[CharlesFerraro]

[CharlesFerraro]

[Liviou2004]