Whether you know it or not, limiting plays a crucial part in the final process of music production.  Traditionally, a limiter (analog or digital) is used in the Mastering phase of the project and is suppose to be applied sparingly to the finalised mix, evening out the level and to finally bring everything together.  Kinda like sealing the box shut with tape, err, or something like that.  But sometimes, limiting can be way overdone; to the point where it sounds as if Music was pimp slappin your eardrum, because it’s fed up with fools disregarding the whole idea of dynamic range and this thing called deafness.  Google ‘Volume Wars’ if you still live in you mom’s basement, spankin the monkey all day and haven’t got a clue.

Point of this entry being, is that I’ve been using the PSP Xenon Limiter that allows me to play either the role of Austin Powers or Dr. Evil.  I know, I know…it’s just a limiter so what?  Well, first of all, I don’t have Pro Tools.  Yes, I don’t own any interface or M-Powered thang (but Jester does that’s why he’s my partner, j/k)!  It’s not that I have any ill feelings towards Avid or anything. Let’s just say that it’s “hard times” ya dig? But I do have Logic Pro.  I usually like to mix my beats, then proceed to master them as if it was the final product shipping to the distributor (because I like to get an understanding of what a finished product could sound like.)  But thing is, the factory limiters that came with Logic BLOW.  I don’t care what you say, but they do.  They are good for maybe ‘lite’ mastering, but if you are trying to get your music to the loudness of today’s standards, then the factory limiters just won’t cut it. So I decided to go on a search for something new.

So, I downloaded the demo version of the PSP Xenon and I’m pretty satisfied.  I’ve used several limiters before: most of the Waves stuff, McDSP, and outboard ones as well and the PSP is just as good.  It’s fairly transparent and clean; I can get to the proper loudness and then some before hitting any sort of  distortion.  What’s also cool about it, is that it has a Leveler option.  Like the level where it’s at, but still feel as if a couple things are standing out too much?  Then crank the leveler down to taste.  I found that to be a pretty nifty feature that you don’t get with other plug-ins.  The Xenon also comes with a bunch of metering options than you can customize as well.  Overall, it’s a great limiter; and it’s not too harsh on the pockets: $249.  Looks like I’m just gonna have to start saving my pennies!

PSP Xenon