I don’t know anything about Nyquist code, but I would like to modify the Limiter2.ny plugin that I downloaded from here a while back. I’m trying to set the ‘limit to DB’ to a lower value than the current limit of -10. I would like to be able to set it to at least -30 or -40 DB or lower. If I try to set it to anything lower than -10, it just sets it to -10 no matter how low I set it. I have some thunderstorm recordings I made that have wide dynamic ranges. I don’t like any of the compressor plugins, but the limiter plugin has a much shorter look ahead time and it seems to do a better job for my needs. However, I want the heaviest rain to not be 30 DB softer than the loudest thunder as it is in the original Wave files. What do I need to add to the Limiter2.ny plugin to set the ‘limit to DB’ lower than -10? Thanks.
The latest version of the Limiter plug-in is included in the current version of Audacity.
In the latest version, (I don’t know which version you have), you can get an effective minimum threshold of -20 dB by setting the “input gain” to +10 dB (amplifies the signal by +10 dB before limiting), and the “Limit to:” threshold to -10 dB.
If you need even more dynamic range compression than that, you can repeat the effect (Ctrl + R).
Note that 20 dB reduction in dynamic range is a huge amount, and attempting to reduce the dynamic range even more is likely to introduce significant harmonic distortion (though this may not be a problem for a thunderstorm recording).
So, for example, if to apply 30 dB reduction in dynamic range, you can:
- Normalize the track to 0 dB (so the maximum peak is now 0 dB)
- Apply Limiter with: Input gain = 5 dB, Limit to = -10 dB, Make-up gain = Yes
- “Ctrl + R” to repeat the effect.
If you still want to be able to set the threshold level to at least -40 dB;
In the current version of Limiter (included in Audacity 2.2.2), change line 23:
;control thresh "Limit to (dB)" real "" -3 -10 0
to:
;control thresh "Limit to (dB)" real "" -3 -40 0
(the three numbers at the end of the line are, default value, minimum value, maximum value.)
Unfortunately, I’m running Audacity version 2.0.5 on Windows XP on this machine, and I don’t know if it is even possible to upgrade to the latest version of Audacity until I get my newer computer set up. Is there any way I can get the latest version of the limiter plugin without upgrading to a later version of Audacity?
Download the ZIP version of Audacity from here: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/windows/
Extract the ZIP file somewhere convenient (such as in your “Documents” folder).
The plug-ins are in a folder called “Plug-ins”.
I’m not sure that all of the plug-ins from Audacity 2.2.2 will work in Audacity 2.0.5, so make a backup copy of any of the 2.0.5 plug-ins that you replace.
Your current (installed) plug-ins folder will probably be in something like: C:\Program Files\audacity\plug-ins
The link to the zip file doesn’t work on my computer because the website requires a later version of Windows with valid security certificates. Could you please send me a direct link to the latest version of the limiter plugin? An attachment to a post may be the only way I can open it.
Thanks. The plugin is one of those that won’t work on version 2.0.5, but I found another plugin called Brick Wall Limiter which does what I need.
Funnily enough, the “Brick Wall Limiter” code is part of limiter.ny
It provides the “Hard Limit” option.