Louder

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Hi,

I am using Qtractor with my audio work. All is fine with my efforts, but it would be nice to have the final work louder. I am unable to accomplish louder without having my work being distorted.

I record and add effects where all signal lights are either green or yellow. What do I need to share about my setup to contextualize my working environment? Is there an effect I can add to the end of my signal chain to accomplish the loudness?

Kindly,
Stephen

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You must add a limiter at the end of the chain (Master).

This way you can mix healthily and raise everything you want in Master with the limiter, avoiding distortions.
It is recommended to set the limiter output to -1 db and activate oversampling to avoid antialiasing.

Download the LSP Plugins and instal in local only LV2 format (which is the most compatible and versatile with Qtractor). Includes an excellent limiter.
https://lsp-plug.in/?page=download

There are easier ones to handle in:
https://linuxdaw.org/?t=limiter

I tried this one and it is easy to use and very good...
I don't use it simply because I already have my workflow done with others.
https://jun-murakami.web.app/apps/zerolimit

(I still use the old Calf suite... but I cannot recommend it because it is no longer supported due to its dependence on GTK2)

Permalink

Thank you.

I already have a limiter at the end of the signal chain. I will work to increase the settings to see how that improves things.

Here is where I stand now for the limiter settings.

<plugin type="LV2">
<filename>http://calf.sourceforge.net/plugins/MultibandLimiter</filename&gt;
<index>0</index>
<label>Calf_Multiband_Limiter</label>
<preset></preset>
<direct-access-param>-1</direct-access-param>
<activated>1</activated>
<configs/>
<params>
<param index="17" name="Split 3/4">3397.83</param>
<param index="16" name="Split 2/3">656.689</param>
<param index="19" name="Limit">1</param>
<param index="18" name="Filter Mode">1</param>
<param index="21" name="Release">29.1824</param>
<param index="20" name="Lookahead">4</param>
<param index="22" name="Min Release">1</param>
<param index="27" name="Weight 1">0</param>
<param index="33" name="Release 3">-0.2</param>
<param index="29" name="Weight 3">0</param>
<param index="32" name="Release 2">0.2</param>
<param index="28" name="Weight 2">0</param>
<param index="35" name="Solo 1">0</param>
<param index="31" name="Release 1">0.5</param>
<param index="34" name="Release 4">-0.5</param>
<param index="30" name="Weight 4">0</param>
<param index="37" name="Solo 3">0</param>
<param index="36" name="Solo 2">0</param>
<param index="38" name="Solo 4">0</param>
<param index="5" name="Input Gain">1</param>
<param index="4" name="Bypass">0</param>
<param index="43" name="ASC">1</param>
<param index="6" name="Output Gain">1</param>
<param index="45" name="ASC Level">0.428</param>
<param index="47" name="Auto-level">1</param>
<param index="46" name="Oversampling">1</param>
<param index="15" name="Split 1/2">108.027</param>
</params>
<controllers/>
<editor-pos>644,208</editor-pos>
<form-pos>0,0</form-pos>
</plugin>

The single limiter should be used at the end, not the multiband one. Configure it according to my instructions.

You might be getting distortion while recording.
Recording audio in 32-bit floating-point format prevents audio clipping.

Go to Options > Audio > Capture/Export {

  • Type: WAV
  • Format: 32-bit floating point

If you see the XRUMS indicator, the distortions may be due to this.

The solution is to increase the Periods/buffer (or Quantum in PipeWire terminology) of your audio engine.

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