A Tool For Loudness

Reflex Acoustics tells us that the Reflex Pre-Limiter is "A tool for those who seek loudness." They say that it is an automatic multiband soft clipper designed to add weight and presence to your low end, drums or master bus. Here's their description of it...

The plugin splits your signal into eight frequency bands using perfect-reconstruction crossovers, then shaves the peaks off of each band using fast-acting look-ahead compression and soft clipping pre-calibrated to each frequency range. Used in moderation, the effect can introduce a pleasing distortion and make individual elements in the mix easier to hear.

The plugin does not necessarily reduce your highest peaks, but it does shift energy from higher to lower voltages, allowing your subsequent limiter to push the signal harder with fewer unpleasant artifacts. (If your limiter already has multiband capability, you may be less likely to hear an improvement from the Reflex Pre-Limiter.)

The plugin sets its thresholds relative to the peaks in your signal, which helps to make calibration quick--or even unnecessary.

Features

•     Automatic gain-staging based on the peak levels of each frequency band
•     Automatic make-up gain on each band reduces impact on EQ balance
•     Plugin also tries to maintain neutral overall impact on short-term LUFS
•     Parallel processing via gain-matched dry/wet mix dial
•     Processing is oversampled if project sample rate is below 80kHz
•     Left & Right channel processing is 100% unlinked
•     Display shows a visualization of affected frequencies (not to scale; slowed down for artistic purposes)

 

How to use

•     Adjust the Overall Threshold and Dry/Wet Mix dials to taste (a lower threshold gives more clipping)
•     If needed, fine-tune the individual band Thresholds, which work in combination with the Overall Threshold to control how many decibels are removed from the peaks in each band
•     If driving the device hard, listen for potential dulling of transients, and consider addressing any such issues by increasing the threshold on selected frequency bands
•     Use the Reflex Pre-Limiter as a standalone effect, or place before your final limiter for a more-powerful limiting experience

 

Technical notes

•     Available in VST3 format for PC, and VST3 & AU formats for Mac. AAX support coming soon
•     Requires a compatible Digital Audio Workstation or other plugin host
•     43-46ms latency, depending on project sample rate
•     Plugin is designed for common audio signals such as music and voice; may not react meaningfully to artificial test signals such as chirps, impulses and bursts

Pricing and Availability:
£56

More information:

• Reflex Pre-Limiter

• Free EQ 25-Nov-25
• 100-Band Mid/Side Compressor 11-Nov-24
• Low Frequency Enhancer 01-Aug-24
• Plug-In To Tighten Your Low End 27-Feb-24
• Free Dynamic Range Meter 12-Feb-24