€399.00
smart:bundle
Six intelligent audio plug-ins for EQ, compression, limiting, reverb, gating and de-essing. Speed up everyday mixing with cutting-edge processing.
smart:limit
The content-aware limiter
This is our intelligent limiter for transparent loudness and detailed metering. Reach loudness targets quickly while preserving dynamics and sound quality.
Keeping Loudness
and Dynamics in tune
Combining what belongs together
Straightforward “set – check – publish”
smart:limit is all about worry-free limiting: Its intelligent processing will preserve the detail of your track and provide a transparent, uncompromised limiting quality. With this AI limiter plugin you'll also get extensive loudness and dynamics monitoring. So, you won’t have to use any additional metering plug-ins. Besides providing you with all the necessary loudness information in real-time for confident publishing, smart:limit guides you towards hitting the safe zone requirements of streaming platforms or loudness standards – and gives you feedback via interactive Quality Check hints.
Transparent sound with just one click
AI-powered parametrization for confident limiting
Speed up your workflow with smart:limit. The plug-in analyzes your signal and finds limiting parameters that let your mix breathe – all in just a few seconds. By choosing a genre-based profile that fits your mix, you can prime the smart:limit for different limiting characteristics. Or instead, upload a reference track, if you are aiming for a specific limiting style. You can use smart:limit with or without the automatic parametrization – or go for a combination of both.
Everything under control in real-time
All the information you need
Extend the Loudness Monitoring section to access an extensive information hub on loudness and dynamics: Here you will find all relevant loudness readouts, visual guidance regarding different publishing targets and information on the dynamics of your track. With the revolutionary Instant Impact Prediction feature you won’t have to restart the loudness measurements every time you change a parameter – the change will be reflected in real-time without having to repeatedly play back the entire input signal.
Monitor all relevant key metrics at a glance:
• Loudness [LUFS] – integrated, short-term, momentary
• Loudness Range [LU] – integrated, short-term, momentary
• Dynamics [dB ] – based on Peak to Loudness Ratio
• True Peak [dBTP] – using high-resolution oversampling
• Gain Reduction [dB]
Vibe is in the detail
Shape your sound to perfection
When your sound is in need of a little bit of extra vibe, smart:limit has got you covered. Use the Style dial to freely choose between either a soft or hard limiting style. Play with Saturation to add some subtle warmth or to really inflate your signal. Adapt the Balance to give your track that perfect spectral polish prior to publishing and tweak the Bass Control for a rich and compact low end.
The full package
Bundles
€399.00
€179.00
Dynamics Bundle
Get our our intelligent compressor and limiter for complete dynamics control. Shape punch and consistency, then achieve competitive loudness in a faster workflow. Save 31% by buying the bundle.
€599.00
Studio Bundle
Complete sonible audio plug-in collection for mixing, mastering and metering. Get intelligent processing and specialist tools for your whole workflow. Save 54% by buying the bundle.
FAQ
Before you ask
smart:limit is using the median of all measured PSR values (PSR = peak to short-term loudness ratio, see formula below) for measuring the dynamics. Although the PLR value (peak to long-term loudness ratio) is a more commonly used descriptor for dynamics, we found that our descriptor better matches the actual - also short term - dynamics of a track.
Our tests showed that the PLR value can sometimes be a bit misleading since it’s (basically) simply another descriptor for the integrated loudness. For example, if multiple tracks are normalised to -1dB True Peak, the PLR value is simply their Integrated Loudness value subtracted by 1.
PSR:
The PSR is the difference between the Short Term Loudness value and the maximum True Peak value measured within a window of 3 seconds.
PSR = Max. Peak - Short Term Loudness
=> computed within a 3 second window
PLR:
The PLR is the difference between the Integrated Loudness value and the maximum True Peak value measured over the whole observation period (e.g. typically the whole track).
PLR = Max. Peak - Integrated Loudness
=> computed over the whole observation period
Since oversampling is a quite well known metric for dynamics tools like limiters, some users asked us about the exact oversampling factor of smart:limit.
The answer to this question is a bit tricky. smart:limt is based on a quite complex (and unique) multi-stage limiting process. Different stages are running at different resolutions - so listing a single oversampling factor simply doesn’t really make sense for our design. So while there's no single reference value to calm your mind, rest assured that smart:limit is using high-resolution oversampling throughout the whole limiting chain where necessary. 😉
smart:limit always tries to find the right dynamics for a track, since the targeted dynamics are defining the amount and style of limiting. When smart:limit learns new limiter settings, it looks at the chosen genre profile as well as the input signal and tries to find settings that lead to good dynamics for this specific track.
The loudness is a direct result of the targeted dynamics. So smart:limit is using the dynamics value and not the loudness value as a learning target. It doesn't make sense to aim for a certain loudness if it doesn’t fit the style of your track (e.g. make a pop track overly-dynamic simply not to become too loud). Therefore, the selected publishing target will be ignored during learning.
Check out the following article to learn more about loudness publishing targets.
While smart:limit comes with a quite extensive list of genres, your style might be somewhere in-between. That’s not a problem at all! Simply play around with the genre profiles that fit your style the most – or simply use a reference track to prime smart:limit for your intended limiting style.
It’s both! smart:limit combines high-class true peak limiting with comprehensive integrated loudness monitoring. That way users don’t have to use multiple tools and the revolutionary Instant Impact Prediction instantly reflects all parameter changes of the limiter in the loudness monitoring section.
Voices of the industry
Testimonials
"The AI-powered function of smart:limit is incredible."
– TYPHOON
“I am a huge fan of smart:limit. It makes everything much easier without feigning hidden magic. Great results in next to no time which are adaptable to meet my needs.”
– Ralf Christian Mayer
“An amazingly clean-sounding limiter, with incredibly flexible controls and superb visual response. It’s a pure pleasure to work with it!”
– Oleg Yorshoff
“With smart:limit I can push the limits harder easily! With its transparent sound and power, this plug-in has quickly become one of my go to tools. Even an experienced engineer will benefit from its "smart" functions.”
– Erman Aydöner
Related Blogposts
Dive deeper
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Compression vs Limiting – What’s the difference, when to use them, and why?
Take a deep dive into the world of dynamics and learn to tell these two devices apart, in theory and in practice.
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Six Ways to Use a Limiter
Learn more about how to integrate limiters into your audio workflow – beyond the most obvious mastering and ‘maximizing’ options.
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Taking Your First Steps into Mastering
Many are aware of the process of mastering a track; This article aims to unwrap the enigma that is mastering music, from what it is to what it does, and how to do it.
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Ralf Christian Mayer: „I always look for new ways”
Ralf Christian Mayer tells us about the skills and experiences that contributed to his successes and he explains why every mix is a still a challenge.
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sonible plug-ins: Artificial Intelligence inside
What's behind the AI in our smart plug-ins? Alexander Wankhammer, co-founder of sonible explains our approach and a few of the technological methods that drive our plug-ins.
Read moreFeatures, specs & changelog
The core of your sound
- AI-powered automatic limiter parametrization
- Genre-based Profiles for metering
- Custom reference track support
- Integrated loudness and dynamics monitoring with LUFS, Loudness Range, dynamics, True peak and gain reduction
- Publishing targets for streaming and loudness standards
- Interactive Quality Check
- Instant Impact Prediction
- Soft-to-hard Style control
- Saturation control
- Spectral Balance and Bass controls
Plug-in Specifications
- plug-in formats (Mac)
- VST, VST3, AU, AAX
- plug-in formats (Windows)
- VST, VST3, AAX
- supported sample rates
- 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz
- authorization
- machine-based or iLok (see FAQ)
- Apple Silicon support
- Native
- Latest version
- 1.2.0
System Requirements
- PC
- Windows 10 (64 bit)
- Mac
- OSX 10.14+
- RAM
- 4GB
- CPU
- Intel Core i5, Apple Silicon
- GPU
- OpenGL Version 3.2+
1.2.0
- added iLok Cloud and Machine as valid locations
1.1.6
- fixed auto-release button state not reflecting enablement correctly
1.1.5
- fixed preset folder missing on macOS Sonoma
- added AAX page tables file
1.1.4
- added AAX Apple Silicon native support
- fixed issue with display precision of true peak value
1.1.3
- added possibility to enable/disable true-peak limiting
- fixed very rare DSP issue regarding precision of true-peak limiter stage
1.1.2
- added macOS 13 support
1.1.1
- minor graphic bug fixes
1.1.0
- added native Apple Silicon support
- removed PACE iLok License Manager dependency for non-iLok licenses
1.0.2
- updated macOS signing certificate
1.0.1
- added gain reduction readout for Pro Tools
- fixed failing AudioUnit validation at 11kHz sampling rate on Apple Silicon Macs
- fixed gain reduction display issue
- fixed freeze on systems/hosts where OpenGL is not available
1.0.0
- initial release