Specifications

Digidesign Plug-Ins Guide78
By dragging the Threshold slider downwards,
you can visually adjust the level at which limit-
ing will occur. Maxim displays the affected
range in orange.
Threshold
This slider sets the threshold level for limiting.
Signals that exceed this level will be limited. Sig-
nals below it will be unaffected. Limited signal
peaks are attenuated to match the threshold
level, so the value that you set here will deter-
mine the amount of reduction applied.
Output
This meter displays the amplitude of the output
signal. The value that appears here represents
the processed signal after the threshold, ceiling,
and mixing settings have been applied.
Ceiling
This slider determines the maximum output
level. After limiting is performed you can use
this slider to adjust the final output gain. The
value that you set here will be the absolute ceil-
ing level for limited peaks.
Attenuation
This meter displays the amount of gain reduc-
tion being applied over the course of playback,
with the maximum peak displayed in the nu-
meric readout at the bottom of the meter. For
example, if the numerical display at the bottom
of the Attenuation meter displays a value of
4 dB, it means that 4 dB of limiting has oc-
curred. Since this is a peak-hold readout, you
can temporarily walk away from a session dur-
ing playback and still know the maximum gain
reduction value when you come back. To clear
the numeric readout, click it with the mouse.
Release
This slider sets how long it takes for Maxim to
ease off of its attenuation after the input signal
drops below the threshold level. Because Maxim
has an attack time of zero milliseconds, the re-
lease slider has a very noticeable effect on the
character of limiting. In general, if you are using
heavy limiting, you should use proportionally
longer release times in order to avoid pumping
that may occur when Maxim is forced to jump
back and forth between limited and unlimited
signal levels. Lengthening the release time has
the effect of smoothing out these changes in
level by introducing a lag in the ramp-up or
ramp-down time of attenuation. Use short re-
lease times on material with peaks that are rela-
tively few in number and that do not occur in
close proximity to each other. The Release pa-
rameter has a default value of 1 millisecond.
Histogram
dB level
of
waveform
peaks
density of waveform
peaks at each level