too much limiter?

[Guiseppe]

I'm soon to be the owner of my dream rig:

Ampeg SVP1600
Ampeg SVPCL
Aphex 204
Alesis 3630
Alesis Midiverb4

into a Schroeder 21012 cab. The preamp allows me to pad the gain (16Db) if I'm near clipping. I got to wondering what is the difference if I protect against clipping at the power amp rather than at a compressor/noise gate?

 

[dadodetres]

a pad reduces the signal (in this case 16db) so it lowers your signal 16 db.

with a limiter you set a level (treshold) and any signal that passes that level is reduced to the treshold.

so if oyu play lower the treshold, with a limiter you wont change anything, but with the pad youll be lowering it 16 db.

i suggest a compressor, cause you decide how you want to reduce the dinamycs (2:1 , 4:1 , 8:1 etc) for the threshhold up.

 

[Guiseppe]

hadn't thought about going for that level of control...something else to ponder!

Thanks!

 

[dadodetres]

hadn't thought about going for that level of control...something else to ponder!

Thanks!

in other words: a pad is not a limiter, you are just lowering the signal, with a limiter you lower everything that goes beyond a set point.

if you have clipping problems only on peaks, you may want a compresor/limiter to have a more balanced signal