Waves Audio unveils next-gen limiter plugins

With the release of the L4 Ultramaximizer, Waves has created an adaptive limiter for modern music. Delivering competitive loudness levels for streaming, the L4 preserves musicality and offers greater low-end impact, enhanced dynamics and transient punch. Having established the L1 and L2 as industry-standard tools for peak limiting and level maximisation, the manufacturer has focused on making contemporary sound deeper, bigger and more dynamic. Rethinking how loudness enhances musical expression, the L4 has been designed to enhance musicality rather than reducing the dynamic range.

Engineered for a wide array of production styles, the L4 offers five unique limiting algorithms to match the aesthetic of a sound: Modern, Aggressive, Smooth, Safe and L2. Adaptive Clipper & Release ensures settings are automatically tailored to the content by the plugin and fine-tuned to their relative levels in real time. Inspired by the MV2 plugin, the Upward Compression module enhances low-level details and adds density.

Live performance-ready, the L4 integrates with Waves eMotion LV1 and LV1 Classic mixing consoles, SuperRack SoundGrid and SuperRack Performer. Featuring both short-term and long-term LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) metering, the L4 provides accurate level monitoring throughout a workflow, and is optimised for streaming platforms. The low-latency performance adaptive limiter also features True Peak limiting in addition to the Graph and Classic GUI modes. The L4 Ultramaximizer has been added to the Waves Ultimate plugin subscription, which includes the comprehensive Waves plugin catalogue of over 240 plugins.