DarkLim

DarkLim

A true-peak brickwall limiter for maximizing loudness on masters and buses without clipping — the modern “transparent maximizer” class of limiter. DarkLim combines oversampled true-peak detection, multiple character modes, and a LUFS learn/match workflow, so you can push level confidently while staying within a chosen ceiling.

Mode + oversampling (top)

MODE (Linear / Smooth / Aggressive / Punch / Warm / Transparent) — Limiter character/shape. Ranges from clean and transparent to aggressive/colored, with Punch preserving transients and Warm adding subtle saturation.

OS (1x / 2x / 4x / 8x) — Anti-aliasing oversampling for the limiter and true-peak detection. Default 4x.

Input

GAIN (−24…+40 dB) — Input gain — how hard you drive the signal into the limiter. More gain = more limiting/loudness.

LOOKAHEAD (0…10 ms) — Lets the limiter “see” peaks before they arrive so it can catch them cleanly without distortion. Default 5 ms.

Dynamics

ATTACK (0.01…20 ms) — How fast the limiter clamps peaks. Default 1 ms.

RELEASE (10…1000 ms) — How fast gain recovers after limiting. Default 100 ms.

TRANSIENT (0…100%) — Balances transient preservation vs. loudness — higher keeps punch/attack, lower clamps harder for maximum level.

Output

OUTPUT (−24…+24 dB) — Output gain trim after limiting.

CEILING (−24…0 dB) — The brickwall ceiling — the limiter guarantees the output never exceeds this level. Typically set to −1 to −0.3 dBTP for safe masters.

Toggle controls

BYPASS — Bypass the limiter.

SUPPRESS (overshoot suppression) — Extra stage that catches any peaks that slip past, guaranteeing the ceiling is never exceeded.

TRUE PK — Enables inter-sample (true-peak) detection so the limiter catches peaks that occur between samples — essential for streaming-safe masters.

AUTO REL — Program-dependent automatic release.

DC — DC offset filter.

DITHER — Adds dither on the output for clean bit-depth reduction.

LUFS loudness matching

LUFS (editable value) — Type your target integrated loudness (e.g. −11, −14 for streaming).

LEARN — Press LEARN to measure the program’s current loudness, then it adjusts gain to hit your LUFS target.

Metering

GR / L / R meters — Gain reduction plus left/right output level metering, with the graph display showing limiting activity over time.