Audio Limiter
Hold the loudest peaks under a ceiling so you can raise the overall level without distortion.
MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, Opus, AIFF, WMA, AMR and the sound of most videos. Files stay on your device.
How it works
- Choose an audio file.
- Set the input gain, the ceiling and the release.
- Preview and check the peak meter.
- Export and download.
How the limiter works
A limiter holds the signal under a ceiling. It looks a few milliseconds ahead, so it can start turning the level down before a peak arrives and let it go smoothly afterwards, instead of cutting the peak off the way clipping does. Raise the input gain and the limiter keeps the result under the ceiling, which is how a file is made louder without distortion.
Ceiling, release and lookahead
- Ceiling: the highest level the output may reach. -1 dBTP leaves room for lossy encoding.
- Release: how fast the gain recovers after a peak. Short releases are louder but can sound pumpy; long ones are smoother.
- Lookahead: how far ahead the limiter listens. Longer lookahead is cleaner on sharp peaks and adds no delay to the output.
- True-peak aware: also catches peaks between samples, which a plain sample check misses.
Limits
Pushing a limiter hard (more than a few dB of reduction) flattens the dynamics and can make a mix sound crowded. Lossy export (MP3, AAC) can overshoot the ceiling by a fraction of a decibel; the table shows the measurement of the exported file so you can check it.
Questions
What ceiling should I choose?
-1 dBTP is a safe default for streaming and lossy files. Use -0.3 dBTP only for lossless delivery and -2 dBTP if the file will be converted again.
Is a limiter better than lowering the volume?
It lets you raise the average level while holding peaks down, which lowering the volume cannot do. If the file is already loud enough, simply lowering the volume is cleaner.
Can it repair clipped audio?
No. Clipping that is already in the file cannot be undone by a limiter.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The limiter runs in your browser.