| For anybody familiar with Waves L1 or L2, the L3 is a
welcome advancement in limiting technology. Unlike
its predecessors The L3 Multi-maximizer uses linear phase crossovers with user-definable
frequencies to divide the audio into 5 bands. The Peak Limiting Mixer then uses
psycho-acoustic criteria to decide how much attenuation to add to each band so that the
available headroom is used.
The PLMixer technology lets the L3 be very transparent while still being able to emulate
tonal characteristics of vintage limiters. A very useful separation tool can make the L3
function like a wide band limiter when set to 0 or increase the amount so the multi-band
features get used to its full potential.
The L3 utilizes a master threshold control for all bands and a master (ARC) adaptive
release control offering a warm, scaled, aggressive and manual tonal controls. Waves
popular dithering and noise reduction engine round out the features.
My first impression after loading up the L3 was
that it had a much more transparent sound than what I was used to with the L2 while still
maintaining the brick wall limiting. The quality of the mix was still maintained and I
didn't notice any quality loss or squished out dynamics as I have with other
"maximizers."
Mastering engineers may appreciate the fact that each band may be boosted or cut by 12db.
It is also very handy to be able to see graphically which frequency band is being
attenuated at what time in order to make adjustments where necessary. The result are
pristine and solid sounding. The other key to the L3 is its ease of use and logical
layout.
Another great feature of the L3 is its logical layout which makes the program really easy
to use.
Two versions of the L3 are available: the Multi-maximizer
provides full functionality, while the Ultra-maximizer uses the same PLMixer technology
along with a more basic feature set similar to the L1 or L2
Available in:
Diamond Bundle (L3 MultiMaximizer™ & L3
UltraMaximizer™)
Platinum Bundle (L3 UltraMaximizer™)
System Requirements
*On the Macintosh, the L3 requires a G4 running at
867mhz, 512 RAN and 800 x 600 display or better
*On Windows XP or 2000 1ghz P3 or Athalon XP or better is
required with 512mb RAM and 600 x 800 display
Jeremy Reid
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