L1 Ultramaximizer

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Advanced level maximizer, look-ahead peak limiter and high-resolution re-quantizer, all in one powerful industry-standard plugin for mastering and mixing.

Waves 25th Anniversary edition: You can now choose between the classic Legacy and the new Modern user interfaces. Both offer new plugin features, including:

True Peak domain setting: Eliminates inter-sample clipping
Automatic Release Control: Auto-adjusts release time

Renowned for its transparency and punch, L1 has been the standard tool used on countless hit recordings over the past couple of decades.

L1 maximizes both the level of the digital signal and the resolution of the final file. It offers superb re-quantization for all bit depths, including 24, 20, 16, 12, and 8-bit outputs. Its look-ahead peak limiter enables you to increase sound file resolution and production master levels with precise control and dithering options.

L1’s limiter section is capable of a very fast, overshoot-free response. Because a typical music signal contains many high-intensity, short-duration peaks, simple normalization of the file may result in a low average signal level. L1 can significantly increase the average signal level of an audio file without introducing audible side effects.

Peak limiter / level maximizer plugin
Industry standard for mastering & mixing music or multimedia
Two components: L1 Limiter and L1+ Ultramaximizer
Increased Digital Resolution^™ dither with noise-shaping filter
Double precision bit resolution processing
25th Anniversary edition includes Legacy and Modern interfaces
NEW 25th Anniversary features: True Peak domain setting, Automatic Release Control

Mar 29, 2018

9 Tips for Mastering Your Own Mixes

One of the first rules of music production has been to never to master your own mixes. But some rules are meant to be broken: Learn how to polish off your finished mixes without losing your perspective.

Gil Norton Producer

Foo Fighters, Pixies, Stornoway

“L1 locks down the dynamics of the track without over-compressing. It allows you to really make things upfront and aggressive. ”

Carlos Paucar Producer, Recording & Mixing Engineer

Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Chris Brown, Jewel

“A lot of people go for the later L-series plugins, but I love L1. I use it to get a crunchy midrange on some of my tracks. It really makes things pop.”

Chris Craker Musician, Producer, Composer

Hans Zimmer, Lang Lang, Leona Lewis, London Symphony Orchestra

“I have used the original Ultramaximizer, the L1, since day one and still do today! It is a truly useful tool to enhance pretty much anything that I am preparing. It's an absolute 'go-to' and an essential part of my tool kit.”

Richard Chycki Guitarist, Engineer

Dream Theater, Aerosmith, Rush

“I often use just a touch of L1 on an individual track to really help it sit well in a mix while preserving the dynamics of the performance.”

Bryan "Froggy" Cross FOH & Monitor Engineer

The Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera , Sublime

“When I’m putting together a live session for an artist and certain stems lack a little punch, inserting the L1 brings the stem back to life.”

Carl Bown Producer, Engineer, Mixer

Bullet For My Valentine, While She Sleeps, Trivium, Fightstar

“The L1 is my absolute go-to limiter; nothing sounds quite like it for bringing sounds right up front. I can use it surgically to stop the random overs, and it also sounds utterly fantastic when smashing things to bits.”

Mike Flannery Producer, Songwriter, Recording Artist

Mr. Flannery and His Feelings, Little-T and One Track Mike, Flannery Brothers

“The plugin I reach for the most is the L1 Limiter. It's simple to use, sounds incredibly transparent, and keeps my output matching the rigorous specs that I'm handed for film and voiceover work.”

Jeremy SH Griffith Producers & Engineers

Johnnyswim, Leslie Odom Jr., Five Iron Frenzy, Kari Jobe

“This is my favorite basic limiter to brick wall anything that needs to be brick walled.”

Julian Slater Sound Designer, Re-Recording Mixer

Baby Driver, Jumanji: Welcome to The Jungle, Mad Max: Fury Road, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

“The L1 Ultramaximizer is my first stop for giving my FX the punch required to live and breathe in a tight and complicated mix.”

Scott Martin Gershin Sound Designer & Mixer

Nightcrawler, Book of Life, Pacific Rim, Riddick

“I like the edge it creates and the way it cuts through a mix. It adds bite to anything it’s used on—a real workhorse.”

Charles Deenen Sound Designer

The Fast and the Furious, Need for Speed

“One of my favorite plugins. You can use it in so many ways—anything from a final limiter to crunching your sounds to the max.”

Benny Mouthon, CAS Re-Recording Mixer, Supervising Sound Editor

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Mind Of A Chef, Somebody Feed Phil, American Experience

“On TV, it’s imperative that nothing peaks past a certain point. With the L1, NOTHING gets past that point.”