A limiter is essentially a compressor with a very high ratio (typically infinity:1). It ensures that audio never exceeds a specified ceiling, preventing digital clipping.
Uses:
- Mastering — maximizing loudness while preventing clipping
- Broadcasting — meeting transmission level standards
- Game audio — preventing output clipping when many sounds play simultaneously
- Streaming — meeting platform loudness standards
Limiter vs clipper:
- A limiter uses gain reduction (compression) — transparent but adds latency
- A clipper simply chops the waveform — zero latency but can add harmonic distortion
In game audio, the master bus typically has a limiter to prevent the cumulative effect of many simultaneous sounds from causing digital clipping on the output.