Soundspot which introduces us to Velo 2 Limiter is one of the biggest plugin manufacturers in the world. They have a big list of plugins including Ravage and Cyclone.
Today I’m going to introduce you to Soundspot’s Velo 2 Limiter which is counted in a good limiter plugin under the $50 range. In this article, you will read an in-depth review of this plugin including the full list of features as well as the pros and cons.
You will also read, where and how to implement this plugin to get great output.
But first of all, let me explain “why a limiter is essential in music production.”
Why Do You Need a Limiter
In the above image, you can see two audio tracks, one without the limiter and the other with the limiter applied. You can see the 1st wave has “peaks” in some areas.
Now, if we increase the volume of this track above a certain level where those peaks exceed the 0dB threshold, as it happens clipping will occur.
Now see the second track where a hard limiter is applied to compress those peaks to RMS level.
In this condition when we increase the volume, clipping won’t occur until the RMS level crosses the 0dB threshold. That means a limiter can provide more headroom to your tracks.
As a result, you can make your audio much louder using a limiter plugin.
That’s the main goal of using a limiter in mixing and mastering. In fact, it’s an integral part of mixing and mastering for all music professionals.
Now you know how a limiter is important in increasing the overall loudness of a track, it’s time to find out why you should use Velo 2 Limiter VST plugin.
Velo 2 By SoundSpot
Velo 2 limiter is created by Soundspot a leading manufacturer of VST audio plugins. It’s a Brickwall limiter to increase the loudness of overall tracks as I’ve described to you above.
It features several different options to influence coloration and transient preservation.
In a limiter plugin, the reaction time is most important, thanks to the adaptive release feature which makes this plug-in really fast response to the incoming signal.
However, it is not for all types of limiting tasks it’s a great limiter for mastering as well as rhythm limiting.
It works well with beats, percussion, drums, and rhythmical guitar, bass, and arpeggio synth parts by creating pronounced transients.
Velo 2 Limiter Features
There are several feature Velo 2 has which makes your soundtrack louder with pronounced transients. Let us look at them.
- Intuitive and easy-to-use user interface
- Fast response time: Adaptive release control
- Designed to work with touch controllers like the Raven by Slate Media
- 4 types of Style Settings
- Real-time RMS display
- Transient Control feature
- Real-time Reduction display as shown in the above image
- Full-featured Preset Manager to save & share your settings
Pros and Cons of Velo 2
However, not every product is perfect.
So, I have summarised the pros and cons of Soundspot Velo 2 which could help you in taking the decision whether you should go with this plugin or not.
Pros
- It has easy to use interface which I think is an advantage for not only newbies but for experienced music producers too.
- Supports touch controllers such as the Slate Media Raven.
- Fast response time with Adaptive release control
- Real-time RMS and Reduction display could help in graphically chasing the impact it does on the audio
- Preset manager which helps in saving and recalling user presets.
- Specially built for mastering purposes but is also useful in rhythm-limiting tasks.
- Works really well when it comes to maximizing the loudness of the audio.
- Supports all major DAWs and operating systems.
Cons
- Not suitable for melody and vocal tracks
- Not provided in a bundle. You must buy it individually
- Needs more resources so not suitable for slow computers
- Sometimes freezes audio in windows based computers
System Requirements and Compatibility
For Mac Users
- OS X 10.7 – 10.13 (32 & 64-bit)
Supported Formats
- AAX
- Audio Units (AU)
- VST
- VST3
For Windows User
- Windows 7, 8 and 10 (32 & 64-bit)
Supported Formats
- AAX
- VST
- VST3
Compatible with the following DAWs
- Ableton Live
- Cubase
- Logic Pro
- Nuendo
- Pro Tools 10-12
- Reaper
- Reason
- Sonar
- and other major DAWs
Should you buy it or not?
Definitely, you should buy Soundspot Velo 2 if you are searching for a Multipurpose Brickwall limiter that performs well in mastering as well as in rhythm tracks such as beats, percussion, drums, rhythm guitar, bass, and arpeggio synths, etc.
But if you are searching for an overall limiter that could also perform well in melody and vocals then you shouldn’t go with this plugin. However, in melodies and vocals, we usually don’t use limiters.
Limiters are generally used to maximize the loudness which is part of the mastering process.
In one word this is a great limiter plugin for mastering purposes. If you don’t have Velo 2 limiter then you should definitely give it a try.
And if you already have the older version of this plugin then you can upgrade that to the newer version for just $7.
That’s it,
If you have any queries or suggestions about this plugin comment below and do share this article in your social circle so that others could also use this plugin.
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