BUTE Limiter 2 (Surround) is an ultra-transparent true peak brickwall limiter from Signum Audio, designed for high-fidelity mastering and mixing in stereo or up to 10-channel surround, with a flexible, resizable interface.
Ultra-Transparent True Peak Limiting
BUTE Limiter 2 is built around Signum Audio’s overshoot-proof brickwall limiting algorithm, which aims to eliminate distortion while retaining the natural character of the audio. It employs highest-quality linear phase upsampling and an advanced adaptive auto release, ensuring transparent gain reduction without pumping or artifacts. The plugin offers five distinct release curves, allowing you to tailor the limiting behavior to the material.
This emphasis on transparency makes BUTE suitable for critical applications like mastering and broadcast, where preserving dynamics and clarity is paramount. The true peak detection is overshoot-proof, meaning the output will not exceed the set ceiling, even after sample rate conversion or playback on consumer devices. The result is clean, natural-sounding limiting that lets the source material shine.
Flexible UI and In-Depth Analysis
BUTE Limiter 2 provides a streamlined interface with three layouts: a resizable history view, a vertical metering view, and a compact horizontal control view. The history view offers an interactive display of true peak, gain reduction, threshold, and output readings, with options to overview or zoom in on specific sections. Automatic DAW sync enables re-metering when settings are altered, showing how adjustments affect the audio.
The history view also flags any true peak overshoots introduced by Post-Gain, with a warning system for proactive correction. This analysis capability is invaluable for engineers who need to verify that their limiting is accurate and that no unintended overshoots slip through. The ability to reassess the waveform after tweaking parameters ensures confident decisions during the final stages of production.
Workflow Flexibility with Pre and Post Gain
BUTE Limiter 2 supports multiple workflows through its Pre Gain and Post Gain controls. Pre Gain adjusts the incoming signal before limiting, allowing you to push the limiter harder for loudness maximization without sacrificing dynamics or clarity. Post Gain applies volume after limiting, making it easy to compensate for gain reduction or to match output levels. You can configure the display to emphasize either the limiter output or the overall output (with Post Gain applied).
This flexibility accommodates different approaches: using Pre Gain as a maximizer, or limiting first and then using Post Gain for makeup gain. The automatic Max Target functionality further simplifies setting the optimal ceiling. This ensures that the plugin fits into your existing chain, whether you’re tracking, mixing, or mastering.
Practical Applications and Surround Support
With support for up to 10-channel surround, BUTE Limiter 2 is well-suited for immersive audio projects, including film, games, and music mixes in multichannel surround formats. The same transparent limiting algorithm applies across all channels, maintaining cohesion and preventing clipping in multichannel environments. The resizable history view and compact control layouts adapt to different screen sizes and workflows.
In practice, use BUTE on the master bus for final limiting, or on individual stems to control peaks before routing to a summing mixer or encoder. For broadcast, it ensures compliance with true peak limits. For music production, it serves as a transparent finalizer that preserves the mix’s dynamic feel while achieving competitive loudness.
Key features
- Overshoot-proof true peak brickwall limiting algorithm
- Highest-quality linear phase upsampling
- Advanced adaptive auto release with 5 release curves
- Pre Gain, Post Gain, and automatic Max Target
- Three layouts: resizable history view, vertical meter, compact horizontal control
- Automatic DAW sync and re-metering to reflect adjustments
- History for True Peak, output, threshold, and gain reduction; warning for Post-Gain overshoots
Best for
Best for mastering and broadcast engineers who need transparent, overshoot-proof limiting for stereo or surround mixes (up to 10 channels), with deep metering and flexible gain staging to preserve audio fidelity while achieving loudness.