Tone Projects' Uni-L Master Limiter combines wideband limiting with multiband detection, dual-stage processing and deep transient control, co-developed with British mastering engineer Bob Macc over more than two and a half years.
More than two and a half years in development, the Uni-L Master Limiter is the latest plugin from Copenhagen-based Tone Projects – the boutique developer behind the Unisum Mastering Compressor and Michelangelo EQ. Co-developed with British mastering engineer Bob Macc and field-tested by working mastering engineers for over a year, it’s been a thorough process.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
Key features at a glance
- Wideband limiting with multiband detection path
- Dual-stage limiting with slow and fast limiter plus integrated clipper
- Independent control over dynamics, transients and clipping across frequency ranges
- Adaptive lookahead with independent low, mid and high band timing
- Transient Override for separate lookahead times on transients
- True Peak mode to prevent intersample overs
- Variable stereo linking with full low-frequency link option
- EBU R128 loudness metering
- Up to 32x linear-phase oversampling with bit-transparent pass-through
- TPDF dithering with optional noise shaping
- Quick Start system with macro-controlled presets
- Available for Mac and Windows
Where this mastering limiter differs is by combining both wideband limiting with multiband detection. The idea is to get the tonal consistency of wideband limiting while using frequency-aware detection to guide timing and response – so the limiter adapts to spectral and dynamic content without introducing the crossover artefacts that can come with conventional multiband processing.
The signal chain combines a slow limiter for average dynamics, a fast limiter for peaks and a tightly integrated clipper, with independent control over each stage. You can focus release on low frequencies, apply clipping selectively to specific frequency ranges, and use the transient detector to route important transients – say, a snare hit – to the fast limiter or clipper while handling the rest of the signal differently. That level of separation is where Uni-L earns its keep in mastering sessions.
Other features include True Peak mode, EBU R128 loudness metering, adaptive lookahead with independent low, mid and high band timing, variable stereo linking with an option to fully link low frequencies, and TPDF dithering with optional noise shaping. For quicker sessions, a Quick Start system offers carefully tuned presets controlled by a single macro slider, with the underlying parameters visible as you adjust it.
The reactions from the beta period speak for themselves. Bob Katz, GRAMMY-winning mastering engineer, noted he “was able to obtain a louder master with fewer artifacts than with other limiters.” Holger Lagerfeldt, a multiple platinum-certified mastering engineer who used Uni-L across gold and platinum releases during the beta, called the design “ingenious and tweakable” and said it “raises the bar for what’s possible in mastering limiting.”
Uni-L is available now for Mac and Windows from toneprojects.com.
