I will try and sum it all up :
limiters are best used for reducing peaks or spikes in the recording we can agree on.
In my entire 30 years a vast majority of DJs constantly go into red and max the red out so I have no point of reference and to me it seems like its pointless then to having or needing master Meters/LED why abuse the going into red rule I don't get it.
pushing a limiter too hard can cause a variety of unpleasant effects on the audio:
•Blunt, flat sound
•Loss of impact
•A dull, “airless” mix
•Gritty, fizzy distortion
http://productionadvice.co.uk/brickwall-limiters/Example: The DJ before me is playing ,only a few People dancing on the dancefloor or jigging here and their the dance floor was far from rocking .
My understanding was that the life was squashed out of the music.
I would go on and immediately start to lower the master back to meet my red for danger rule, before me the music would have been getting hammered by the clubs system limiting or compression or attenuation circuitry or what ever the club amp or add on box would have been set too do. (and this is not including todays software),
anyhow need to say I have never failed to get people on the floor and to be honest rocking their socks off.
Time and time again I turn the levels down come on with my intro song, and I manage to get away with what may sound extremely low by comparison at first, but the situation always changes soon after their ears adapt from being destroyed.
providing I stick to my rules I do fine, people start pouring onto the floor and I get feedback from random people in the venue about how much better the sound was and they enjoyed my set whether it be house, breaks, progressive, trance, d&b etc. always the same outcome, I had to trusts my rules, from my on the job experience and also home mix tape clarity and emotion I make happen, I can here every detail in my woven mix .
Obviously in the club we can all get away with poorer mixing nothing will ever be quite as good! unless? - you like to be technical with following the meters and not just trusting the ears in some club situations this metering etc is a god send around bad monitoring or sound system etc.
If using Cross all the other added visual aids and markings etc ) are the icing on the cake and my techniques and rules again prevail.
All I can say is when it comes to my actual DJing things sit nice for me until the denon MCX 8000, because for the first time my rules have gone out the window now I have not got enough equal movement on my gain, I would have wanted to pull my gain up more around half way + as an average or their about each way depending on song being played, and with movement to bring my gain up high or completely out (Depending on my fader techniques and EQ movement).
One example from many :
All EQ centred, Start bringing second track in,then as I mix I decide what parts of EQ to play with etc. (forget what ever I may have done with the low ) as I fade the first track I may want to say for example bring more mid or/and high back in the background / linger it on, but doing this could and does make things harsh ( okay the limiter may help) but I don't want this its not natural,(Transparency in Cross is open for debate as I obviously did not create this ) but as the tutorial says and others practical learnings high levels can cause these artefacts'
We will get drastic unpleasant artefact especially if we are creative and experimental with all the aspects of the GUI mixing tool and ever changing meter levels, so its extremely important as you know to make sure you got the best matched hardware for the job.
Their are so many factors in the equations in being creative in the mix, that's before the sample decks too.
My gain is central for me , my gain allows me to utilise everything and keep all levels in check or even bring quiet background back up to linger more, its the hub and the equilibrium' so to speak.
The only good thing to come out of Serato is the ability to bring the overall master DB down, so in essence I can bring my gain back up more centred anywhere approx. 11oclock too about 2 o'clock is perfect whilst keeping my levels/meters down and matched so master does not clip Red. if its that simple in Serato setting things as I like then why not ? my MCX certainly needs this db. gain reduction option, doing without is not going to ruin my mixing but it will prevent me the scope to achieve much more and hence make me Sad
and probably get bored with my djing.
always glad to learn and improve my understanding of such things we chat about here, so please don't take mistake me and my passion for being an arrogant no it at all type
its not what I wish to express, I only share my passion and love for this, so in essence I just have passion along with some high personal standards / rules lol.
Hope you get me now ?
thanks for chat and any correction in the theory much appreciated any learning,
but trust me when I say the practical is all good