Then some of the benefits for all UAD users hit me. Obviously, Apollo users have an advantage of tracking through the plugins knee deep in a mixing project where native would have far too much latency, so I definitely see the benefit there. The inflator causes harmonics, the limiter enhance does not.Now that there are growing numbers of plugins available both natively and on the UAD I've been thinking about this concept a bit.
To prove this just get the Pro Tools oscillator at low freq, stick it into both and listen to it. The enhance of the limiter will not make the same sound as the inflator under any setting. They cannot provide you with an enhancer setting that matches the inflator - because it's not possible. There is nothing 'slight' about the differences between them - in fact they have virtually nothing in common what so ever. I designed both these plugs and unless they have changed them(!) you need both - they are not in the least interchangeable. SeanNo this is quite wrong - sorry to say it yet again. The only difference is the amplitude of the harmonics, although the standalone Inflator has extra parameters which can be adjusted to give different flavours. The harmonics generated by the Enhance slider are exactly the same as those generated by SAFE or by the standalone Inflator.
Before the native version was released, I asked the guy at Sonnox who inherited the code from Paul Frindle to have the Enhance fader re-position accordingly when SAFE is selected, but it hasnt been done yet.and maybe that's because the Enhance slider still adds to the signal if engaged (ie if you set the Enhance to 24.1% when SAFE is ticked, this is roughly the same as if the Enhance slider was set to 48.2% without SAFE being engaged) The GUI doesnt show this (an oversight, in my opinion).
When the SAFE button is engaged in the Limiter, it is pretty much the same result as if the Enhance (ie Inflator) function is set to 24.1%.
Inflator is a harmonic generator which generates odd harmonics and functions as a clipper in appropriate circumstances. This is how the Limiter avoids intersample overs. The Enhance fader is a version of the Inflator algorithm. The Sonnox Limiter _includes_ Inflator, albeit in slightly different form. Also, it'll keep its value whereas the resell on Ozone is.well.you can guess. But as a link in your chain the Ozone is more like a bunch of cheap tools whereas the Sonnox stuff is very, very nice. level, the iZotope Ozone would be the best bargain for you. In regards to the Ozone comment, I think if you're using all plug-ins, or doing mastering at an amateur or semi-pro. At least, not nearly as much as the Inflator. But if you have no problem getting your levels where you want them without much compromise the limiter won't do much. If you're having a tough time getting the level you want go for the limiter. And at this stage it can really be controlled via the "Curve" control. It seems to smooth out the distortion from the A/D and can add quite a bit of level (so that you don't need to hit the A/D as hard). I like the Inflator right before the limiter on heavy rocky stuff. Just try the demos, dude: Sonnox Oxford Plugins