What do you use to get your mix louder ?

For loud without crap, I find it pretty vital to keep your mix bus down at -10-12 dB rms as stated and some peaks at -6dBfs max!! If you have some tracks overshooting to anywhere above -6dB, like a wild snare/vocal/whatever... track: limit these tracks. If you can keep your mix in that range, any limiter you will throw after it will make your track louder than if you let your mixbus hit your DAW harder. Try hitting your mix above that and then adding a limiter, it will very likely distort thus not allowing you a louder mix. I think it has to do with the internal headroom of the plugins. With the Sonnox Limiter, that I always use to give loud premasters to clients, working like this keeping the mixbus down allows me to add anywhere between 6-10 dB at the input of the limiter and still sounding close to your mix, ie not oversquashed/distorted/lifeless

thx seems really nice forum

On my last paid project I used FabFilter Pro-L with a touch of Sonnox Inflator (15 to 30 percent or so on each track). I was using a lot of other stuff on the mix buss too, a Waves pultec, Waves NLS console emulation (EMI TG on every song), Cytomic SSL type compressor VST, and a PSP Neon EQ. I separated the process into mix buss mixing, and mastering, because the band asked me to go ahead and master it, too, when the mixes were finished. I'd say it worked out pretty well!

I used to use Oxford Limiter which is a little brighter than Pro-L, but I found it doesn't react well to being pushed as hard as Pro-L.

I was comparing my mix with itunes and it's nowhere near as loud...and my mix had RMS or around -10. What in the hell do these mastering guys do to get it so loud?

...you checked "in iTunes"? What does that even mean...the store clips? If you have SoundCheck on, everything in your library should give or take sound the the same volume. My understanding was the store clips have that running regardless of client settings.

If I'm doing it for effect to BE LOUD I'll use Limiter No.6 and sometimes even VBL for distortion/compression.

Density MKII if I'm just looking for a little subtle sheen. Maybe 1 or 2dB (I actually mean that). I'm not a big loudness freak. Who cares in 2014 what the crest factor is?

It's very aggressive sounding, even without the clipper engaged.

Molot I've never really gotten into it. It's just a little too eccentric for an insert limiter?? I dunno!

8-)Oh yes, a really good one as well!

Love molot.
Lim 6 is sometimes just right as well.