Bettermaker Darth Limiter – Limited Edition Mastering Limiter

A Limited-edition, Supercharged Darth Limiter

The Bettermaker Darth Limiter is a limited-edition, supercharged version of Bettermaker’s acclaimed stereo Mastering Limiter with an improved audio path for lower noise and better dynamic range, a new capacitive touchscreen with improved contrast and viewing angles, and wicked blackout cosmetics that’ll look great in your control room! Like the Mastering Limiter, Darth Limiter rocks a pure analog signal path — plus full digital recall. You have 399 cells for your own presets, which you can recall instantly with one touch. You can save your settings to the internal memory, and (here’s where Bettermaker really breaks away from the pack) in your DAW project. That’s right: Darth Limiter’s USB link lets you use it just as you would use a plug-in! Darth Limiter is equipped with manual and intelligent release modes, variable coloration, and an innovative, intuitive touchscreen to control it all. There will be only 200 Bettermaker Darth Limiter units available worldwide,

When you need premium sound quality limiting and convenience of fast and precise recall and automation.

Bettermaker Darthlimiter offers, 100% analog signal path, plugin recall and automation within your project, frequency dependent saturation, MS processing, enhanced metering section and a large LED touchscreen minimising clutter on your main studio screen.

Get analog mastering sound quality results, fast and spare your recall time.

What’s NEW?

– limited front panel with black frame and knobs

– new capacitive touchscreen with improved contrast and viewing angle

– improved audio path for lower noise and better dynamic range (Burr-Brown(TM) OPA1656 in audio path)

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The sound of the limiter is of course based on the quality of its hardware design. But all the control and user interactions are performed in the digital domain. This allows us to incorporate options and possibilities not found in any standard analog limiter:
– Save and recall presets
– Instant reset of all parameters
– Rapid, precise and repeatable adjustments
– Precisely linked stereo operation with the ease of a single control
– DAW automation

– Comprehensive metering operations based on high quality A/D conversion and DSP

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Great care and thought went into the development and implementation of the analog section of the Bettermaker Darthlimiter. High quality capacitors and low noise op-amps are used in the analog path. Relays were used, whenever creating the shortest path for the audio signal was necessary.

All these modules are controlled by the digital section of the Bettermaker Darthlimiter, so no mechanical switches or knobs are required to adjust any of the parameters.

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Digital Section

The digital section of the Bettermaker Darthlimiter is based around two high speed, 32- bit micro-controllers, with dedicated firmware programmed into their memory (with the possibility of updating the firmware via USB connection). One of them is responsible for controlling the VCA limiter, when the other watches over the user interface, presets management, audio measurement, USB connectivity and other Bettermaker Darthlimiter functions.

The use of separate ground planes for analog and digital section results in perfect noise isolation between these two worlds. The linear power supply was used instead the switching one to improve the sonic qualities even further.

Front panel and LCD touchscreen

The front panel of the Bettermaker Darthlimiter is build around big LCD touchscreen, that allows you to control almost all functions available in the device. Apart from that, you can also monitor input/output levels, amount of gain reduction (and clipping) applied by the limiter, perform advanced measurements (FFT, LUFS, K-metering), use on-screen QWERTY keyboard for

naming your presets and more. You can even display fully configurable, analog style VU meters!

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Main features

Bettermaker Darthlimiter has 3 functionalities that are essential to make a perfect master. All of them are recallable by the internal memory and a plugin that also handles automation.
Analog Bettermaker Darthlimiter:
– 100% analog signal path
– intelligent and manual release
– variable mix between limiting and clipping
-possibility to turn off the clipping section, so you can clip with you favorite AD or other.

Color, for giving that special flavor to your mix:

– Two color modules introducing different saturation that can be used simultaneously
– Color 1 with Majority of odd harmonics
– Color 2 with Majority of even harmonics
– Both color sections can be internally EQed so for example you can present more odd harmonics in the low end to give the mix more bite and sweeten the highs with the even harmonics at the top end.

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Metering

Metering, an additional screen in your studio. As it’s a touchscreen it also utilizes control functions of the Bettermaker Darthlimiter. You can view your favourite set of stats.
– Input, output and reduction
– Analog style meters (VU, PPM, RMS, Peak with peak hold functionality)
– LUFS (Short term, Integral, Loudness Range, view in time)
– K metering
– 30 Band FFT analyzer
– Goniometer
– Correlation meter
– Two points of measurement, the output of the Limiter or the plugin
– and more…

Technical specification:

– Maximum input level: +21,5 dBu (balanced)
– Maximum output level: +23 dBu (THD < 0.1%)
– Operating Level: +4dBu
– Maximum gain reduction: 20 dB
– Makeup gain: automatic
– Attack time: 0.1 – 250ms
– Release time: 0.01 – 1.3s + IREL (intelligent release)
– Input impedance (differential): 48kΩ (for balanced signal)
– Output Impedance: 50Ω + 50Ω (electronically balanced)
– Frequency response 5Hz to 30kHz; +/- 0.1dB

– Dynamic range: 107 dB @ +21 dBu, 20 kHz BW

– THD+N: <0.03%, +4 dBu, unity gain, 20 kHz BW

– CMRR: max 80 dB @ 3 kHz, min 55 dB @ 50Hz, 20 kHz BW

– Crosstalk: min -90 dB @ 1KHz, max -57 dB @ 30Hz, +18 dBu, 20 kHz BW

– Maximum power consumption: 30W (uses 630mA slow blow fuse)

​- 2U enclosure, 230mm deep

– Shipping weight: 5.5 kg, 62x37x21 cm

The ProAudio has a team of music gear experts who provide you with helpful advice and unparalleled service completely free of charge. Talk with the ProAudio Consultant today and we will assist in choosing the suitable outboard gear needed for your audio requirements.