Gigs & business
Sound limiter
A sound limiter is a device wired into a venue’s power or signal that measures level in the room and cuts the sound when it exceeds a set threshold. It is a licence condition, not an audio tool.
In practice
A limiter cuts, it does not turn down. Keep the average below the light and let the peaks do the work.
Find out during your advance whether the venue has one and where the trip level sits, and watch its indicator the way you would watch a meter. Amber for a moment is fine; amber holding is a warning. Bass carries the weight in most of these measurements, so easing the low end back a decibel usually buys more headroom against the box than pulling the whole master down. And if it does cut, do not immediately restart at the same level — it will simply trip again and the room will lose faith.
Cuts
What it does, not attenuate
Averaged
How it measures
Low end
What buys the most headroom
Where these come from: How venue noise limiters are typically configured and behave — practice, not a catalog figure. For what we can measure, see why dynamics measure lower.
Why it matters
It is the single most demoralising thing a DJ can meet, because it does not attenuate — many of them cut the power entirely for thirty seconds or more. A room at full tilt going silent mid-drop is a night you do not recover, and the only way to avoid it is to never reach the threshold.
The threshold is usually measured over a window rather than instantaneously, which is the useful detail. Sustained level trips it far more readily than a brief peak, so a mix with dynamics can be perceptually louder and measure lower than a flat, limited one.
Frequently asked
Why did the sound cut out completely?+
A limiter tripped. Most cut the feed or the power for a fixed period rather than reducing level, which is why the room goes silent instead of getting quieter.
Can I turn the limiter off?+
No, and asking is a bad look — it is usually a licence condition and tampering with it puts the venue at real risk.
How do I play loud without tripping it?+
Keep the average down rather than the peaks. Limiters measure over a window, so a dynamic mix with real transients feels louder and measures lower than a flat one.
Related terms
Curfew
A curfew is the time by which amplified sound must stop, set by the venue’s licence or a local authority. It is not negotiable on the night, and overrunning it can cost the venue its ability to open at all.
Club sound system
A club sound system is the whole chain after the mixer: processor, amplifiers, subwoofers, main speakers and often delay or fill speakers, tuned together for one room by an engineer who is not in the booth.
Headroom
Headroom is the gap between where your signal is sitting and the point where it distorts. It is the room left for the loud parts, and for whatever you do to the channel next.
Limiter vs compressor
Both reduce dynamic range. A compressor turns down loud signals gradually by a ratio; a limiter stops them passing a ceiling at all. A limiter is a compressor with an extreme ratio and a fast attack.
Explore: LUFS meter · Limiter · Headroom · All DJ terms