Unlinking the master stereo limiter/compressor. Anyone like doing this?

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

Just curious if anyone out there ever likes to unlink the stereo master limiter/compressor they have on their tracks. I’ve been doing it because I have no choice when using this MXR 136 dual limiter I really like.

I’ve noticed it adds an interesting stereo width, and subtle energy to the track. I’m not sure if there are any phase issues when collapsing the signal down to mono, but I really like how it sounds with a pair of headphones.

#2

It can lead to a slightly wandering stereo image, but in some cases I do unlink the sides. One of my holy grail compressors, the API 2500, has variable linking between the channels. You can go from fully linked to fully unlinked on a knob instead of a switch. Very useful feature to be able to dial that in. One day I will own one of those bad boys

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