Audio Limiter

I'm struggling a little with the various options for audio limiting.

In Premiere Pro I can use the Dynamics filter (on any channel AND the master channel!) and tell it to soft clip with a limit of (say) -12db. Works great. If you have some spikes it clamps them nicely.

I'm having trouble doing the same thing in FCPX. No matter what filter I choose I can get the average to clamp to -12db but the spikes seem to make it through.

While I know I could manually go and fix those spikes, sometimes the client is in a bigger hurry and time doesn't allow.

So, what filter / settings do you recommend for clamping audio to a given limit (e.g. -6db, -12db etc) ? I really like the soft clipping in Premiere Pro but can't seem to emulate it in FCPX.

It is called the "Limiter" audio filter. Simple set the threshold.

BenB wrote: It is called the "Limiter" audio filter. Simple set the threshold.

That was the "first" one I tried !

Maybe I'm doing it wrong

Do not use the Final Cut version, use the Logic version, more control.
You may want to turn off Soft Knee, and adjust the Output Level.

Make sure the audio tracks in your clips are mono and single channel in the inspector. If they're stereo or dual mono, the tracks will be additive and the peak will go beyond what you set in the Limiter.

Personally, I use the Logic Compressor for this. I do my dialogue boosting (vs in the audio enhancements tab) and there's an option for a limiter as well.