CLAMPIT
KNOCK, GLUE, or CLOBBER. True Peak, LUFS, and Mono Check — free.
Clampit is a free brick-wall limiter by Remi Blaze with three knee character modes, True Peak inter-sample detection, full LUFS metering with a Crest Factor readout, and a Mono Check for club system compatibility — everything the last slot on your master bus needs in a single free plugin. KNOCK is transparent, GLUE is smooth and musical, and CLOBBER adds saturation for aggressive loudness with character.
WHAT IT DOES
- Three knee modes — KNOCK (hard/transparent), GLUE (6 dB soft knee for smooth musical limiting), and CLOBBER (hard knee plus tanh saturation that adds harmonic color as gain reduction increases) — each switchable mid-session with a 20ms anti-pop crossfade.
- True Peak limiting — 4x oversampling detects inter-sample peaks that standard limiters miss, with an internal -0.1 dBFS margin so your master never clips on streaming platforms or playback devices that reconstruct the waveform.
- LUFS metering + Crest Factor — Momentary, Short-term, and full-session Integrated LUFS (BS.1770 K-weighted) with a teal glow on LUFS-I when you hit the -8 to -7 target, plus a Crest Factor readout color-coded green/yellow/red so you know instantly when you're over-compressing.
- Auto Release — program-dependent release that speeds up automatically for transient material and slows for sustained content, with a manual Release knob for full control and a Stereo Link blend for independent or fully-linked L/R limiting.
- Delta mode + Mono Check + TPDF dither — Delta isolates exactly what the limiter removes so you can hear artifacts before committing; Mono Check sums L+R for club compatibility testing with LUFS reflecting the mono signal; TPDF dithering (16-bit or 24-bit) runs as the absolute last operation before export.
WHY CLAMPIT?
Every mix needs a final ceiling before it leaves the session. A limiter is the last plugin on the chain — it sets the maximum output level, prevents inter-sample peaks from clipping playback devices, and targets the LUFS level that streaming platforms and club systems expect. Without one, you're guessing at loudness and leaving headroom on the table. Clampit fills that last slot with three distinct knee characters, proper True Peak detection, and integrated LUFS measurement in a free plugin that covers everything the final stage of your chain needs in one place.
Most free limiters give you a ceiling, a release, and a gain reduction meter. Clampit adds three things most don't: LUFS-I gated integration — the standard streaming platforms actually use for delivery specs — a Crest Factor readout that flags over-compression in real time, and CLOBBER mode that intentionally adds tanh saturation to the limiting for characterful loudness. The LINK button applies the inverse of your Input gain after the limiter for volume-neutral A/B comparisons. Delta mode lets you hear only what the limiter removes — essential for verifying that your ceiling isn't destroying the dynamics you want to keep. Remi Blaze designed Clampit so you can see the full picture of what's happening at the ceiling, not just watch a gain reduction meter.
Tech house and club music producers finishing a master who need LUFS-I around -8 to -7 for club playback get a teal target indicator that confirms the number without constant manual checking. Electronic music producers bouncing for streaming platforms who need True Peak at -1.0 dBFS or better will load the Streaming Safe preset and be done in seconds. Mixing engineers using parallel saturation chains who want a characterful ceiling rather than a transparent one will reach for CLOBBER on bus limiters. And anyone delivering in 16-bit or 24-bit needs TPDF dithering as the final operation — Clampit handles that too, and it's free.
HOW TO USE CLAMPIT
How to master a tech house track for club playback
- Insert Clampit as the last plugin on your master bus. Load the Main Stage Master preset — KNOCK mode, -0.2 dBFS ceiling, Auto Release on, 1ms lookahead, True Peak enabled.
- Increase Input until the GR waveform trace shows consistent gain reduction on peaks. Start at 2–4 dB — the LUFS-I reading rises as you drive harder.
- Press LINK (Constant Loudness). Clampit applies the inverse gain after the limiter so bypass comparisons are volume-neutral. Toggle bypass — you hear the limiting character without the louder-is-better bias.
- Watch the LUFS-I display. When it reaches -8.0 to -7.0, the readout glows teal — that's the club playback target. Use RST to reset the integration if you need a fresh reading.
- Enable Mono Check. Verify the LUFS-I reading doesn't drop significantly in mono — if it does, phase issues in the low end need attention before export.
How to set up True Peak limiting for streaming delivery
- Load the Streaming Safe preset — Ceiling -1.0 dBFS, GLUE knee, True Peak on, Auto Release, 2ms lookahead.
- Confirm True Peak is enabled in the toggle row. This runs 4x oversampling on the analysis path to catch inter-sample peaks before they exceed the ceiling on decode.
- Drive Input to target your delivery loudness. For Spotify and Apple Music, aim for LUFS-I around -14. For Beatport and club distribution, push to -8 to -7 and watch the teal glow.
- Check the clip counter — it increments if the output is reaching the ceiling with True Peak engaged. Zero clips at your chosen ceiling means the master is safe for all platforms.
- Select your delivery bit depth and enable TPDF dithering (16-bit for CD/streaming, 24-bit for download). TPDF runs as the absolute last operation after all processing.
How to use Delta mode to verify limiting quality
- Load Clampit on any bus with active limiting — master, drum bus, or a parallel chain. Set Input and Release to your working values.
- Enable Delta mode. You now hear only what the limiter is removing — the difference between the input and the limited output.
- With Delta active, listen for musical content bleeding through. A small amount of transient click on each peak is normal and expected. If you hear melodic content, bass notes, or sustained material, the limiter is cutting too deeply into the body of the signal.
- Adjust Release — a slower release means more program material appears in the Delta signal (the limiter is holding on too long). A faster release recovers quickly but may cause pumping.
- Disable Delta and compare. The limited version should sound louder and denser without the dynamic feel being obviously compressed. If it sounds squashed, back off Input or switch from KNOCK to GLUE for a softer ceiling.
RECOMMENDED SETTINGS
| Scenario | Settings | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Tech house club master | Main Stage Master preset, KNOCK, Input to taste, LUFS-I target -8 to -7 | Transparent ceiling at club loudness with teal LUFS target confirmation |
| Streaming delivery | Streaming Safe preset, GLUE, Ceiling -1.0, True Peak on, LUFS-I -14 | Platform-safe output, no inter-sample clipping on decode |
| Aggressive bus limiter | Clobber Bus preset, CLOBBER, Input +6 dB, Release 80ms | Characterful saturation-limiting with harmonic drive at the ceiling |
| Transparent mastering | Transparent Master preset, GLUE, Auto Release on, True Peak on | Smooth ceiling with musical soft-knee character, minimal coloring |
| Mono compatibility check | Forensic Mono Guard preset, Mono Check on, Delta on | Full mono-fold simulation with Delta to isolate phase cancellation artifacts |
TECH SPECS
- FormatsAU, AUv3, VST3, CLAP, Standalone
- PlatformmacOS 15.0+, Apple Silicon + Intel (Universal Binary)
- Latency0–5ms user-configurable lookahead; reported to host for automatic PDC compensation
- CPULight — True Peak oversampling used for analysis only, no output path overhead
- Oversampling4x (True Peak analysis only — no latency added to output path)
- Presets15 factory presets
- DitheringTPDF, 16-bit or 24-bit