Maximize (Maximizer)

A newly adopted word in the audio community, maximize refers to increasing (or maximizing) the level of an audio program in order to achieve the highest overall level possible (or at least practical). There are now maximizing functions in many different kinds of audio equipment (mostly software) and even products that are referred to as maximizers. Aesthetic reasons aside, achieving the highest possible signal levels is desirable in all audio equipment to obtain the best signal to noise ratio, but in digital equipment it has been considered extremely important because digital converters are more linear at higher signal levels. The maximizing function is actually very similar to the normalize function that has been included in many DAW systems over the years. Maximizing differs from this in three major ways: 1) It is a real time process; 2) only finite sections of audio are processed at a time; and 3) compression and limiting are employed (actually, this isn’t literally true, but the result appears about the same). The process of maximizing audio includes looking ahead or buffering some amount of material and looking at it together to find peaks. These peaks are then reduced through a sophisticated algorithm that resembles limiting (but is less audible) and the remaining material is normalized. In order for a device to be a true maximizer all of these processes must occur. (To simply limit or compress material and then turn it up some arbitrary amount can be accomplished by a compressor/limiter. Turning up material as loud as it will go (digitally) without any compression or limiting is considered normalizing.) The reduction of peaks prior to normalizing is an important part of what makes maximizing so effective. Imagine a song that has a relatively consistent level throughout, but has three very brief transients that are 6 dB hotter than the rest of the material. In a digital system you can’t go beyond a full code signal without massive distortion so even with normalization the level of the rest of the material is some 6 dB lower than it could be. Now, deploy an intelligent limiter that can lower the levels of those three peaks by 4 dB and now you can turn the rest of the track up 4 dB. By just reducing a few peaks you’ve been able to substantially increase the overall level of your audio. This is what maximizing does. The process of maximizing digital audio has become commonplace in most of today’s production and is considered a vital step in mastering (Though many mastering engineers would argue they have effectively been doing it for years (before it had a name or a product) by using separate components and skill). Unfortunately it is a process that has become overused, creating material that sounds squashed and lacking dynamics. But the trend is now beginning to reverse. Like most new tools that become available to the masses, it takes time for everyone to learn how to apply them creatively instead of just with a “more is better” approach.