What acceleration limiting is and why I use Hifal on most masters

If you’ve been following me for a while, you already know I get way too excited when a plugin actually solves a real mastering problem.

And Hifal surprised me. I was lucky enough to beta test it before its release, and since it came out I’ve been using it on almost every master. Many of you ask for my opinion on it, so here it goes. (And no, this isn’t sponsored by Schwabe.)

What acceleration limiting is

Hifal is an acceleration limiter that brings a classic vinyl mastering technique into the modern era.

Back in the day, this type of tool was mainly used in vinyl mastering to stop very sharp high frequencies from causing tracing distortion or lacquer damage.

Until now, I had never seen a plugin do it this beautifully.

How it sounds

What makes Hifal special is how smoothly it tames annoying transients and aggressive top-end attacks. Instead of killing your highs, it melts them: super creamy, super controlled, super musical.

It definitely has a different character from other plugins. That doesn’t mean you can’t get a similar effect elsewhere, but it’s a super handy tool for “creamy” high-end adjustments, and its effect can give you an unconventional outcome.

Why I use it so much: loudness

When you’re trying to push a master louder, your first bottleneck is always the low end. If the low end isn’t tight, controlled and compact, forget about hitting a clean, loud master.

But once the low end is sorted out, the second thing that stops you from going higher is the mid-high and high-frequency peaks.

That’s exactly where Hifal comes in handy. Often, compressing just 1 dB, maybe 1.5 dB, in those high areas with Hifal relaxes your limiter. Suddenly, the dynamics are back.

The limiter doesn’t need to squash the entire track, and you get that extra half dB or full dB of clean loudness, while the track sounds creamier, warmer, fuller and nicer. All at the same time.