Naturl Audio has released a free v1.1 update for AL-1, its limiter plugin, adding a second limiting engine and a dedicated true peak stage on top of the zero look-ahead design the plugin launched with in March.
AL-1 processes audio sample by sample rather than predicting peaks with a look-ahead buffer, a design the company says preserves the shape of transients while still delivering measurable gain reduction. The plugin also skips the clipping or wave-shaping stage many limiters use to force a hard ceiling, an approach intended to keep dynamics and stereo image intact under heavy limiting. Stereo linking is correlation-based, tightening around the center only when the signal calls for it rather than applying a fixed link amount across the whole mix.
The main addition in v1.1 is a second limiting engine. Engine 2, now the default, is a bespoke analog circuit design that Naturl Audio built digitally using its own physics-based modeling technology; the company says the circuit does not model any specific piece of vintage hardware. Engine 1, carried over from the original release, runs three digital algorithms that respond to musical context. Users can switch between the two depending on the source material.
True peak limiting is also new in this release. It runs as a second, dedicated limiting stage after the main engine, targeting inter-sample overs without altering the character set dialed in upstream. Naturl Audio says the addition extends AL-1’s use beyond mixing and mastering into film, television, and other post-production work where true peak conformance is a delivery requirement.
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AL-1 also includes an optimizer section that applies upward compression with intelligent release-based makeup gain to lift low-level content, plus LUFS, VU, and peak metering for monitoring loudness targets during mixing or mastering. “Don’t sleep on the AL-1. The optimize section alone is well worth the price of admission,” said Dale Becker, a mastering engineer whose credits include Billie Eilish and Justin Bieber. Becker said the section replaced a hardware unit he had been unable to find a suitable substitute for in the box.
AL-1 launched in March, and Naturl Audio describes this update as the result of roughly five months of feedback from mastering and mixing engineers using the plugin in production. The company says its users include engineers who have worked with artists such as BTS, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, and Ed Sheeran.
Features
- Two limiting engines: Engine 1 runs three digital algorithms that adapt to musical context; Engine 2 is a bespoke analog circuit design realized digitally through physics-based modeling.
- True peak limiting stage (new in v1.1), a dedicated second limiter that runs after the main engine to catch inter-sample peaks.
- Zero look-ahead processing, with no predictive buffer ahead of the signal.
- Non-brickwall design: no clipping or wave-shaping stage forces the ceiling.
- Correlation-based stereo linking.
- Optimizer section with upward compression and intelligent release-based makeup gain.
- LUFS, VU, and peak metering.
Pricing and Availability
The v1.1 update is free for existing AL-1 owners. New licenses are $229 (perpetual license), with a 30-day full-version trial available after creating an account at naturl.audio.
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