Waves L4 Ultramaximizer Review: New Limiter First Impressions

For years, Waves’ Ultramaximizer plugins have been part of my daily toolkit. L1 and especially L2 became industry standards in the ’90s and 2000s, shaping the sound of entire generations of records. They were loved, overused, criticized, and yet still found in sessions everywhere. Even today, I occasionally pull up an L2 when I want that familiar bite on a bus or to “kiss the peaks” before a final limiter.

Waves has finally released a true successor: the L4 Ultramaximizer. This isn’t just a cosmetic update or another repackaged plugin. It introduces 5 limiting modes, adaptive processing, upward compression, True Peak protection, LUFS metering, and more, all designed to meet the demands of modern audio mastering.

As someone who has used Waves plugins for over a decade, I was curious: does L4 carry the DNA of its legendary predecessors, or is it a brand-new beast built for today’s streaming-driven music world?

After testing it in real sessions, here are my first impressions.

Interface & Workflow

Waves designed the L4 Ultramaximizer with two interface options to fit different working styles:

• Graph Mode offers a modern, visual display that allows you to see precisely how the limiter reacts in real-time.
• Classic Mode strips things back to the essentials, echoing the familiar look and feel of the L2.

Personally, I find Graph Mode great for exploring the plugin and fine-tuning details. However, once I’ve settled on my settings, I prefer Classic Mode, which keeps the screen uncluttered and allows me to focus purely on the sound.

Four New Algorithms (Plus a Nod to L2)

The L4 comes with four redesigned limiting modes, Modern, Aggressive, Safe, and Smooth, plus a bonus “L2” mode for those who still love the classic sound. Each one has a different personality:

• Modern feels transparent and clean, almost invisible until you push it to its limits.
• Aggressive adds bite and forward punch, useful when you want a track to really pop.
• Safe reins things in without making the mix collapse.
• Smooth is softer, musical, almost like glue.

I like that Waves didn’t abandon the L2 flavor, because sometimes you want that recognizable, slightly hyped character.

Adaptive Clipping & Release

Waves also added adaptive clipping and release controls, giving you more say over the limiter’s behavior. You can choose between clean transient handling or push it dirtier with harmonic clipping.

This is crucial in mastering: sometimes you want to retain every detail, other times you want the limiter to add a bit of grit. L4 gives you that choice without making the workflow clunky.

Upward Compression

A standout feature is upward compression. Borrowing from Waves’ MV2 plugin, this lifts quieter sections and adds density without crushing the peaks. It’s handy in cinematic and orchestral tracks, where delicate passages often get lost next to big climaxes.

When upward compression is active, gain matching doesn’t work perfectly for A/B comparisons. Still, the musical results often outweigh the inconvenience.

Loudness Metering & True Peak

Unlike the early days of “louder is better,” today’s masters need to work across Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and beyond. L4 includes:

• Integrated LUFS, True Peak, and Loudness Range meters (aligned with EBU R128 / ITU BS.1770 standards).
• True Peak limiting with up to x16 oversampling to prevent inter-sample clipping.
• Stereo Link flexibility, so you can unlink channels for extra loudness or keep them locked for stereo integrity.
• Multiple dithering modes with noise-shaping options to keep fades and quiet passages clean.
• Delta monitoring, which allows you to solo the difference between the input and processed signals, is perfect for hearing exactly what’s being altered.

These additions make L4 not just a louder version of L2, but a limiter that respects modern loudness delivery standards.

Pros & Cons of Waves L4 Ultramaximizer

Pros:

• Five distinct limiting modes, including the classic L2 sound
• Adaptive engine for smarter, real-time processing
• Upward compression for added density without killing dynamics
• True Peak limiting and LUFS metering for streaming platforms
• Delta listening, dithering options, and oversampling up to x16
• Two interface modes to suit different workflows

Cons:

• Upward compression overrides gain match, making A/B tricky
• Distorts earlier than some top competitors when pushed very hard
• Doesn’t fully replace precision tools like Pro-L2 for surgical work

Final Verdict

When stacked against the competition, the Waves L4 Ultramaximizer carves out its own space. FabFilter Pro-L2 remains the leader in terms of surgical transparency and advanced metering. At the same time, iZotope Ozone Maximizer excels as part of a comprehensive mastering suite, offering genre-based targets and AI-driven assistance. L4 doesn’t aim to replace either; instead, it offers something different.

What makes L4 stand out is its character and flexibility. It features the familiar Waves workflow that many engineers trust, but with new tools like adaptive clipping, upward compression, and multiple limiting flavors that add punch, grit, or smoothness, depending on what a track requires.

In my own mastering chain, I see L4 as a colorful companion rather than a replacement. On electronic productions, I’ll reach for the Aggressive or Modern modes to bring extra energy. On hip-hop and pop tracks, its clipping and adaptive release controls let me shape transients cleanly without introducing pumping.

Bottom line: If you’re an artist, producer, or engineer seeking a limiter that’s both simple enough for quick results and versatile enough for creative shaping, L4 is worth trying. It won’t dethrone Pro-L2 or Ozone, but it brings something fresh to limiting, and that’s something I’ll happily keep in my plugin arsenal.

If you’d like to try Waves L4 Ultramaximizer for yourself, you can check it out directly on the Waves website.