As I said using both is not unusual.
Tracking : comp to smooth overall signal & limiter to catch transients.
Mastering: 2-buss comp for gluing + brickwall limiter

Why not gates to catch the transients? Ie Cakes SSL gating pro channel emulation (name bypasses me right now). Cheers.

You tell me.
Why not?

CakeAlexS


Why not gates to catch the transients? Ie Cakes SSL gating pro channel emulation (name bypasses me right now). Cheers.

How do you use a gate to catch transients?

Using a gate to "catch" transients is plausible, with fast enough release times, one could very well isolate just the initial attack of a signal.
But the word "catch" is tricky here, as catching for the limiter is completely different. While the gate can isolate the attack, presumably it is still keeping the transient intact. 
A limiter on the hand is more akin to "eating" the transient; thwacking it down; impeding it, etc. 

Personally, I never use a limiter on a track. I would rather adjust the gain or the volume. When it comes to the master buss, you may well find that  a regular compressor is going to still let things get into the red. If you try putting the 76 or the PC4k and even the PC-2A or CA-2A on your master buss you will find that they still allow things to get into the red. The brickwall limiter, such as Concrete, will clamp those overages down. The trick that was mentioned before is basically to put a compressor on the bus to glue things together and use the brickwall just to block any overages at all. That trick has been around since the prehistoric days of analog tape. LOL!