synkrotron
Main use now is to tame those odd peaks here and there. Even though I rarely record real instruments, soft synths, when summed together, can produce clipping peaks here and there. So, as I have alluded to above, it's me being lazy, rather than taking time to tone down the offending peak during mixing. I could even create a volume envelope to do the same (which is what I had to do on my latest upload to SoundCloud).
cheers 
Hi synkrotron,
Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here, but in my personal opinion, I'd like to see you control the peaks instead of trying to tame peaks with a limiter or compressor. You'd be astonished at how little processing you need to do when you do all the right things. I don't use much limiting until I master. Even there, I'm not going crazy and always maintain dynamics. You want to be able to totally enjoy a mix with barely nothing on it. That's when you know you got it right. I'll give you a few examples as to what I mean.
Sometimes transient attacks on a note on a particular instrument can cause the peak. Instead of just limiting that or compressing it away, see what may be causing it. If a bass guitar has a spot where the note seems to lash out, A compressor to smooth it or even a transient designer type plug can remedy the problem. It's better to soften the blow over possible over-processing.
Granted, we may have had to use a compressor in that situation, but by adjusting the attack of that compressor or transient designer, you've done very little to the sound other than to trim the transient that may be the cause for the peak. Other times you can split the clip at the transient and lightly fade it so it's not as apparent. Though the simple way would be to throw a limiter on, this is how we can degrade our audio if we're not careful. I have never used a limiter on an individual instrument track. The reason being? I can always control what is going on without one. I have found in all my years doing this....that less is more in a good way. That's not to say limiting is bad or any advice you received above is bad. I'm saying in my opinion, it is better to find out WHY we have something peaking and it's best to fix it without loading limiters or compressors up to where they can negatively affect the audio.
Sometimes a snare drum may have too much rim shot or "crack" to it. This ramps up peaks like crazy. The transient shaper can help this with one simple move to lessen the hit....and again, a compressor can do the same thing. Now that's two times I've mentioned those tools. Let me try to further explain the method to my madness.
When you get a bit more advanced in this field, you learn the many different ways you can use these tools. Compression for me is used quite a few ways, but the two most popular are for actual compression of an instrument, and then for effecting an instrument.
Compressing is just that. We keep the instrument in line without artifacts so it doesn't go over a certain threshold. The problem with this is people don't use it to compress the right way and end up with bad artifacts. Compression used as an actual effect is another animal. I mentioned the transient shaper. Compression as an effect was doing what the TS does now since the compressor came with attack and release options. With the right attack and release, you can literally make an instrument have more pop...crack...and transient attack. Like a snare drum cracking harder. I actually put some videos out showing how transient shapers and compression can be used in the same way. Transient designer type plugins just concentrate on how hard or how subtle a note or drum hit can be heard. It's basically the attack and release of a compressor without the compression part. So it's not as easy to mess your material up. Try the transient shaper in Sonar. It's quite good and can control peaks.
But a compressor can also remove transient attacks too...which is another way we can use it as an effect. This controls peaks in those nasty snare drums or even if a bassist uses a pick or pops and slaps a bit too hard. To me it's better to control or lessen the transient that hits instead of using a limiter....or even a compressor. But most of the time it's because the compressor or limiter is used to the extreme. Like there are a few people on here that know how to use a compressor in all of its glory. I'd never try to talk them out of it. It's the people that don't know the power of the compressor or limiter that need to be careful. With the tools we have today, it's easy to slap something on and get some sort of fix. But at times, it's really not fixing anything. It's masking a problem and can degrade the audio.
Other times we can remedy peaks by using eq. At times a transient or peaked instrument may be out of line due to an eq setting being too extreme. This usually happens when someone is not familiar with how eq really works and they just tweak until something sounds good by itself when soloed. When they allow the instrument to enter the field of other players, it sounds bad and they wonder why. A bass guitar that blasts out too much low end on a particular note can be fixed by adjusting the eq on that part only or by automating the sections that may need less of the low end he is putting out due to the pull on the string or the string note itself lashing out. It's better than compressing the heck out of it or using a multi-band compressor. However, there are times when a multi-band compressor can work wonders policing special circumstances to where you:
a) may have allowed a recording that should be re-recorded but you may not have that luxury
b) have a player/client that just wants to sound the way they want to sound while not understanding the instrument may be offending/disrupting the entire mix.
Sometimes we need to process using the tools we have....but mostly this is due to performance issues with players or even the instrument they use. Some drum sets just sound bad when mic'd up so we have to process them to compensate or even sample replace....some electric guitars and bass guitars just sound bad because of how they are made, how they are set up. (or not set up) So we have to do our best to get the best sounds out of the instruments. Sometimes some good old manipulation is the key. Other times using a compressor or limiter may be the answer.
But with electronic instruments or samples, you really shouldn't be running into any massive peak problems that need the attention of a limiter unless you are going for a specific sound. Again, I'm not saying don't use a limiter....I'm saying if you don't have to use something, try your best not to and find out where the source of the problem is coming from, and try to remedy it without the possibility of over-processing. If you know how to use the tools I've mentioned, they can definitely make a difference for the better. But we always want to know the source of the issue before we just put a band-aide on it. This helps us to fix things....and more importantly, teaches us when we should use a sound...and when we may want to choose another. :) Best of luck!
-Danny
(edited for spelling and added a few additional things)