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padders
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Registration Date: 01-03-2009
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WHat is clipping? I no its not good but how does effect a song? I recently downloaded the voxengoSPAN spectrum analyzer and was appaulled to find hundreds of clips on my song (It has a counter on it). I thought clipping was to do with a sound being too loud and distorting, but none of my channels (flstudioCool go above -5db and my master channel stays below 0db. SO whats causing it and how can I correct this? Confused
16-07-2009 16:25
BattleDrone BattleDrone is a male
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Switch "peak hold" on in Voxengo Span (see image, bottom right), choose at least 2 seconds and you might see that the second curve being displayed is peaking like hell (off the screen).



Clipping is sounds going past the 0db limit, thus being cut off. This sounds unnatural to our ears, if it happens very short and we won't notice it, but if your whole tune is clipping like hell it will sound damaged and harsh.

Use a limiter to avoid clipping.

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16-07-2009 17:23 Homepage of BattleDrone
Halph-Price Halph-Price is a male
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sometimes it can peak faster then the meter tracks it. there is different refresh rates and meter types. RMS meters judge power, and don't give an accurate look at every little peak but an average. good for mix, but bad for mastering part looking for clipping.

clipping is any volume that exceeds -0db which is the MAX power that can be outputted. beyond that is not really technically safe. it can damage speakers and can cause unwanted distortion. even if it sounds good on your home system, someone else listening to it might get weird pops clicks or buzzs. it different depending on speakers mostly. some speakers can break due to clipping. it's overloading them.

you can really hear clipping on deeper sound waves because it turns a smooth sine wave into a weird round SQUARE wave. higher end stuff is not as noticeable, but it can come out as pops on other peoples speakers/headphones.

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This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Halph-Price: 16-07-2009 17:32.
16-07-2009 17:26 Homepage of Halph-Price
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