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Do i have to avoid clipping?
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OIL
Oil
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Posted : Mar 6, 2004 21:23
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Hello
do i have to avoid clipping in a track if i want to release it?
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Colin OOOD
Moderator
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Posted : Mar 6, 2004 22:57
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OIL
Oil
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Posted : Mar 6, 2004 23:18
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k, if u have clipping like all over the track... but it doesnt sound very distorted...
what then?? |
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pSyCH0acT|VE
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Mar 6, 2004 23:41
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Try using compression/limiting on your Stereo mix, Or if you know what track in your mix produces/contributes to the clipping - tweak that track .. and so on...
As far as clipping in general - don't be afraid when you see those red LEDs go on  just don't go crazy with it...
Then again - It's all about what you are trying to acheive 
Good Luck!
 -==-=-===-=-=--=--=-=-=-=-==--=--=-=-=-
http://www.myspace.com/sonicdistance
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Mike A
Subra
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Posted : Mar 6, 2004 23:51
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Maybe it doesn't sound distorted to you, but it is.
Trust me. 
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Triptocoma
Inactive User
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Posted : Mar 7, 2004 01:02
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No, there are many commercial tracks that clipps, so it´s not a rule,
but you should avoid it, you should avoid maxing out the track too much, at least keep the level under -1db -2db or -3db, or what you prefer. It´s okej to have some peaks at -0db, but if a sound is clipping, go fix it in the mix, i mean there is no reason for it to be there...
If you consider releasing it on a label i would keep some headroom for them to work with... give them two versions... one that you have made a premaster on and one thats clean from the factory.
If you look at some well produced tunes, you will see that they are not often pumping in the red zone, orange is good. this depends very much on the music, dance music seems to be very maxed out sometimes, but thats just a trend. If you keep the output at a reasonable level it will sound better when you push the track to the max on the stereo, granted that your mix is well balanced and without too many frequency fights
however you reason, clipping and constant peaking at -0db will make the ear tired faster, so it´s best to keep it at a pleasant level...
though i bet everybody has a input in this matter... |
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UIU
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Mar 7, 2004 09:26
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You can use clipping to your advantage sometimes. If I am correct in the second crystal sculls ablum there is a track with a sound that comes on the right speaker that they used clipping as an effect. But maybe it sounds good because it is not digital clipping. I am not sure. |
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billy ambulance
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Mar 7, 2004 09:56
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first of all: work on each channel and check if there is no cliping. if so - use compression.
2nd: check your master. if the clipping accur only once in awhile and not over 0.8 then you can leave your mix as it is but put L2 (limiter) on the master. use it only as limiter, dont drag the treshold down even if the mix sounds louder, cause it will also sound distorted. I personnaly advise not to worry about the level of the track and mix it lower.
check out! www.soundclick.com/spasm |
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Mike A
Subra
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Posted : Mar 7, 2004 12:17
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billy, there is no problem using the L2 when the music is well mixed
Of course not give it a 50db gain, but 2-3 is ok.
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Te_nTe
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Mar 7, 2004 20:23
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try to avoid any clipping , better not with compression just right cutting eq.
2nd what you mean directly by clipping????
clipping in db meter or clipping which you hear at speakers??
dont recomend you putting L2 on master , you can do maybe for a check , all those tools makes mess with your mix.
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jon
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Mar 7, 2004 21:16
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One good thing to do is :
when you export the entire track to audio, leave yourself a huge amount of headroom... like 10dB or something. This is fine if you are 24bit.... no real loss in quality.
Then open the wav in sound forge or whatever you use for mastering. Then normalize the track and use the L2 to perform a bit of limiting (you can use the L2 to normalize as well)... only a few dB like Mike says.
This way you get no clipping and all your productions are perfect (ok the last part is not quite true hehe).
Oh, also I agree it's bad to put the L2 on the master, unless you make sure it is switched off until the last possible moment. I dunno why but it feels better to seperate the 'mixing' and 'mastering' stages... and master-bus FX belong to the mastering stage.... Maybe if you keep the master bus empty then it's easier to hear where problems in the mix lie.....
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OIL
Oil
Started Topics :
243
Posts :
845
Posted : Mar 7, 2004 21:38
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i mean clipping on the meter |
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OIL
Oil
Started Topics :
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Posts :
845
Posted : Mar 7, 2004 21:39
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i didnt really understood what u were saying jon.. what do u mean that i should leave headroom?
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ZilDoggo
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Posted : Mar 7, 2004 23:47
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in digital devices headroom is the space between the absolute maximum level of your medium (0db) and the top that your signal reaches.
in another way, headroom is how much room you leave between your mix and the maximum possible level.
if your mix is in the red, then you have no headroom.,
if you see that the top of your mix stays around -12db then you have a headroom of 12db.,
in digital systems you need to leave enough headroom (difficult to say exactly how much)
this is because you can not go OVER the maximum, so you have to fit everything inside the maximum level.,
(this is the theory anyway., )
in a digital system, if you go over the maximum you get cliping.,
(another theory says that you cant hear a little bit of clipping so why not?, ., but this can get you into trouble .,)
the problem is also that some meters will show you the AVERAGE level of your track.,
this means that sometimes you see that the level is -3db on your meter but in fact it moved very fast from +4db to -7db. but a digital system cant have levels above 0db so everything above 0db will be clipped.,
if you know this then you can give your audio a little more headroom by making the master channel a bit softer, lets say 6db softer..,
., then the signal woulddnt go from +4db to -7db but from -2db to -13db., and this fits inside the top of 0db.,
so in this case you made extra head-room for your signal by making it 6db less loud.,
the actual headroom of your signal is -2db, because that is it's top compared to the 0db top.,
that's headroom and making headroom and giving headroom.,
btw. on analog mixers headroom is something similar but a bit different..
i HOPE you understand my brabble., (if you dont then it's my fault cause i'm a bit sleepy now)
grts,
aka., |
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jon
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Mar 8, 2004 00:43
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Quote:
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the problem is also that some meters will show you the AVERAGE level of your track.,
this means that sometimes you see that the level is -3db on your meter but in fact it moved very fast from +4db to -7db. but a digital system cant have levels above 0db so everything above 0db will be clipped.
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yup it's true on some meters....
But luckily on cubase you get a little number which tells you the peak that the signal reached, as well as showing an average, so that takes away from the guesswork.
Sorry if I didnt make sense earlier.. I think ZilDoggo has clarified it?
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