Clipping woes
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Posted on Oct 10, 2003 09:44 am
Tadpui
I am not a crook's head
Member Since: Mar 14, 2003
I'm having problems with my songs clipping after I get a few tracks laid down. I can set the tracks' volume sliders to where they sound right relative to each other and all is well...until (for instance) the bass drum, 2 guitars and 2 vocals all hit some note at the same time and then the clip indicator comes on. It's like it's overloading only certain frequencies because none of the individual tracks clip when I solo them. It only clips when they're played together. It seems to me that there's some sort of additive effect when multiple tracks all hit the same frequency at the same time.
I don't really like the idea of attenuating the signals to fix this. Can I fix it with EQ?
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Oct 10, 2003 09:49 am This is one of the issues I have with digital as opposed to analog.
With analog, as long as no single track clips, you can mix many together and none will clip...generally....with digital it's has a cumulative effect, which is really a drag at time, as we all struggle with this from time to time I am sure, I know I do.
Generally what I do is get it as close as I can to not clipping, then throw a limiter on the main out bus in the app. It works pretty well. At times even a miximizer like the Waves L1 will work very well too...
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Oct 10, 2003 09:53 am Phew! At least I'm not the only one :)
What I've done so far is just like you said: when I mix the tracks down to 1 .wav file, I put a hard limiter on it to at least keep the overall signal below 0. I can't really hear any of what I know "clipping" to sound like after this...is there any drawback to this approach? Is it OK for the signal to clip as long as it is limited at mix down?
Thanks DB!
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Oct 10, 2003 09:54 am Yeah, I'm finding that to be the case too with PC recording. Without using a limiter at the end it's nearly impossible to get a strong sounding mix without clipping. With analog it was no big deal for the occasional blip of the red light and I found it much easier to mix tracks and keep a good volume through the process. :)
Dan
Oct 10, 2003 09:58 am Ya, analog has a way better sense of humor about clipping than digital...
Oh, and no clipping is never good, you should stop it while mixing down, not after...
brockMember
Since: Jun 28, 2002
Oct 10, 2003 02:32 pm i just turn down my main bus whats wrong with dat? should i be doing this?
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Oct 10, 2003 02:45 pm I always have my individual tracks peak at about -3db, so they never clip, it's only in mixing that I start getting the problems. As I start to do some songs that have a wider dynamic range I'll probably have to start using compression/limiting to avoid clipping then on the individual tracks. :)
brock: My experience in just using the main to cut the signal below clipping is that the overall mix loses it's punch and clarity. I do use that but I never cut more than about 3db. IMO if you have to go more than that the mix feeding it is too hot. But that could just be a carry over from my analog days when lowering the main too much could add it's own distortion, much like overdriving an amp.
Dan
MinkusMazBane of All ExistenceMember
Since: Mar 27, 2003
Oct 10, 2003 02:56 pm yeah i just turn down the main bus too. that seemed to be the best thing to do to give the mix the headroom it needs. with these digital audio programs, isn't there just a brickwall limiter when it gets to the point where it "clips"? seems like you'd actually lose that punch when you let the transients get chopped off like that. i always thought that you try to get as clean of a mix as possible, and save the manipulation of the final cut for a mastering session. if it's too quiet, turn up your monitors :-)
Oct 10, 2003 10:15 pm Yeah, I turn down the main bus to keep it from clipping-- Then maxamize and compress in the premaster stage :)
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Oct 11, 2003 08:03 am ditto.
btw: in most DAW programs, the internal resolution will be running at 32bit which means even if red lights are starting to come on in the master bus, the physical signal you are hearing is not clipping.
jues.
