
However, there are plugins available on the market. This is something that only happens authentically within the analog world. It typically offers a far more pleasing sound, helping audio to retain punch whilst adding warmth. Whilst it is still a form of distortion, we tend to refer to its audible phenomenon as saturation. This is going to apply lots of nasty, harmonic content that is sure to destroy your recordings. If you’re recording an orchestra, chances are you don’t want your recording levels to be anywhere near the top end of your preamps. The important consideration here is understanding what you’re trying to achieve. Being able to heavily distort a vocal for stylistic effect or destroy a drum kit for the purposes of layering and adding aggression is something many of us might want to do. Just think, where would electric guitar tone be at today without hard clipping? Equally, it’s sometimes the exact effect you might be looking for. Now, this isn’t to say it’s something that we want to avoid at all costs. Equally, by not exceeding the voltage load within your preamps, you won’t hard clip their output. By keeping your master fader below 0dB, you prevent digital hard clipping. Avoiding it is simple, don’t overload the capabilities of your system. It offers loudness and aggression but also the most audible breakdown of the signal. Hard clipping is what we typically associate with distortion. Whilst limiting can be considered a form of clipping, there are really only two forms of audible wave destruction. Any form of distortion or saturation can be attributed to audio clipping. Any signal that is amplified above this will be truncated and rounded down. Using 16-bit, we can allocate up to 32,767 positive values. In the digital world, the bit-depth of your session will dictate its maximum load. In the analog world, this is typically measured in voltage and occurs within the circuitry of your hardware.

It occurs when an amplifier exceeds the capabilities of its maximum load.

Simply put, clipping is a form of audio wave destruction. As recording engineers or recording artists, there is a very high likelihood that you’ve encounter clipping before.
