Stereo Tool

Hi,

I've been looking at the Advanced Clipper and am wondering how best to only
have minimal (or prevent any) clipping of the final audio output.

I have been tweaking the [CLIPPER DRIVE (loudness)] value under the
Advanced Clipper section, to reduce the amplification, but I am not 100% sure
how best to set this, or if this is the best method to use.

As you can see from the below screenshots, when it is at a higher value
the sound waves crush up at the top of the output wave visualization screen,
see Loud screenshot
Does this means that clipping will be occurring?

And when I reduce the value the sound waves do not hit the top of the output
wave screen, see Quieter Screenshot.
Does this then mean less to no clipping is being performed?

Therefore, is it best to try and find a value where the sound waves are as high as
possible but not hitting the top of the wave visualization screen?


Note: I could not get the images to post, so have had to put links instead.

Loud Screenshot:
https://ibb.co/jHDtJHP

Quieter Screenshot:
https://ibb.co/n79vfv5

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Regards
Mark

_________________
Station host of Demoscene Radio station:
'CGM UKScene Radio'
www.lmp.d2g.com

For FM You cannot, and for FM, clipper is a must. For HD output just use Limiter, but also watch how much input you put in there.

_________________
control point
control point2

Hi Bojcha,

Thanks for your reply.

So with your reply in mind, that for FM the audio has to be clipped.

If I have a higher value for the 'Clipper Drive' setting i.e. louder as per my Loud Screen shot,
will this mean more clipping is being done?

Therefore would it be best to reduce it as per the Quieter screen shot, to reduce the amount
of clipping, or does it not matter how high or low I set the value, similar amounts of clipping will still occur?

_________________
Station host of Demoscene Radio station:
'CGM UKScene Radio'
www.lmp.d2g.com

AFAIK, it pretty much depends on your loudness target. While lowering the drive does in fact reduce clipping, it does so by reducing the volume of the peaks from the "max" -0db line, thus reducing your overall loudness.

There's a very basic loudness meter in Stereo Tool's main processing page beneath Levels, once you put it on a high enough Operating Mode (Advanced or higher) as found on the main Configuration page. The blue spaces on the left are 1db of loudness. So count the black spaces, and that's your approximate loudness; the far right side being -0db.

I like to aim for -14 because I listen to Spotify mostly, and that's their regular loudness target when normalization is on. But your circumstances may be different.

screenshot here viewtopic.php?f=14&t=30748&start=70#p67124