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-- how accurate is the clipper in cubase sx 2 ??

how accurate is the clipper in cubase sx 2 ??

hi to everyone. i was just wondering this as im mixing down my tracks and even though all the levels sound right in my ears and everythings running soothly (no red light) the red clipping light will come on and im having to make adjustments etc even though im sure everything fine???

just wondering how accurate the clipper is and should i be using another piece of software???

also is it ok for say,on my build up,for it to clip for a few sounds etc and then go back to normal or is that still a no go??

thanks.

the indication should display every clipping. though clipping doesn't really mean you can hear bad distortion/crackles. usually very short peaks which clip aren't hearbale. but anyway the usual way to work is with a limiter on the master channel which prevents clipping..

ok thanks will look into.

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Originally posted by thecYrus the indication should display every clipping. though clipping doesn't really mean you can hear bad distortion/crackles. usually very short peaks which clip aren't hearbale. but anyway the usual way to work is with a limiter on the master channel which prevents clipping..

you dont want to have a limiter on the master if your planning on mastering it though. limiting twice will overdo it.

i use sx3 just pull everything down so the master peaks at -2 or -3db. i do this. sounds a abit shitty but once its mastered the rewards are great.

yeah thats whats happening now, everything sound a bit dodgy...ive also mix with my master knob at 0db and then mixed everything so it peaks at -3db or do you mean the master knob should be at at - 3db?

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Originally posted by themonkeylover yeah thats whats happening now, everything sound a bit dodgy...ive also mix with my master knob at 0db and then mixed everything so it peaks at -3db or do you mean the master knob should be at at - 3db?

the master channel should peak at -2 or -3

your individual channels can vary but my kick and bass are the loudest then i fit everything around them.

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Originally posted by sterilis you dont want to have a limiter on the master if your planning on mastering it though. limiting twice will overdo it. i use sx3 just pull everything down so the master peaks at -2 or -3db. i do this. sounds a abit shitty but once its mastered the rewards are great.

you shouldn't use a limiter to push a tune to its limit. seems like everyone wants to over do it. why shouldn't it be possible to use it only to stop the clipping? set input gain to 0db and output around -0.2db - it won't sound different it will just stop clipping..

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Originally posted by thecYrus you shouldn't use a limiter to push a tune to its limit. seems like everyone wants to over do it. why shouldn't it be possible to use it only to stop the clipping? set input gain to 0db and output around -0.2db - it won't sound different it will just stop clipping..

its not really stopping it though its just hiding it. its better to have all channels set so that theres no clipping in the master then use your limiter sounds far cleaner.

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Originally posted by sterilis its not really stopping it though its just hiding it. its better to have all channels set so that theres no clipping in the master then use your limiter sounds far cleaner.

Surely it depends what is clipping? If all your bass is peaking over 0dB then limiting it is obviously gonna turn it into a farty mess, but if its only a few very short little peaks on the attacks of some layered percussion or something then theres nothing wrong with using a limiter to limit them.

Also, if your overall volume sounds very low even if you're close to 0dB, you can use compression, over individual sounds and/or buses, to help increase your RMS a bit more subtly than a limiter would...

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Originally posted by Sanguis Mortuum Surely it depends what is clipping? If all your bass is peaking over 0dB then limiting it is obviously gonna turn it into a farty mess, but if its only a few very short little peaks on the attacks of some layered percussion or something then theres nothing wrong with using a limiter to limit them. Also, if your overall volume sounds very low even if you're close to 0dB, you can use compression, over individual sounds and/or buses, to help increase your RMS a bit more subtly than a limiter would...

his problem isnt to do with low sounding at 0db though and as he said with the limiter on it the master it sounds dodgy. so better than nothing peaks over 0db to be on the safe side.

Another thing to understand is what criterion must be met for the clip indicator to light.

Multiple consecutive samples that clip, or only 1. If the number of consecutive clips is a small number, its likely you won't be able to hear it.

Roger Nichols Digital has a free plug-in INSPECTOR that you can set all of the clip criterion on. Its free, check it out.
http://www.kaosaudio.com/roger-nich...inspector-free/

thank for your help guys, i am using the compression for my kicks and baseline. it is helping a lot, especially the dave west guide he put up a while ago...im just considering weather to compress all my percussion, snares etc as well...is it wise to also compress the percussion??? and what setting shall i aim for (snare espcially)

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but if its only a few very short little peaks on the attacks of some layered percussion or something then theres nothing wrong with using a limiter to limit them.

thanks for the tip, am just wondering should i use the limiter for the whole channel or just activate it when the cliping takes place?? thanks for your help

Roger Nichols Digital has a free plug-in INSPECTOR that you can set all of the clip criterion on. Its free, check it out.
http://www.kaosaudio.com/roger-nich...inspector-free/ [/QUOTE]

and thanks for teh plug in, im just checking out the manual now.

Alright, here�s another spot where I can clear some things up with my SAE-based knowledge...

1.) The INTERNAL mixing of any DAW (I know for sure it is that way with Protools and Logic) does NOT CLIP ! This means, you can have whatever level you want on your individual tracks.

2.) A LIMITER does nothing else than limiting of peaks which results in the waveform getting more and more square-like. This adds overtones, which means that a digital limiter does the same thing then clipping does.
So drive them gently, otherwise you will ruin your work. The compression in mastering should be done by compressors, limiters should ONLY do the limiting, so if the red "active" led flashes every once in a while, thats perfectly ok.

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so if the red "active" led flashes every once in a while, thats perfectly ok.

brill news, happy days : )

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Originally posted by Johnny Cache a digital limiter does the same thing then clipping does.

No.

I am not talking about INPUT or OUPUT clipping on an AD/DA Converter

plus, I meant the active LED on the limiter that shows when gain reduction is made, not the LED on the master meter

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plus, I meant the active LED on the limiter that shows when gain reduction is made, not the LED on the master meter

bumma, back to the drawing broad.

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but if its only a few very short little peaks on the attacks of some layered percussion or something then theres nothing wrong with using a limiter to limit them.

thats exactly whats happening... so should i just activate the limiter (bypass) on the channel thats clipping for that short space of time or just keep the limiter on there throughout the track???

use your ears. If the limiter is used sparingly and used to capture the odd peak it should be fine. Just use your ears. Personally i would just turn down the individual channels and leave the 2buss compression/limiting to the mastering engineer.

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Originally posted by themonkeylover thats exactly whats happening... so should i just activate the limiter (bypass) on the channel thats clipping for that short space of time or just keep the limiter on there throughout the track???

keep it on through the whole track. otherwise you could hear some jumps in volume when switching. the limiter will leave anything untouched until the signal is over the threshold value.

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