What’s the difference?

When it comes to making tracks louder, limiters and clippers are the go-to tools to get the job done. Although they sometimes get used indistinctly, they are completely different processes that when used wrongly, can ruin any mix. That is why it’s important to understand what they are and how to use them in order to get the best out of them in your sessions. Let’s start from the beginning.

Clipping

The first thing we need to understand is the concept of clipping.

In the analog world, when an audio signal overloads the equipment, the signal starts getting distorted. This is because every device has a maximum level at which they can operate linearly. The moment a signal overpasses this limit, the equipment can not handle it correctly and the output waveform gets chopped, turning it into a square waveform and resulting in the addition of strong harmonic distortion. Under these conditions, we can say the signal is clipping.

As we covered in a previous article, part of the “magic” of analog audio devices is the addition of harmonics when they start saturating — also known as soft-clipping — which can enrich and thicken the sound of our tracks.

But, when we talk about digital clipping, things sound very different. When a signal clips in the digital domain, it has reached the maximum value that the computer can assign to that level. The computer cuts the waveform and starts adding unnatural anharmonic distortion through aliasing. That’s where the characteristic metallic digital clipping sound comes from and it should be avoided at all times when we are recording. When mixing, most of the time we can’t hear the digital clipping even when it’s shown in our metres. This is because most DAWs operate at 32 bit float which allows for an increased headroom during mixing.

With this concept in mind, you can probably guess what clippers are.

Clippers

Clippers are plug-ins or software that emulate the effect of clipping the audio signal in the analog domain. They can be used for the addition of harmonic content and bringing forward elements in the mix, but they can also prevent the signal from clipping in the DAW session. This is because the waveform of the audio will get chopped at the threshold (or ceiling point) of the plug-in and no audio will go above that point. This allows us to push the levels further without fear of getting any digital clipping. Although this is very handy, we must remember that it comes with a price: every time the signal will go over the threshold, more harmonics and saturation will be added to the mix which can become unpleasant when overdone.

Limiters

Limiters on the other hand are essentially compressors with a very high ratio and very fast attack. Instead of chopping the signal, they change the level of the audio content as it gets over the threshold of the device (or plug-in), reshaping the dynamics and envelope of the audio to avoid the signal going above the ceiling value. The fast properties of limiters can also produce harmonic distortion, but it tends to be less noticeable than distortion generated from clippers.

Limiter or Clipper?

When should we choose one over the other? The answer is simple — it depends.

If the objective is to avoid clipping and make the track louder, perhaps using a limiter is the safest option. This will allow you to bring your mix to a level where it is comparable with commercially released tracks, and give you an idea of how a mastered track could sound like.

If on the other hand you want to make your track — or an element in your mix — more exciting and loud without the fear of clipping digitally, use a clipper instead. Just be careful, overuse it and you risk losing all the dynamics and ending up with a squareform shape throughout your song.

It can also be interesting using clippers in your drums group track. By sawing off the higher transients, you will be limiting the dynamics of the drummer but also adding extra harmonic distortion and excitement to the rhythmic section.

Some mastering engineers use clippers and limiters in tandem. Adding a clipper right before the limiter to catch the higher peaks will confine the dynamic range of the track so the limiter will react in a more controlled way throughout the song, allowing you to bring up the volume even further if necessary.

Do you use limiters or clippers in your mixes? Do you combine them to get loud and exciting tracks? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to find out more music production tips and news from Sonimus products.