Clipping
When a signal exceeds the maximum level, its waveform is flattened into distortion
Related
Clipping happens when a signal exceeds the maximum level a system can represent: the tops and bottoms of the waveform are sliced flat, turning a curve into something close to a square wave and adding heavy harmonic distortion. Digital clipping usually sounds harsh; analog clipping is softer and often used as tone.
Clipping does not only occur at 0 dBFS. True peaks between samples can sit above the sample peaks and overload the converter anyway, so mastering watches dBTP, not just sample peak. A limiter holds peaks under a threshold, but pushing it too hard flattens the sound and kills transients.
The usual mistake is to assume no red meter means no clipping. A sample-peak meter can miss inter-sample peaks, and once a waveform is clipped, lowering the level later cannot restore what was cut off.
Related → Headroom
Sources
- 削波与真峰值，参 Bob Katz, Mastering Audio 与 Huber & Runstein, Modern Recording Techniques；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.