When used carefully, a soft clipper plugin can be a really helpful addition to a mastering chain.
In this video I’m using a clipper to prevent the final limiter from overworking. I compare the free JS Softclipper, T-Racks Classic Clipper and LVC Audio Clipshifter. The differences are subtle but real (no tricks this time hahaha)!
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/trclassclipper/
http://lvcaudio.com/plugins/clipshifter/
http://www.twitter.com/reaperblog
http://www.facebook.com/thereaperblog
http://www.patreon.com/thereaperblog
Comments
3 responses to “Using a Clipper in Mastering”
Are soft clipping and limiting processed differently?
Hi, Nice video. One thing I wanted to mention is that the harmonics control on ClipShifter will impact the number of peaks that “escape” the plugin. At a setting of 1.0, the clipping is symmetrical on the positive and negative sides of the signal. As the harmonics control is decreased towards 0.0, there is less clipping on the negative side of the signal. This has the effect of adding even harmonics, but also lets some peaks escape.
Listening the whole movie on Sennheiser HD 650 headphones, i find the JS Clipper plugin gives the most pleasant sound to my ears.
Although perceived loudness is maybe less than when the other clipper plugins are used.
I don’t care. (most) Pleasure to listen too, that’s my most important guideline in listening and mixing./mastering my own productions.