Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Digital Clipping

Hi folks,

This is a very simple question and approach on a very complex topic, but here goes:

Lots of popular recordings now have digital clipping from the way they were mastered. Now, this
1. Sounds like crap, and
2. Could damage speakers at high listening levels.

Is there any way (short of remastering everything I listen to that might have digital clipping) to fix this? Any product that might accept a spdif-in, do it's magic, and pass along the result to my receiver? (Or software that might do about the same?)

I know, in a sense, that when a recording has digital clipping some information has probably been lost, but is there any decent way to interpolate what was lost and make it 'good' (sounding decent and not damaging to speakers) again? Do tube amps help? (Looking for both theoretical and practical answers).

Thanks guys,
Mike

You might get some relief using a good, rack mount G/E/C/L (Gate/Expander/Compressor/Limiter)... at least it would ease in the peaks.

Bren R.

are you talking about some of the effects used in the recording to make it sound like-an old record-or a distortion effect on a voice? if you are,i would guess that what is recorded as -clipping- wouldnt damage your speakers because its not a true lack of power to the speakers,i dont think that it would have the same effect as amp clipping ...i hope im on the right track for what you meant by digital clipping...ron

I'll check that out, Bren.

Ron- I suppose where one would find this the most would be pop CDs mastered too 'hot'. Since it approximates a square wave I think it would be damaging to speakers at medium-high levels even if it's not a lack of amp power.

Mike

I believe what Raindance is referring to is true digital clipping, where part of a recorded CD or DVD PCM track reaches 0dBFS. Analog tape has headroom, which is the extra bit of amplitude between an average signal and where the magnetic particles on the tape become fully saturated. Digital recordings have no headroom - at any level past 0dB, the signal is hard clipped (or limited, if you will)... we hear this as noise.

This should never happen, of course, but with the proliferation of ProTools and musicians engineering their own audio ("turn up the good, turn down the suck!") and everyone looking to mix the wall of sound, it's happening more and more often.

Bren R.

Mike, if you haven't read this discussion and illustration of the problem, it's interesting. Since the clipping is inherent in the CD itself, the theoretical solution(really theoretical!) is to return them and demand that they be properly remastered. The practical solution(seems practical to me, anyway)is to do as I do and listen to only classical CDs, which don't play those games! It'll change your life.

John, your solutions made me smile.