Clipping question

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wreckd504

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What level do the red lights on the meter bridge come on ? how much headroom is still left after we see a red clip light ?

Seems like a simple question, but I can't find the answer anywhere
 
wreckd504 said:
What level do the red lights on the meter bridge come on ? how much headroom is still left after we see a red clip light ?

Seems like a simple question, but I can't find the answer anywhere
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A clip means the signal has reached 0dB FS - so there is no head room. It actually is a clip meter, rather than a warning meter.





or at least, as far as I'm aware!
 
With digital, you clip when you run out of headroom. when the clip light comes on, it's too late.

BTW, there is no reason to be anywhere near clipping.
 
actually it varies believe it or not... while true with a digital board or pre it is 0fs and it's already too late... on alotta analog gear the manufacturers kinda hope to scare ya off so it's more like 1-2 db before actuall clip... but do your self a favor and stay away from it anyhow...
 
Another engineer told me that it lights up at -1db and last night at a session there were others saying it lights up at -0.5 .


From my experiences i have recorded vocals which have clipped badly during a take and yet when i analyse the file it peaked at -4db.

On a random note, i have also worked with a blind country music producer in tamworth and when bouncing down mixes he only liked it when there was plenty of red light action and when i backed it off he always said the track has lost energy and we had to do it again with red lights blazing
interesting

Is there a white paper on this? Just can't find it in the manual
 
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What you using? It is different for every device.

Most of the time ITB, the clip light will come on when you have 3 or more successive full scale samples. You can't go more than full scale, so the assumption is that if you have a bunch of them in a row, the original waveform actually went above the ceiling and therefore clipped.

The confusion comes in because every company defines a clip as something different. Some are 3 samples, some are 10 samples, some may indicate early.

From my experiences i have recorded vocals which have clipped badly during a take and yet when i analyse the file it peaked at -4db.
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Clipped what? Since you are in the Protools forum, I'm assuming you are talking about ITB clip lights. If you are talking about the clip indicators on your preamp or mixing board, that is an entirely different ball of wax.

On a random note, i have also worked with a blind country music producer in tamworth and when bouncing down mixes he only liked it when there was plenty of red light action and when i backed it off he always said the track has lost energy and we had to do it again with red lights blazing
interesting
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He likes the sound of limiting. A lot of people do.
 
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