Mixdown Clipping

Linchpin

Linchpin

New member
I've used this porgram for a while now and have been trying to figure out how you get the loudest mixdown possible without clipping. It seems like every time I mixdown there's at least one part of the track that's clipping and distorting. I usually end up bringing all tracks down -1 in volume until it's safe throughout. There has to be a better method.

If anyone could help me it'd be great, but you're going to tell me to hard limit, don't bother, because hard limiting is for assholes.
 
Linchpin said:
I've used this porgram for a while now and have been trying to figure out how you get the loudest mixdown possible without clipping. It seems like every time I mixdown there's at least one part of the track that's clipping and distorting. I usually end up bringing all tracks down -1 in volume until it's safe throughout. There has to be a better method.

If anyone could help me it'd be great, but you're going to tell me to hard limit, don't bother, because hard limiting is for assholes.
Click to expand...

You could always hard limit but then again I am an asshole.
 
Basic Mastering

your work is not complete with the Mixdown command.
All you want after mixdown is all the trax where you want them in the mix.

After that you can go to

Effects > Amplitude > Dynamics Processing >

and try thr RealAudio compander effect.

That will do a quick compression

Then

Effects > Amplitude > Amplify and use eg: 3db Boost.
 
Hevy's method will work, but the more compression you go through, the lesser quality your audio sounds...

I'd recomend "Normalization" in areas that get clipped.

It's a painful process but, you need to expand your waveform so you can edit it in a easier manner (like there's such a thing :rolleyes: ) Highlight ONLY the areas of the wave getting clipped (you'll have to do this one at a time) and go to Effects>Amplitude>Normalize and reduce those clipped area just enough so they don't get clipped.

CEP will naturally smooth the transitions in the waveform, so no worries there.

Have fun..lol.
 
COP: what's the difference between that and hard limiting? Isn't it more or less the same thing with a different name? Normalizing just makes sure the wave doesn't clip. Hard limiting makes sure the wave doesn't clip. What's the difference?
 
Every time I've tried hard limiting the result is a distorted mess. Isn't there some magical plug-in or program that will just safely max out your wav with the click of a mouse?
 
No.

You need at least two steps: compress the shit out of it and then normalize - that'll get it as loud as it'll go, pretty much.

It might sound crappy being so compressed, but it'll be loud. :D
 
dobro said:
COP: what's the difference between that and hard limiting? Isn't it more or less the same thing with a different name? Normalizing just makes sure the wave doesn't clip. Hard limiting makes sure the wave doesn't clip. What's the difference?
Click to expand...

The difference is, hard limiting compresses those areas that get clipped, and in doing so, leaves a small bubble of sound. That's why "hard limiting" generally leaves a distorted blurb over parts of your audio, which makes it sound dirty.

The only way I've found to avoid that, is by normalizing. Normalizing doesn't actually compress the sound file, it actually just lowers the overall volume of the highlighted wave. This ensures a much cleaner file.

I wish there was an easier way to go about this but, it is what it is...;)
 
Change of POETS said:
The difference is, hard limiting compresses those areas that get clipped, and in doing so, leaves a small bubble of sound. That's why "hard limiting" generally leaves a distorted blurb over parts of your audio, which makes it sound dirty.
Click to expand...

Hard limiting simply sets a limit, beyond which no sound will pass - and boosts the sound by the amount of your choosing. Normalizing changes the overall peak level of the file - essentially just raising it up or down.

This is all in the help file guys, it ain't that elusive. As far as getting it loud - compress! Then it can sound like all the other crap out there:).

Er, I mean... it'll sound "professional".

Chris
 
Okay, I'm looking at the original question...(regarding clipping on mixdown), and the answer to that one is easy. Turn down the master fader until the tune can play all the way through without a red light going off. If you're watching your meters, this isn't all that tough to accomplish.

Now, what you do with the file AFTER you've mixed down depends on how well you controlled the peaking before mixdown. If you have a file that has 90% of it at -20db, but one spike at -1 db, and you "normalize," then all it's gonna' do is bring up that spike (and the rest of the mix) by a whopping 1 db, which means 99% of your mix is gonna' be at -19db. Pretty whimpy.

Hard limiting is nothing to be scared of, but you have to make sure you use the correct input gain boost. Otherwise, yeah...you can squish the crap out of the mix, kill all the dynamics, and possibly get some other distortion in the process.

As far as a "magic plugin," there's not one, but they're getting closer. The Waves L2 has attack and release settings so fast that you can pretty much bring every single tone to within -.01db of clipping, without clipping. I personally hate that sound, but 90% of the "pro" mixes I've analyzed recently use it.

Incidentally, I'm no pro, but I've done a ton of reading lately on mastering, and if there's any general consensus, it would be that it's about a 4 stage process.

1. Limit the really big peaks;
2. Use multi-band (3 or 4) compression at a VERY moderate ratio of like 1.2:1 on the lows; 1.1:1 on the mids; and 1.5:1 on the highs.
3. EQ & DE-Ess to taste;
4. Hard Limit to finalize.

I don't think there's a magic formula, but every article I've read includes each of these steps at some point in the mastering process, so I'm just passing on what smarter people think they know.
 
Change of POETS said:
Hevy's method will work, but the more compression you go through, the lesser quality your audio sounds...

I'd recomend "Normalization" in areas that get clipped.
Click to expand...
And just so we're all on the same page here...if you've got a mixdown where stuff is already clipped, do another mixdown. You can't really "fix" a clipped mix, b/c once those frequencies are hacked off during mixdown, they're gone forever, even if you can get away from the digital *POP* that happens with clipping. There's no reason why any of your mix should be clipped right after you hit "mixdown." Again, it sounds like you're going through and manually bringing down all the tracks by 1db or something until it doesn't clip, but that seems like a huge pain in the ass...just pull down the MASTER FADER until there's no clipping.

REPEAT: THERE IS NO REASON WHY YOUR MIXDOWN FILE SHOULD BE CLIPPED AT ALL EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

:D
 
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