Clipper (soft and hard)

What it is and how it works

A clipper limits peaks by directly cutting the waveform beyond a threshold, with no attack and release times. It acts on each individual sample, so it is instantaneous: it doesn't pump, doesn't "breathe", doesn't change the balance between hits the way a compressor or limiter does. In exchange it adds distortion (harmonics), more so the more peaks you cut.

• Hard clip: sharp, flat cut. Strong odd harmonics, aggressive sound. On very short peaks (1–3 ms transients) the distortion is almost inaudible.
• Soft clip: rounded curve before the threshold (knee). Softer, more "saturation". Fruity Soft Clipper uses soft-knee compression above the threshold: a little adds warmth, too much distorts.

Why use it: drum transients are very high, very brief peaks that consume headroom without contributing to loudness. Removing 1–3 dB of peaks with a clipper lets you raise the average level, and the final limiter works less and better (less pumping). It is a standard technique in hip hop, trap, EDM and modern pop.

Parameters one by one

• Threshold / Ceiling / Input gain: where it cuts. In many clippers you push the input against a fixed ceiling.
• Knee / Softness / Shape: from hard to soft. Intermediate values are the most used.
• Oversampling: 4–16×. Without oversampling the clipping generates aliasing; with oversampling the peaks between samples (inter-sample) are handled better. Note: after the downsampling filter, a clipper with oversampling can produce small overshoots of the threshold: put a true peak limiter after it.
• Output: compensation, for comparing at matched volume.
• Mix: some clippers allow parallel.
• Clip only / Delta: listen only to what is removed: it should be a rhythmic "tick", not recognizable music.

Tools

• FL Studio stock: Fruity Soft Clipper (Threshold, Post gain, displayed curve; the manual presents it as protection from clipping where a little saturation is acceptable, and suggests Fruity Limiter for more transparent protection); Emphasis (mastering limiter with a clipping stage whose hardness is set with Hardness from 0 = clean to 9 = hard clipping, followed by a brickwall and true peak limiter); Fruity Limiter (SAT control for saturation before the ceiling); Distructor (Soft Clipper); Fruity WaveShaper (flat curve = hard clip).
• Third party: Kazrog KClip, Venn Audio Free Clip (free), Newfangled Audio Saturate, Boz Little Clipper, iZotope Ozone (Maximizer with modes that include clipping), StandardCLIP, Tokyo Dawn Limiter (modes), Ableton Saturator (Analog Clip / Digital Clip).
• Clipping in the converter: some engineers send the master to a pushed A/D converter; not necessary in modern digital.

Where to put it

• Single elements: snare, clap, kick (after transient shaper and compressor), 808 (soft clip for density).
• Drum bus: 1–3 dB of peaks cut.
• 808 + kick bus: clipper after the sidechain to make the low end "one block".
• Master: before the limiter (1–2 dB), so the limiter works 1–3 dB instead of 4–6.
• Never as the only loudness tool if the result audibly distorts.

Starting settings

By genre

• Trap, drill, rage, phonk: clipper on 808 and drums almost mandatory; very loud master (−7/−5 LUFS) obtained with clip + limiter.
• EDM, big room, hardstyle: clipper on the master and on drum buses; hardstyle kick often with distortion/clip as the sound.
• Pop: light clipper on drums and master.
• Rock and metal: clipper on the drum bus and master, in moderation.
• Jazz, acoustic, orchestral: almost never.

Common mistakes

• Clipper on long peaks (basses, vocals): the distortion becomes audible and dirty.
• Cumulative clipping: clipper on every track + bus + master = "scratched" mix.
• No oversampling: aliasing and harsh highs.
• Ignoring the true peak: after a clipper with oversampling, true peaks can exceed the threshold by a few tenths: you need a final true peak limiter.
• Comparing at different volumes: the clipper raises loudness and always "wins".

How to hear it

• Turn on the difference listening (Delta in Emphasis or in many clippers): you should hear only a slight "tick" on the hits. If you recognize voice or melody, you are cutting too much.
• Push the clipper to 6 dB on a drum bus, then back off until the distortion disappears: that point, minus 1 dB, is a good value.