As Julian recently suggested, a good clipper is an incredibly helpful tool to have in your locker when it comes to the dynamic shaping of drums and other transient-heavy sounds, whether placed before a limiter in the chain or used on its own. Here are half a dozen software clippers that will certainly get the job done, each in its own particular way.
Kazrog KClip 3
A firm favourite of pro engineers the world over, Kazrog’s self-proclaimed “industry standard” plugin is geared up for supremely transparent clipping with independent online/offline oversampling up to 32x, and an adjustable threshold all the way down to -48dB, but also offers a spectrum of other distortion and saturation flavours thanks to its eight clipping modes – Smooth, Crisp, Tube, Tape, Guitar Amp, etc.
Uniquely, KClip 3 features up to four discrete processing bands, too, each with its own clipping mode selection, making it possible to, say, focus on the snare in a drum mix without also affecting the kick, as well as mid-side processing, LUFS metering for loudness targeting, and a Delta function for listening to only the altered (clipped) signal. It’s a brilliant and effective option at a no-brainer price, although there’s a free version for the truly thrifty, which does away with the multiband stuff and mid-side processing, and only has a single clipping mode, amongst other reductions.
Boz Digital Labs Big Clipper 2
Another hybrid distortion effect, Boz Millar’s tightly conceived plugin combines a clipper and a tube saturation stage, and puts an emphasis on creative processing as well as general purpose clipping. Big Clipper 2’s two stages can be routed in series or parallel, or divided at an adjustable crossover frequency, with the Clipper on the low band and the tube up top; and asymmetric distortion is enabled by the Top and Bottom knobs (adjusting the shapes of the top and bottom of the waveform), and the Bias slider, which ‘tilts’ the drive amount in either direction. The Heft Frequency parameter, meanwhile, sets a frequency (20Hz-1kHz) below which a distortion threshold can be set – just the thing for keeping things under control in the low end. It’s all very easy to understand and use, and the ability to freely blend analogue-style saturation with clipping is artistically empowering.
Waves Infected Mushroom Pusher
Waves’ plugin collaboration with EDM giants Infected Mushroom is an enhancer effect aimed at anyone looking to get their tracks sounding main room-ready with minimal effort. To that end, alongside three bands of macro-driven (ie, one knob per band governing a variable combination of compression, EQ and harmonic synthesis) sonic betterment, and the broadband Magic section, the Push knob establishes an input threshold for limiting or – to get to the point! – clipping. Here, the waveshaping in question is edgy and full-on, and works really well within the aggregate multi-effect or as a solo processor in its own right.
Voxengo OVC-128
When Voxengo describe their keenly priced clipper as “massively oversampled”, they’re not kidding: with 128x linear-phase oversampling, OVC-128 internally samples a 44.1kHz input at – crivens! – 5.6MHz! If that doesn’t satisfy you in terms of aliasing reduction, then perhaps digital audio just isn’t for you.
The workflow is as pared-back as it gets, with just four front panel controls to deal with: Input and Output Gain, delta monitoring (‘Residue’) and Hardness, which runs from soft clipping at 0 to hard at 100. However, hidden away in a pop-up are three further knobs for tweaking the meter integration, release and peak hold times, and there are loads of visual and other UI-related tweaks to be found in the Software Settings panel.
With the Hardness parameter used to tailor the aggression of the clipper, OVC-128 delivers a broad spectrum of flavouring and transient thickening, and sounds as ‘clean’ as any clipper we’ve heard. As expected, all that oversampling places a comparatively heavy tax on the host CPU, but that’s just the price you pay for this level of DSP quality.
Schwabe GoldClip
By far the most expensive plugin on our list, Ryan Schwabe’s multi-faceted effect passes the input signal through several distinct processes. First, Clipper simulates two Lavry mastering converters via three modes (Modern, Classic and Hard), while the Boxtone linear phase EQ mimics the same hardware’s high-frequency (1kHz+) response curve, and the Gold compressor applies its saturation styling in the form of instantaneous compression, for loudness-boosting gain reduction without any envelope activity. At the same time, the Alchemy processor works along similar lines to tape saturation, applying up to 1dB of post-clipping gain reduction to peaks in the mid and high frequencies. And on top of that, you get separate dry and wet level controls, A/B comparison, delta monitoring, and the handy Clip Clock function, which pinpoints the exact point on the timeline at which the maximum amount of clipping occurs, so you can pull it back accordingly if required.
GoldClip has only been out for a few weeks, but it’s already turning well-known heads with its authentic-sounding Lavry converter clipping simulation and tape-style warmifying. As mentioned, it ain’t cheap, but if the demo convinces you, you can get it at a $50 discount until July 12.
SIR Audio Tools StandardClip
Standard by name, standard by nature, as SIR’s eight-year-old plugin rightly holds a position among the most popular clippers on the market. Oversampling clocks in at up to a frankly ridiculous (and utterly CPU-slaying) 256x, and three core modes cater to hard clipping and two soft clipping styles – Classic and Pro, the latter acting sort of like a cross between a clipper and a compressor. Excellent visual feedback is provided by the input/output meters, transfer function plot and waveform display, and you can even tweak the oversampling filter type (linear or minimum phase), cutoff frequency and kernel size. Yikes!
Perhaps a little more scientific and ‘involved’ than its rivals, StandardClip is a veritable powerhouse of quality clipping, and a bone fide bargain to boot.
Tell us about your clipper of choice in the comments.