Input Clipping Thread

AxeManDan said:
So what I don’t understand is have we all been unknowingly clipping all these years yet have enjoyed the glorious tone of Fractal? Something doesn’t seem right.
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I can field this one. The answer is yes you have, but only because you didn't know any better. To the untrained ear you'd think the clipping tone is just an effect of using a digital Preamp/FX Processor. Adjust it down and you'll hear a clear, marked difference and finally find out what the Axe FX sounds like.

To be fair, the documentation on this is nearly non-existent, and IMO the wiki should get updated with a thorough rundown from Cliff and co.. Too much bro science in the forums.
 
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I've always been surprised when asking clients where they set their 'Input 1 / Instrument' A/D trim, And finding out that they have no idea what I am talking about. It's literally one of the first things that you are supposed to do when you get your unit.;)

It has been the best way to easily get a general feel for where their pickup output stacks up to mine. So that I can advise which 'Pickup Output' versions of my presets to try first. Or how to handle the gain/volume levels when working on a personal custom preset job when a dry 'DI' clip from the client is not provided.

The pick material, thickness, and the player's picking strength can greatly affect the ratio between the 'transients and the sustained output levels', and thusly, the Clip indication point. But hopefully the addition of the 'Clip Warning' message should take out most of the guess work.

I had my 'Input 1 / Instrument' parameter set to 7.5% since I got my Axe-Fx III. Any higher and I could hear a slight crackle on really clean tones when I really dug in. I tried out the beta firmware and thought that I could set it to 10%. But after some real-world testing, I had to take it back down to 7.5% to get the message to stop popping up. It turns out that barely 'Tickling the Reds' was pretty accurate after all.:)
 
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JoeCollege said:
I can field this one. The answer is yes you have, but only because you didn't know any better. To the untrained ear you'd think the clipping tone is just an effect of using a digital Preamp/FX Processor. Adjust it down and you'll hear a clear, marked difference and finally find out what the Axe FX sounds like.

To be fair, the documentation on this is nearly non-existent, and IMO the wiki should get updated with more solid info from Cliff and company. Too much bro science/links to forum pages from non-devs in there.
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I’m not a rookie here and I do know better. I have used Fractal since the Ultra days and know what digital clipping sounds like and what the Axe FX sounds like.
 
AxeManDan said:
I’m not a rookie here and I do know better. I have used Fractal since the Ultra days and know what digital clipping sounds like and what the Axe FX sounds like.
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I've had it go unnoticed at times I think mainly because it is more subtle than output clipping and easily gets buried in with distortion where it's not noticeable. I tend to pick up on it only with pristine cleans which I do not do a lot of. Also, it tends to be very fast transient based outside of extreme scenarios. Output clipping on the other hand sticks out like a sore thumb to my ear, even in distorted tones.
 
My guitars are not triggering the clipping message. I mostly use Suhr Aldrich or JB pickups, I play using a wireless though so maybe that lowers the input signal.
 
AxeManDan said:
I’m not a rookie here and I do know better. I have used Fractal since the Ultra days and know what digital clipping sounds like and what the Axe FX sounds like.
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I feel like I struck a nerve? To clarify, I'm not calling you an idiot, it happened to me too lol. It's on the input side, not the output side, so it sounds different than the kind of clipping you're probably thinking of.
 
AxeManDan said:
I’m not a rookie here and I do know better. I have used Fractal since the Ultra days and know what digital clipping sounds like and what the Axe FX sounds like.
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It’s not the ugly digital clipping like when you cross 0 dBFS. There is a limiter afaik so it sounds more like your input signal is compressed. To me, it sounds like a cloudy low mid thing.
 
sprint said:
I've had it go unnoticed at times I think mainly because it is more subtle than output clipping and easily gets buried in with distortion where it's not noticeable. I tend to pick up on it only with pristine cleans which I do not do a lot of. Also, it tends to be very fast transient based outside of extreme scenarios. Output clipping on the other hand sticks out like a sore thumb to my ear, even in distorted tones.
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This! ☝️ - Also, if you have set it after "tickling the red", but still get the warning, the clipping probably only happens on the 1 - 0.5% part of your already very dynamic (loudest) signal, very hard to decipher in an overdrive signal. Remember, a pup, especially a passive one, can be EXTREMELY dynamic.

This kind of clipping will most likely not even affect your tone. That being said, one should always try to avoid digital clipping.
 
sprint said:
lol! it's like a traffic accident - you can't help looking
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The thing is there is some good stuff in here, however some seem hung up on things that you just need to not worry so much about and fix it if needed then move on. Clipping is bad no matter where in the digital domain it happens, unless it is virtual or emulated clipping like a clipper plugin that smoothes the transients like in the analog domain. Even hard limiting where you square a peak is not a great way to start your digital chain, IMO, and from experience of course. Even if you don't notice it. I know you still have shedloads of headroom, but clipping/flattening the peaks softens the attack.
 
Reduced the input a/d to 16% my highest output guitar, and thought that would be all good. But then I just tried a little slappin' and poppin' on bass, and to tame that beast I had to go down to like 3%. That does seem crazy low and less then ideal, but maybe it's fine?
 
For me, the input clip meter is the big winner in this update. Dyna-Can and I aren't quite getting on just yet, but the dynamics are so much better now that I am not clipping being compressed to avoid clipping.

FYI - so far the highest output guitar I have tried is my Aristides 020, JB bridge - A/D input at 4% to avoid clipping being compressed to avoid clipping.. Playing my EBMM Albert Lee HH now.
 
ProfEmerald said:
For me, the input clip meter is the big winner in this update. Dyna-Can and I aren't quite getting on just yet, but the dynamics are so much better now that I am not clipping being compressed to avoid clipping.

FYI - so far the highest output guitar I have tried is my Aristides 020, JB bridge - A/D input at 4% to avoid clipping being compressed to avoid clipping.. Playing my EBMM Albert Lee HH now.
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Dyna-Can wasn't a typo. It is a project I am working on where you open a can of beer and you can dial in the body, ABV, hoppiness etc.

It is pretty advanced, you probably wouldn't understand.

Or I meant Dyna-Cab. Something.
 
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