Clipping

[infkt]

alright this is kinda stupid but i guess if i don't ask i will never get it totally.

Sub/Amp clipping is the amp giving a bad signal to the sub right?

How does clipping happen as in what cause's it?

Example : does low voltage cause clipping?

and how do you tell if its clipping? does it sound like its distorting or metal hitting metal.

also i heard if you try and make your amp run at its max it will clip?

[sonic purity]

Clipping can happen on both the input and output. That is why they have a gain on the amp, to match a pre clipped input to the maximun out put of the amp. If you were to look at sound with an osilloscope you would see that music sweeps from plus to minus. Clipping occurs when the peaks on both minus and plus sides start to flatten out. When clipping occurs it just means your have reached the maximun ouput of the amp or signal before and it cannot still produce a linear wave. And yes it is audible.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...s%3Den%26sa%3DN

[infkt]

Ok, so its mostly with your gain if i read that right? so if my gain is all the way up (it will never be) clipping is most likely to occur.

[sonic purity]

Ok, so its mostly with your gain if i read that right? so if my gain is all the way up (it will never be) clipping is most likely to occur.

The purpose of the gain control is to match the output level of the rcas to the amp. If you turn the gain all the way up. Then you will have full power coming out of the at a about volume level 7. Some decks have a lower voltage than others, so the gain lets you set the amp so you can use the full spectrum of the volume control. For instance, if your decks volume goes from 0 to 40. the gain lets you match it so you can adjust the volume to around 30 before clipping occurs. The best way to set the gains is with a freq cd and a dmm. But if you dont have that available, the next way is to, turn the gain all the way down. set the volume knob to 3/4 volume. play some of your favorite music. turn the gain up till it starts to sound distorted. this will get you alot closer then guessing.

[Spl Guru]

An amplifier is said to be clipping when the output signal attempts to exceed the supply voltage. Since the supply voltage defines the absolute maximum peak output voltage from the amp, the signal will be clipped or 'cut off' if the input signal level is too high. For normal testing purposes, a sinewave is the most common test signal used, but this only tells part of the story.

A great deal of normal programme material is asymmetrical - it has peaks in one direction that are not duplicated in the other. Because of the signal processing used in the recording chain (including the microphone), the signal always has an effective long term DC level of zero volts, and no normal audio recorder or reproducer is expected to be able to handle a DC voltage. Short term deviations from the zero volts DC level are not uncommon, but can hardly be called 'DC' unless they are of long enough duration to cause a subsonic (in this case less than 1Hz) level shift.

Since it is very rare indeed that anything is recorded below about 16Hz, there is no apparent need for any reproducer to go any lower than that. The reality is that preamps and power amps will often have a -3dB frequency that is much lower than expected, with figures as low as 1Hz being common. I normally aim for around 7Hz in my designs, but even there you may find exceptions.

an Osc. showing a clipped sig.

*****Whoops, you got it already Sonic, sorry

[Torres]

bass boost can also cause distortion. not only gain. keep that in mind also.

[may03LT]

The volume and eq settings of the head unit can cause clipping too, the deck Im using clips at 60% volume