Give me 60 seconds to explain Bass Boosts/Clipping

[Baydestrian]

on certain songs during a quick bass hit I will see a quick 1 sec flat spot in the lower freq...clipping correct?

Also, I want to note that a member on another forum did some clipping testing and found that most (if not all) of Timbaland's music is clipped. Ill see if I can find his write up.

[BigPimpin91]

(LOL, BigPimpn91 exceeded bandwidth so only my pictures are still up... but its a good read nonetheless)

PhotoBucket FTMFL.

[Colin - STAPUFT]

Lots of new music is clipped- straight from the damn CD! They turn the level up until they get the loudness they are after and seem to think that a certain level of clipping is accecptable.

It kills the music's ability to be dynamic. Meaning very quiet to very loud (without clipping). Get a good test cd or even a well produced classical cd and you will be able to tell.

Go here:

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/technical%20downloads.html

and scroll to the bottom of the page. Download the sound files and play them in your ride. The Train Car will give the subs a work out and the Fireworks track will blow you away. Real music / sound recorded by people who understand audio.

And if you see these (or anything from SHEFFIELD LAB) anywhere:

http://www.rockian.com.au/shef/sl0037.htm

http://www.rockian.com.au/shef/sl0508.htm

buy them.

[OrionStang]

i used Audacity to make the song

and Windows Media Player to view it

google both and u'll find em

How do you import a song from i-tunes to media player and once its there, how do you view the oscope?

[Squijee]

How do you import a song from i-tunes to media player and once its there, how do you view the oscope?

If the song from itunes is in aac format then u to get the plug in for wmp to play it

here's link with more info explaining it http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/ho...y_aac_files.cfm

[Bumpin Taurus]

This is not about remote gain knobs... which adjust the input sensitivity (which affects all frequencies played thru amp)

This is about bass boost knobs/or boosting on programs like audacity at a specified frequency

It is imperative in my opinion when you download/acquire new music to use an audio playback program that has an Osciloscope as a visualization option, like Windows Media Player

This is My version of Gorilla Zoe - Money Man... the same section of the song repeated each time

It will be played with no boost, then +3, then +6, then +12 and finally +18 at 32hz (i just picked a random number near the peak)

If you have a bass knob with an adjustable frequency option this is the same as turning the frequency to 30ish and slowly turning the knob up from zero to max (usually 0-12db or 0-18db)

The objective is to SEE the consequences of incorrectly setting gains with a bass knob, or playing music boosted by a dj (like on free mixtape websites)

I will go more into detail if need be, but I get ALOT of PMs asking whether a song is clipped or not and I want others to be able to pick it out visually for themselves, so that when they play it in their car knowing it is clipped, they then can associate the "look" with the "sound" of clipping... and hopefully eliminate the problems that arise from overdriving your amp(s) and sub(s) from clipping both by music choice and using a bass knob

Enjoy... if you want to view it on ur own computer screen, pm me for a link so u can also hear the distortion

(my camera takes 60 second vids, so the original song plays for ~5 seconds, then every ~15 seconds it fades out into the next step of boosting)

*New New Video w/better frame rate and w/sound*

As you can see the first ~5 seconds is my version playing, unboosted

Next is +3... which is almost unnoticeable (this is where i draw the line in my songs when it comes to how visually clipped it is)

Next is +6... it begins to be obvious especially on the lower note that there are some flat spots, and audibly u can start to hear cracklin/muddyness

Next is +12. is obvious clipping, it sounds like crap... and this amount of clipping could kill an amp fast, a overdriven sub even faster

Last is +18.. I can't listen to this section more than 2% volume because it sounds so bad... this type of clipping will destroy anything in its path.... this amount is common with Gucci, Rick Ross, Waka Flocka, Lil Wayne.... alot of mainstream artists we all listen to... so be careful and be aware of what u are playing

Id be glad to answer any more questions... a while ago Bigpimpn91 went in-depth in THIS THREAD... I contributed some info as well

(LOL, BigPimpn91 exceeded bandwidth so only my pictures are still up... but its a good read nonetheless)

My internet sucks and I can't watch the video. When do I know that a song is clipped? Does the scope line go flat or something?

[Decaf]

pulled from the How to Tell a Song is Clipping thread

so long as we can agree that a bass knob is an eq at a specified frequency... then when i add boost with the graphic equalizer its the same as the bass knob... but instead of a centered 45hz boost... i boosted at 31... the affect will be the same

this is with just 6db bass boost at 31hz with a peak note of 39hz... so the boost isnt even affecting it as much as if the boost was at 39hz(which is what i did using audacity)

again... but 12db boost.... this is a horrendous distortion

t-rock - maryjane..... classic clipped song... viewed on windows media player osciloscope

u can see how the mids and highs "ride" the bass wave and if the bass wave is too big the mids and highs are lost outside of the data range, which we hear as distortion (cracklin-muddyness-of-paper smakin-n-screechn-ur-eye blinkin ouch sound-please turn it down-ness)

[Bumpin Taurus]

pulled from the How to Tell a Song is Clipping thread

so long as we can agree that a bass knob is an eq at a specified frequency... then when i add boost with the graphic equalizer its the same as the bass knob... but instead of a centered 45hz boost... i boosted at 31... the affect will be the same

this is with just 6db bass boost at 31hz with a peak note of 39hz... so the boost isnt even affecting it as much as if the boost was at 39hz(which is what i did using audacity)

again... but 12db boost.... this is a horrendous distortion

t-rock - maryjane..... classic clipped song... viewed on windows media player osciloscope

u can see how the mids and highs "ride" the bass wave and if the bass wave is too big the mids and highs are lost outside of the data range, which we hear as distortion (cracklin-muddyness-of-paper smakin-n-screechn-ur-eye blinkin ouch sound-please turn it down-ness)

Yay! So far so good for my music. Even some of my LiL Wayne stuff. BUT, I might be clipping in my car anyway. I was just reading and if your clipping your subs might smell? I think mine do. And my amp was extremely hot today. I was playing all day, but still I could barely touch the top of it. I have the bass eq at 5 db, and the gain on the amp like half way up.

Fudge, nevermind, most of my music isn't clipped at 0 boost. But I switched the 31 and 62 hz to 5 which is what I have my bass eq at, and there is a lot of clipping

NO! Way too many of my songs seem to be clipped. I'll just have to back down my bass eq. My gain should be ok half way up though right? And my subs should be ok still right? I've only had them and the amp for 2 weeks.

[audiofanaticz]

Good post.

I just want to add that if you are using WMP for the scope, PLEASE disengage the wmp eq.

Depending on the eq's settings, you can easily clip out a song that has no clipping and give you a false reading. So having it off, or flat is in your best bet.

[Decaf]

Good post.

I just want to add that if you are using WMP for the scope, PLEASE disengage the wmp eq.

Depending on the eq's settings, you can easily clip out a song that has no clipping and give you a false reading. So having it off, or flat is in your best bet.

yes^^ i used it in my example to prove that exact point

i could have gone thru audacity and spliced together each boost of 3db but i just did it with the graphic eq on wmp since it will produce the same outcome

taurus, leave the boost off, completly... make sure ur headunit is clippin too before the signal even gets to the amp

u should always be able to touch ur amps, even in az in the summer... they should never be that hot

low voltage makes the amp draw more amperage, which creates more heat, add in distortion and u have stinky subs and hot fried amps