milesmiles Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 Before I get into things, let me clear up what I mean by clipping. Clipping in this case is: NOT: Mechanical/Speaker cone clipping NOT: Clipping from the amplifier YES: Clipping from the MP3 Sound source Basically, while browsing through my music library today (which consists of about 4000 songs), I discovered that many of them are clipped. Many are clipped on the bass, while many others are clipped on highs (i.e. snares or hats). (Most of the bassed-out rap I have, with sustained low frequencies, ironically, is not clipped). Upon further investigation I concluded that most of the tracks are not clipped for more than a few samples (a fraction of a second) at a time. Some songs may have a lot of clipping but there are not really any parts of the songs that feature sustained clipping. All in all, most of the music sounds fine, it's just that an analysis shows it as clipped. I don't usually push my stereo that hard, and when I do, it is only for about 10 or 15 minutes at a time. My question is, how bad are these files for my speakers? Should I be seriously worried about damaging my equipment? What tips do any of you have for alleviating any potential problems it may cause? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devil4u2c Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 It is not good, I mean as far as your speakers know clipping is clipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calvin_115 Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 It's bad if you have it on a really high volume for a long time (like a minute or two) I've been clipping my shit on purpose for 2 years now, still works. Just make sure to lower it once it smell it haha. Clipping won't sound good to an audiophile but it sounds loud to a basshead. Oh you can use Audacity to lower the gain of the clipped songs. It won't take out the clipping(as far as I know) but it will help slightly. Quote Mids/Highs: stock Bang & Olufsen Lows: Image Dynamics IDMax 12v.3 Power: Sony Xplod XM-D9001GTR:Knukonceptz 4 gauge Box: 1.75 cu/ft Sealed Past: Pioneer Premier TS-W1207 (2)/ Rockford Fosgate P210/ Image Dynamics ID10V.3/ Infinity Reference 311A/ Audiopipe AP-18001D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmalinich Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 At the source... it's not nearly as bad as clipped at the amp. You'll be fine. If your gains are set correctly.. regularly mastered music is totally fine. Only once in a while you come across a really badly mastered CD... like The Lonely Island's Incredibad, Metallica's Death Magnetic (there's a lot of debate over this album), or Nickelback's Dark Horse. Just a few I know. Or... if you let a guy on here by the name of deeemc in your car with his "special" CD....that'll hurt your system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decaf Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 It's bad if you have it on a really high volume for a long time (like a minute or two) I've been clipping my shit on purpose for 2 years now, still works. Just make sure to lower it once it smell it haha. Clipping won't sound good to an audiophile but it sounds loud to a basshead. Oh you can use Audacity to lower the gain of the clipped songs. It won't take out the clipping(as far as I know) but it will help slightly. wrong, maybe if ur subs are in ur trunk and u cant even hear ur the speaker itself movin ask someone with a wall behind their head if they can hear the subs getting sloppy from a clip... duh bro... its sounds inaccurate and muddy and is undesirable y would you go thru all the trouble to lower the gain on the song WHEN U CAN LOWER UR VOLUME KNOB, lol since u are lowering the gain u are affecting all notes, which is the same as a volume knob At the source... it's not nearly as bad as clipped at the amp. You'll be fine. If your gains are set correctly.. regularly mastered music is totally fine. Only once in a while you come across a really badly mastered CD... like The Lonely Island's Incredibad, Metallica's Death Magnetic (there's a lot of debate over this album), or Nickelback's Dark Horse. Just a few I know. Or... if you let a guy on here by the name of deeemc in your car with his "special" CD....that'll hurt your system. a clip is a clip is a clip... maybe i spend too much time listenin to rap/hiphop but i can pick it out usually without seein the wave... and i avoid it like a lez avoids dick.... lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmalinich Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 wrong, maybe if ur subs are in ur trunk and u cant even hear ur the speaker itself movin ask someone with a wall behind their head if they can hear the subs getting sloppy from a clip... duh bro... its sounds inaccurate and muddy and is undesirable y would you go thru all the trouble to lower the gain on the song WHEN U CAN LOWER UR VOLUME KNOB, lol since u are lowering the gain u are affecting all notes, which is the same as a volume knob a clip is a clip is a clip... maybe i spend too much time listenin to rap/hiphop but i can pick it out usually without seein the wave... and i avoid it like a lez avoids dick.... lol A clip is a clip but I'm saying if you have correct gains.. unclipped at the amp... set from a test tone...you'll be alright on music.. I can hear the distortion easy.. and I hate it as well.... I hear lots of kid's systems.. and they're like ... up to 50\62 on a pioneer deck... bass at +6... loudness on.... and i just get out. can't stand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kranny Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 A clip is a clip but I'm saying if you have correct gains.. unclipped at the amp... set from a test tone...you'll be alright on music.. I can hear the distortion easy.. and I hate it as well.... I hear lots of kid's systems.. and they're like ... up to 50\62 on a pioneer deck... bass at +6... loudness on.... and i just get out. can't stand it. because 1, kids think they're loud with stock shit, and 2, they honestly think it sounds nice and a clean sounding system doesnt sound nice. thats why i amp my highs as of last week, its the biggest fucking difference in the world when you switch from headunit power to amp power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toaster Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 A clip is not a clip, my friends. Amplifier output clipping is a voice-coil killer, unless you are doing it in competition to gain more power. Clipping anywhere else up the signal chain does not produce DC voltage @ the amplifier outputs. It just sounds bad. An amplifier must be driven into clipping before you get any DC out of it. The DC voltage is what heats the coils up, killing the driver. At the preamp stage, you are basically dealing with a dirty signal, and it will sound bad (although most do not detect it until it is upwards of around 15-20% in the sub 100hz range). I do agree that a clipped signal to the amp may drive the amp itself into clipping, but remember the amplifiers OUTPUT stages must clip to produce the unwanted voltage. Hope that helps. PS: To the person suggesting lowering the level in Audacity, it will not help. The signal is already dirty, Audacity will just turn it down some, creating headroom compression, sounding even worse. Quote Former USAC Director MECP Certified First Class of 1997 First car in the world to register 150db from the dash and sealed, in the trunk of an escort, with 2 10 inch subs. In 1997: http://audioforum.termpro.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=51;t=002600 Just my part in the modern development of SPL competition:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decaf Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 (edited) A clip is a clip but I'm saying if you have correct gains.. unclipped at the amp... set from a test tone...you'll be alright on music.. I can hear the distortion easy.. and I hate it as well.... I hear lots of kid's systems.. and they're like ... up to 50\62 on a pioneer deck... bass at +6... loudness on.... and i just get out. can't stand it. pioneer decks dont clip til 50-52 on the lower notes, bass on headunit needs to be at ~+2 or more to get 4v... rarely do i see loudness used anymore u should be fine if its fast, but i know plenty of Waka Flocka songs that will not make ur sub or amp happy A clip is not a clip, my friends. Amplifier output clipping is a voice-coil killer, unless you are doing it in competition to gain more power. Clipping anywhere else up the signal chain does not produce DC voltage @ the amplifier outputs. It just sounds bad. wrong, lol... its a god damn amplifier, if u send it a dirty signal it will amplify it, it doesnt magically disappear An amplifier must be driven into clipping before you get any DC out of it. The DC voltage is what heats the coils up, killing the driver. At the preamp stage, you are basically dealing with a dirty signal, and it will sound bad (although most do not detect it until it is upwards of around 15-20% in the sub 100hz range). do u know what u are talkin about, because i keep hearin ur ass talkin I do agree that a clipped signal to the amp may drive the amp itself into clipping, but remember the amplifiers OUTPUT stages must clip to produce the unwanted voltage. Hope that helps. PS: To the person suggesting lowering the level in Audacity, it will not help. The signal is already dirty, Audacity will just turn it down some, creating headroom compression, sounding even worse. pshhhh .01% of people would even notice the compression and degredation of quality, ya know so let me get this straight mr audio guru lets say i have a 50hz sine wave being used to set gains, and gains are set correctly now i go into audacity, create the same amplitude sine wave... but i boost the sine wave until it exceeds that data range, clipping it i then reduce the amplitude back to the same level as the 50hz tone used to set the gains, but now the sine wave has clips... so u are sayin when i play that thru the amp no dc power will be produced because the gain setting on the amp will not be overdriven because im still not exceeding the db level originally used to set gains? i already know the answer too... Edited March 25, 2010 by Decaf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toaster Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 WOW. Decaf has some aggression issues then. Let me see if I can simplify this for you, even though you don't deserve it but others do: an amplifier will put out a nice, smooth wave until it is driven into clipping. The signal at the inputs may be clipped, and the scope may reflect the clipped signal, but the amplifier will not produce DC voltage until the amplifier outputs clip. As I stated before, if you drive your AMP to clip because of the increase in signal voltage from a clipped signal, then the amp will clip. But you will not damage a driver or amplifier because of clipped signal input. I frankly don't care whose crap you have bought into, or what issues you have that make you so hostile and closed-minded. It doesn't change reality just because you get upset. Quote Former USAC Director MECP Certified First Class of 1997 First car in the world to register 150db from the dash and sealed, in the trunk of an escort, with 2 10 inch subs. In 1997: http://audioforum.termpro.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=51;t=002600 Just my part in the modern development of SPL competition:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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