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An explanation:
This idea of "clipping the converter" seems to have developed from some comments made by top mastering engineers in interviews. ALL of these guys have at their disposal converters with an EXTRA function, either on the analogue or digital side. The extra function is a BUILT IN LIMITER. The converters are:
PRISM ADA: 'Over-killer' selectable on analogue inputs ["the best-sounding gentle limiting for louder masters - with no 'overs'"]
LAVRY: Analog Soft Saturation (default setting = starts at -3dBFS). Digital Soft Saturation ["Provides 6dB more output level, while emulating an overdrive condition into magnetic tape"]
APOGEE: Their so called SoftLimit ["Maximize Levels, Minimize Overs"] See also the "Aptomizer"
CRANESONG HEDD: Has special Triode, Pentode and Tape knobs ["The HEDD process will not cause any overs ... Think of it as a tube or tape doing soft clipping i.e. "squashing" the peaks and causing analog compression"]
All these devices have built in limiters! So let's stop comparing them to other converters which have no built-in automatic level controls. Please note that most of the above converters default to some form of soft limiting, in order to cushion inexperienced users.
Clipping is distortion. Limiting is limiting.
Text in [brackets] is either from the manual or manufacturers brochure.
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