'Show Clipping' not showing anymore

[Chuckhead]

Running Audacity 1.3.9 on iMac with OS 10.6.2 to rip LPs.
The red lines showing clipping in the waveform have disappeared even though show clipping is checked. If I open a previeously recorded file in Audacity the red clipping lines show, just not while recording. Used to work fine. Older versions have the same problem. Maybe a Mac update bugged something up?

[billw58]

Do you get the red clip lights in the recording meters? Maybe you're not getting clipping.

Works for me with 1.3.9 and 1.3.10, G5, OS X 10.5.8.

-- Bill

[kozikowski]

Select a short segment of a capture and Effect > Amplify to a very large number plus check the [x] Allow Clipping box. When I do that, my timeline lights up an explosion of red at thousands of clip points.

Audacity 1.3.7.

Koz

[kozikowski]

If you did a system update, it' s possible the volume controls settled back down to where they're probably supposed to be in the first place. If you get red lines during a live capture, that's permanent ticky crunchy sound damage. Non recoverable.

Koz

[Chuckhead]

Select a short segment of a capture and Effect > Amplify to a very large number plus check the [x] Allow Clipping box. When I do that, my timeline lights up an explosion of red at thousands of clip points.

Audacity 1.3.7.

Koz

Mine explodes as well when I do that, but I get no red during actual recording, even when levels are through the roof.

[Chuckhead]

Do you get the red clip lights in the recording meters? Maybe you're not getting clipping.

Works for me with 1.3.9 and 1.3.10, G5, OS X 10.5.8.

-- Bill

If you mean the red marker bar at the right hand side of the recording meter, I don't have them even when levels are set way high. The marker is blue even with obvious clipping seen in the waveform window.

[kozikowski]

<<<obvious clipping seen in the waveform window.>>>

Yes, but at what level is it clipping?

With the left edge set to "Waveform" (as opposed to Waveform dB), select one of the obvious clipped waves and zoom into it with Apple-E so it covers most of the screen. Move the cursor to the left until it turns into a magnifying glass and blow up the area around "1" so the wave gets really tall.

You only get the little red overload lines when at least one sample point tries to go over 1. If your waves are flat-topping before 1, say 0.98, the red lines will never get created.

Nowhere is it written that clipping damage has to be digital. There's no shortage of postings where people get severe flat-topping and clipping damage -- at 0.5. Something happened before the analog to digital converter to damage the waves ahead of time.

Like a USB turntable.

<<<Running Audacity 1.3.9 on iMac with OS 10.6.2 to rip LPs.>>>

You never told us how you were ripping LPs. USB turntables are notorious for doing odd and unpredictable things. Another name for these things is "throwaway turntable."

Before you say, "That can't happen to me," a very common complaint is, "I digitized four records and I'm very pleased with the results, but now the sound is distorted..."

Koz