steve wrote:Gale Andrews wrote:Not necessarily true, Steve. Show Clipping shows individual clipped samples that touch or exceed 0 dB but the meter requires four such consecutive samples.
Of course you can find where the clip meter came on during a recording
I doubt that koz sets his recording level anywhere near 0 dB. If the clip indicator on the meter came on, then it
will show on the track when "Show Clipping" is enabled. There will be a red line at the first sample to reach 0 dB, and a red line for each additional sample that is at or above 0 dB.
Yes, but there may have been individual clipped samples before the run of four or more that triggered the meter clipping indicator.
If you are actually zoomed in far enough to distinguish a single red sample line from a run of four red sample lines, then of course I agree you can find where the first run of four lines is. Most people will not be zoomed in far enough (and if they are, there will be much tedious scrolling required to find the first run of four if there are also individual clipped samples).
steve wrote:If we only have red lines when there are "N" or more samples at or above 0 dB (let's say "4" for sake of argument), then where exactly will the red line(s) go? Will every sample >= 0 dB still have a line?
Good question - but again it is only a question when zoomed deep in. Perhaps the first N samples would be displayed as a group with a small number corresponding to "N", then consecutive samples after the first "N" would be displayed individually?
steve wrote:This file illustrates why we should show "clip lines" for single samples at or above 0 dB.
If we only show red lines when there is a sequence, this would look OK (based on the absence of the warning), but listen to it.
Or rather, look at it. If you had posted only the first 1.5 seconds of it, even single sample Show Clipping finds no problem. As you say in your follow-up post, clipping should also be looked for below full scale. That track you posted could also have been normalised to -6 dB and would still sound almost as bad, or there could be soft clipping below full scale due to hardware features or bugs.
steve wrote:I think that 'increasing the number of samples before showing red lines' encourages new users to record too hot
Leaving aside what an amplitude threshold of clipping might be, if they don't get the clipping indicators in Meter Toolbar when recording, then almost certainly they won't hear clipping (in an exported WAV and on good equipment). Also only more advanced users will turn "Show Clipping" on (and understand what it is trying to do).
But seeing red lines in the waveform but no clip indicator in Meter Toolbar is confusing IMHO. I would have no problem if the default trigger for Show Clipping was three or four consecutive clipped samples (whatever Meter Toolbar was) as long as there was a way to show individual clipped samples too.
Gale
