Clipping on commercial releases

[Ermz]

I know it's an industry-wide trend to pump the living crap out of recordings, but I'm just wondering how often clipping actually makes it onto shelves.

I noticed recently whilst listening to Blood Red Throne's 'Altered Genesis' that there is clipping literally everywhere. I just can't believe it wasn't spotted.

So which releases have you noticed audible clipping on?

 

[ooG]

Californication.

 

[Impy]

A bunch of the albums mastered at Cutting Room in Stockholm, Sweden, during the last few years... I can't name any bands/albums since i can't remember, but i've heard quite a few.

 

[Brooks]

Rush's Vapor Trails

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

A bunch of the albums mastered at Cutting Room in Stockholm, Sweden, during the last few years... I can't name any bands/albums since i can't remember, but i've heard quite a few.

The Disarmonia mundi album was one of em.

 

[Kazrog]

Pantera's "Reinventing the Steel" was the first one I ever noticed. But it's tame compared to some things now.

I hate clipping. It's all about the UAD-1 Precision Limiter. If you use an L2, be careful people!

 

[Ermz]

Californication.

That's what happens when you cut an entire album with 57's

 

[~BURNY~]

Radio, commercials, tv and samplers killed the dynamic range of modern music production anyway. Everybody want the biggest loudest sound no matter the clipping. It's a shame really.
Even worst, listeners are getting used to it. It's not only clipping but "pumping" (don't know if it's the correct word sorry), flat dynamic range, over-enhanced/excited sound (wich is based upon clipping)...

 

[Andy Sneap]

yeah unfortuanately its a bit of a trade off now. Everyone wants it loud but thats what happens. I'll get levels as high as I feel I can, if theres a tiny bit once or twice, you have to ask whether you can live with it or back it down....or ask the band. I've had some of the top mastering plants in the world send me masters with distortion all over the damn thing and they can't hear it!!! Thats when I started doing things myself.

 

[estigma2001]

hey Andy give us some examples, i think Violent Rev. has no clipping but Nevermore DHIADW has some

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

Mastering is a bit of a dark art and usually I find that when ive finished a project im often to close to it to be objective about mastering. Question is who do we all use and trust for getting our masters done, how many of us do it ourselves and is anyone available to master any of my stuff?

 

[Andy Sneap]

Put it this way, more people comment on a quiet master than a bit of clipping!! They always want it louder and usually the can't hear the clipping! It bugs me to death, I'd rather everyones albums were 3db lower but thats the way things have gone.

 

[Ermz]

Me too. I mean the signal to noise ratio doesn't increase that much over 3db that the sonic quality of an album has to be sacrificed! I wish somebody would establish a mastering standard at a certain level. Even -1dbFS would be great.

 

[SickBoy]

One of the worst examples of clipping masters is probably Century Media's reissue of Exodus' "Bonded By Blood". I think the deaf would hear the enormous amount of clipping present there...
As much as I was happy to find it in a CD store back in 1999., I was as much disgusted by the ruined recording...

I really haven't heard the worse clipping case yet.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

Mercenary - 11 Dreams.

Clipfest. Especially the vocals.

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Hearing clipping is one of those things, once you learn what it is... its there bugging you!

I love explaining to people about it so they start hearing it too.

 

[Frank'nfurter]

The last Queens of the stone age! Flat tops followed by flat tops.

 

[Obscura]

My band just had our forthcoming album mastered and I spoke to the mastering engineer a few times before he got started because I didn't want the levels pushed to the edge. I wanted to try to preserve some of the dynamics of the music. He was so happy to not have a client telling him that they wanted it really loud AND really dynamic! He ended up doing 3 different samples with different amounts of compression and different compressors and it was really interesting to see just how much the whole process changes the feel of the recording. Maybe I can somehow post the 3 samples he sent me and get the equipment and settings from him so that we could all compare.

 

[DIOBOLIC5150]

The last Queens of the stone age! Flat tops followed by flat tops.

Here's a great example from Anthrax (the greater of two evils). This one has audible clipping. I don't understand why people want this sound or think it's right.

 

[Ermz]

Here's some Blood Red Throne...

Here's some zoomed up portion of the same track...