GClip for Mac?

[Dustin Morrison]

Did anyone ever get a real and easy solution to use GClip for Mac?

I did a search but it brought up a bunch of crazy talk. haha

Anyone have an easy solution?

I just want to compare GClip to Bitcrusher in Logic.

 

[timislegend]

ik multimedia t-racks classic clipper


also, there is a clipper function on flux's solera2


or you can employ a/d converter clipping.

 

[Dustin Morrison]

I'm not looking for an alternative... I'm truly wanting to compare the Gclip to the BitCrusher on a Mac. I use the bitcrusher set to 24bit right now but I'm wanting to try the oversampling of the Gclip.

It's strictly for comparison.

And yes, my Apogee Ensemble clips really nicely, but it's just more time and im looking for faster, smarter, cheaper.

 

[Sixstringmayhem]

If you don't mind me asking what exactly is the function of these clippers? i've heard talk about them numerous times but never really bothered looking into it.
I suppose I could Google it lol

 

[timislegend]

clipper plugins basically attempt to simulate the analog to digital converter clipping, often used in mastering (and also mixing) in an effort to maximize loudness and sustain to the body of a mix. really all it is doing is decimating (clipping amplitude in the digital domain = degrading word length) the signal at high digital levels. you can control waveshaping properties (for the most part) but you are most definitely introducing a heavier noisefloor while removing all sorts of dynamics from your signal. in most cases if done "incorrectly" it can result in some pretty nasty digital distortion. this heralds us all into the life-long "loudness wars".

picking a side just makes things worse... if it sounds good, use it (that's my motto).

 

[Sixstringmayhem]

clipper plugins basically attempt to simulate the analog to digital converter clipping, often used in mastering (and also mixing) in an effort to maximize loudness and sustain to the body of a mix. really all it is doing is decimating (clipping amplitude in the digital domain = degrading word length) the signal at high digital levels. you can control waveshaping properties (for the most part) but you are most definitely introducing a heavier noisefloor while removing all sorts of dynamics from your signal. in most cases if done "incorrectly" it can result in some pretty nasty digital distortion. this heralds us all into the life-long "loudness wars".

picking a side just makes things worse... if it sounds good, use it (that's my motto).

thanks for the answer tim,
so basically its a plugin to maximize the volume of your master channel while trying to retain most of the quality? But say in the mix you want your bass drum louder, but if you push the fader any more its going to start clipping, could you use a clipper pluggin in this instance?

 

[Scott Horner]

thanks for the answer tim,
so basically its a plugin to maximize the volume of your master channel while trying to retain most of the quality? But say in the mix you want your bass drum louder, but if you push the fader any more its going to start clipping, could you use a clipper pluggin in this instance?

Basically, yes. But it's usually better to use it in the mix to tame the transients before they hit your master buss but you can always use it to get a little bit of extra loudness on the master before it starts to sound like shit. I know I, and I believe Joey does this too, use it to tame the initial transients of tom and snare in the mix so they don't hit your master buss and cause clipping. If you're turning your bass drum up and clipping the signal too much you're going to start introducing that distortion Tim was talking about.

 

[Sixstringmayhem]

Basically, yes. But it's usually better to use it in the mix to tame the transients before they hit your master buss but you can always use it to get a little bit of extra loudness on the master before it starts to sound like shit. I know I, and I believe Joey does this too, use it to tame the initial transients of tom and snare in the mix so they don't hit your master buss and cause clipping. If you're turning your bass drum up and clipping the signal too much you're going to start introducing that distortion Tim was talking about.

ahhh i see,
what do you mean by transients?
also, what you said about turning the bass drum up. If I used a clipper on the bass drum wouldn't that prevent it from distorting but also achieving louder volume? or no?

 

[timislegend]

a short-duration signal that represents a non-harmonic attack...

meaning; the highest point of a signal before it starts to decay.

the green section of the waveform that is not grayed-out is the transient.

 

[Scott Horner]

ahhh i see,
what do you mean by transients?
also, what you said about turning the bass drum up. If I used a clipper on the bass drum wouldn't that prevent it from distorting but also achieving louder volume? or no?

Well, if you turn the bass drum up and use a clipper then there will come a point where you are clipping into the actual waveform rather than just the loudest transient. For example:

The lines and the shaded are represent the portion being "clipped". You can see where the waveform is being clipped to the point of having no dynamics. And while you can clip a signal and not have any physical distortion (in the sense that you aren't clipping the output or peaking in the red) you will certainly reach a point where you have audible distortion. Certainly, you can get away with a fair amount of clipping and gain a few db's before it starts to sound like shit, but you would really only want to use it to tame those few peaks like where you can see those two wave spikes in the picture above. That's definitely not to say you can't use it to squeeze some extra volume out but you just have to be careful that you don't distort the signal.

 

[Dustin Morrison]

Look at it this way. A clipper flattens the wave form which means that big transient spike doesnt work your compressors, etc. Which means you can get it louder with less of an impact on your master output. But the down side is that you are also increasing the noise floor. So if you are clipping something that was recorded in a room with a loud A/C vent then that noise is going to come through more. This is the nature of the beast. Just like using slow attack / quick release on a compressor brings out the room.

Not trying to be rude or anything at all, If I were you, before I worried about what a clipper is, I would get some books and learn some basic engineering. If you dont know what a transient is then you still have a long way to go before you're able to correctly use the gear to make a recording sound good.

EDIT: What Scott said.

 

[Dustin Morrison]

So... back to the point of this thread. If anyone has a way of using the GClip with a Mac, please do tell. Thanks!

 

[timislegend]

using the GClip with a Mac

what do you mean? ...it's a windows only plugin.

the only way you can use this plugin with a mac is if you configure the vst (windows) to au (osx) wrapper.

wrapper


it's pretty unstable.

 

[Sixstringmayhem]

All due respect, just because I didn't know what transient meant in audio terms doesn't mean I can't make good recordings. Although, I could make better recordings lol. But I do see your logic on bustin some books on basic engineering, seeing as I would've known what it was.

BUT!
thanks to you fella's I do now know what it is, and I know what a clipping pluggin does with detail. Great success! thanks for all the info guys i appreciate it.

BTW sorry for hijackin the thread, i'm on a mac as well so looks like its Bitcrusher for me too

 

[Dustin Morrison]

Yes, I know it's windows. I know what it is and how it works and what platform, etc etc etc.

Like I said, I did a quick search and saw all the talk about how to wrap it.. blah blah blah. but it was a while back.

I'm asking if anyone has figured out a way to use it reliably on a Mac.

All I need is for someone to answer yes or no. And if yes, please send me a PM. Thanks!

I'm assuming no one has. But there might have been some improvements.

 

[timislegend]

Yes, I know it's windows. I know what it is and how it works and what platform, etc etc etc.

Like I said, I did a quick search and saw all the talk about how to wrap it.. blah blah blah. but it was a while back.

I'm asking if anyone has figured out a way to use it reliably on a Mac.

All I need is for someone to answer yes or no. And if yes, please send me a PM. Thanks!

I'm assuming no one has. But there might have been some improvements.

no

 

[Dustin Morrison]

well son of a ......

haha

 

[tempe]

Just get the IK Multimedia T-Racks clipper, its like $30 at the moment.

 

[joeymusicguy]

for the record, i dont use a clipper on the master bus
i use clipper on drums

 

[Dustin Morrison]

yup... clipper on master bus makes alot of distortion.

Well.... I guess I'm using the clipper in ozone on the master. Hmm.. So Joey, are you setting ozone on very fast or transparent or something?