Understanding Audio Clipping & 3 Common Misconceptions Explained

I have experienced a number of common misconceptions with regards to audio waveforms. When clients tell me that their files are clipped, I politely educate them about the quirks of audio. Hopefully, you will enjoy this lighthearted presentation 🙂

Are you a fellow audio-er? Or, do you use audio in video projects? See how you do!

3 common misconceptions

1 . The waveform looks flat… it must be clipped!

No. As you have seen, this is not always the case. The only way to know for sure is by zooming into the waveform and checking the peaks for roundness.

• Round = No clipping
• Flat = Clipped

2 .There is some headroom, so it can’t be clipped!

This is not always the case…

If you are an audio user… Check your peaks in an audio editor such as ‘Audacity’. There is some headroom, but it has still been clipped at some point.

3. I can hear distortion… It must be clipped

While audible distortion can be a sign that there may be clipping, you will need to check your peaks.

Often distortion is used as a production effect, on guitars, drums or vocals and may be confused with clipping. One is a controlled audio effect and the other is a clip.

Zooming into your peaks will tell you which it is.

Thank You! Hope this helped. Please comment and share this post.