what is exactly the soft clipping button on the master track?
i noticed that it forces the output to stay under -0.2dB (avoiding any clipping), but looking at the output waveforms it doesn’t seem a hard limiter (the waveform is smooth even near the peaks).
is it some kind of compressor? so what are its parameters (threshold, ratio, etcetera).
thanks.
Can we please get the answer to this? I don’t know either and it may help my work?
Soft clipping frequently forms the basis for overdrive effects where you want to be able to push the signal quite hard, to help create a warmer and more saturated sound without resulting in too much nasty distortion. It is usually based on a simple wave shaping function which applies a curved shape to any peaks that go above a certain threshold, rather than simply hard clipping them which results in a much harsher sound.
Because of the way it shapes the peaks more smoothly to help avoid distortion (and the extra harmonics and potential aliasing that go along with distortion), it’s also a very useful tool to catch occasional clipped peaks in your music. You should not really rely on it to magically fix tracks that are pushed to insanely loud levels, but it can be useful to keep a few small problems in check.
Original signal:
Boosted signal with hard clipping:
Boosted signal with soft clipping:
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[quote=“dblue, post:3, topic:24881”]
I thought as much. Thank you so much. I’ve thrown my master to -6db with soft clipping. Seems like a bit of a cop out when everyone is talking compression, bus compression, using large EQs etc etc… To ensure maximum bass and sound clarity is this something I should be doing? Give me a reply or message me 
I know this is off topic so…
DC filter while we’re at it? Sorry lol
I have read a lot about the mastering/ final mix process… but most articles refer to very general music and seem to assume that you would already have a bit of reverb here and there. For instance: I read an article talking about using ozone for mastering… Ozone is primarily for reverb. You’d end up doubling up reverb just so you could say ‘I used it in the mastering process’ lol.
What’s the question? A DC filter will remove DC content. Often you may be better just having a low shelf filter at 30-40Hz or so anyway though, as it will remove DC as well as remove some nasty rumbles that can sometimes get introduced and will almost never be recreated. Exact frequency depends on type of music and content.
Oohhhh Kaaayyyy…
From iZotope’s own guide, first paragraph in the Reverb section.
“If you’ve done a good job with reverb on the individual tracks and as a result have a cohesive
sense of space, you probably won’t need to add any additional reverb to the final mix. In
some cases, however, a little mastering reverb can add an overall finish to the sound. For
example:”
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/OzoneMasteringGuide.PDF
There is FAR more to that plug than a “Mastering Reverb” which I have to admit I didn’t even know it had as it’s been ages since I took a look at it and either I forgot or it’s quite a new addition.
No yeah totally. I had gathered as much. I was more asking if it was worth using ozone instead of a -6 db with soft clipping.
A beginner’s question no doubt… DC content? I’m so sorry lmao!
If there’s soft clipping in Ozone, it’s hidden behind an odd param name (intelligent clipping ? OMG).
There’s no magic trick for your track to sound right.
Imagine u hard clip the nasty way, but all your basis samples are low quality (low sampling freq) and your synths are heavy filtered, letting almost only low freqs as output ?
Then the clipping will add harmonics where your basic sound doesn’t have enough and u will (maybe) achieve a killer mix just using nothing but the hardwired limitation of electronic formats 
(32 bits is the max for now I think ?)
A real thing to take into consideration is that the clipping can occur not so often and at really high frequencies. Then it’s a bit sad to let it clip, but also sad to lower general volume just to avoid these few micro-clips. What to do ? U soft clip these, and let ur volume normal. Then u just check the spectrum/time analyser output to see if u clip too much or if it’s ok.
DC is a signal that has a 0Hz swing and likes to kill speakers.