Is this okay?

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I recently came across Illenium x Said the Sky's "Where'd U Go". I really liked it but the drop sounded kind of muddy for me so I converted the audio file into a waveform. The results were kind of confusing. Is this clipping? Is this good or bad? What exactly is happening?

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This is called mastering. Yes it's ok, if you look at hundreds of songs, especially in the EDM scene, you'll come across a lot of such waveforms. This is not clipping, the song as been compressed as fuck and then they put a limiter at the top and turned up the gain :)
well i disagree with ALCYDE.
The profile does not look like a limiter profile, because the limitation area is beyond resp -1 and +1
I found a picture that illustrate this:
Image
Look @3:30+
Here the wave is limited or compressed, but it does not overshoot -1+1 (nor does any part of the shape).
Limiting should be in a level lower than clipping, other wise frequencies are lost, or the output get murky/ muddled
FenA wrote:
Sun Mar 11, 2018 12:38 am
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You can learn about "loudness war". This contextualizes the type of waveform that you show us.

If I do not say nonsense:

- By exporting a track, the parts having a level which exceeds the absolute limit of 0 dB Fs will be clipped because it is not possible to go beyond 0. Visually, you obtain a waveform similar to that which you show us: the peaks do not exceed the threshold. If it's only a few ms, you may not hear it. Otherwise, the result can be uncomfortable to listen to. Generally, when we talk about clipping, we are referring to an unwanted artifact.

- If you place a hard limiter with a threshold of for example -1 dB FS, you get the same result: the peaks will be cut off. The only difference is that you choose the threshold yourself. (And after setting a hard limit with a threshold of -1, you can normalize the track to 0 dB FS, for example). The result will be nice to listen to or not depending on how you manage your mix or your mastering.

According to the waveform that you show us, I guess it's done intentionally (loudness war). It would be a compromise between quantity (to increase the average volume of the track) and quality (to increase the average volume of the track without greatly altering the audio quality).
musikbear wrote: well i disagree with ALCYDE.
The profile does not look like a limiter profile, because the limitation area is beyond resp -1 and +1
I found a picture that illustrate this:
Image
Look @3:30+
Here the wave is limited or compressed, but it does not overshoot -1+1 (nor does any part of the shape).
Limiting should be in a level lower than clipping, other wise frequencies are lost, or the output get murky/ muddled
Can't agree with you fully too :D, this waveform OP showed, is clearly a compressed & limited waveform,
If you watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8DRWciEWsQ&t=403s
you can see, that he used a limiter at the end with the ceiling set to 0.00 dB (I prefer 0.1 or 0.3 to prevent clipping)
ACYDE Music wrote:
Mon Mar 12, 2018 6:48 pm
he used a limiter at the end with the ceiling set to 0.00 dB
Oh, but -
(I prefer 0.1 or 0.3 to prevent clipping)
Yes exactly. I often find, that adding a limiter, does change the overall output, and i try to avoid that.

What i tend to do is to restrict usage of limiters as first objective.
Then if i have 'longer' parts, where clipping is a problem, i try to use a limiter, but at the same time, i try to restrict it most possible. I use SPAN (and ears:)
for that.

Finally i do not mind clipping, if it does not influence any other frequency. Clipping is not always 'bad'. Often effects has to clip, and lots of producers will say something in the line of 'if it does not clip, it does not pay'
Avoiding Distortion is really what it's all about
musikbear wrote:
ACYDE Music wrote:
Mon Mar 12, 2018 6:48 pm
he used a limiter at the end with the ceiling set to 0.00 dB
Oh, but -
(I prefer 0.1 or 0.3 to prevent clipping)
Yes exactly. I often find, that adding a limiter, does change the overall output, and i try to avoid that.

What i tend to do is to restrict usage of limiters as first objective.
Then if i have 'longer' parts, where clipping is a problem, i try to use a limiter, but at the same time, i try to restrict it most possible. I use SPAN (and ears:)
for that.

Finally i do not mind clipping, if it does not influence any other frequency. Clipping is not always 'bad'. Often effects has to clip, and lots of producers will say something in the line of 'if it does not clip, it does not pay'
Avoiding Distortion is really what it's all about

Yes, you're right. I have to add that if you overdo limiting and compressing, your track won't have any dynamics at all wich leads to the typical overcompressed sound. Yet it doesn't distort but sounds bad anyway.