How can I distort my sound without loosing headroom?

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Whilst working on my kick for a new track, I found that I really like that high-end distortion you get when you max out the fader. My question is, can I get that distorted sound and headroom for the fader at the same time?
z4enix wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2017 2:41 am
I really like that high-end distortion you get when you max out the fader.
You should not like it!
That type of distortion is not controllable, what you hear is not what someone else would hear on their hw. You need to create a distortion with a plugin, in order to have one that is controlled.
You could -record- what you hear,with f.i. audacity, and then use the recording in a loudness where it does not clip! That is often done, but direct using clipping artefacts is not a good idea
musikbear wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:31 am
what you hear is not what someone else would hear on their hw.
Thanks. I didn't know that.
z4enix wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2017 12:47 pm
musikbear wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:31 am
what you hear is not what someone else would hear on their hw.
Thanks. I didn't know that.
Use a hard limiter or one of the tube amp plugins included with LMMS. Adjust for the sound you want, then change the volume with another amplifier or a mixer channel.
I'd have to agree with SP there. I used to mess with things like Chebzyev distortion but that left me no where. So my top recommendation is tube amp.

There are also a few distortion vst plugins that you can checkout, but again, you can still go a long way to stick with the LADSPA plugins of lmms.
I haven't experimented with this too much, but I'd try using the Clip effect, which comes with LMMS. I cannot exactly remember it's actual name, but it has Clip in there somewhere...

Anyway, I'm pretty sure you can place one of those effects with a high gain, then another with a negative gain, and it'll give you what you are looking for.