What is Soft Clip doing??

[guardner]

I just made some nice new patterns for a new track with Spark.vst (only stereo out) in Cubase 6 (REALLY NICE ).
Then i noticed that volume is going to +7db... a bit tooooo much (Volume of the Cubase channel strip of Spark is set to zero)
i tried to add the SOFT CLIP button (first of all i have to say, that i have to click it 2 or 3 times until it is activated!!), but nothing really happened. i noticed a little difference but not much.

I thought "SOFT CLIP" is something like a limiter... If you are louder than zero, it limits the main output to about zero... am i wrong??
volume meter shows the same value with AND without "SOFT CLIP" activated.

I havn't found anything about that in the manual (only the button and it is named Soft Clip).

Sure i can use 3rd party limiters/comps/etc. BUT if it is like the SOFT CLIP of miniMg, it would be great to have

[akiz]

Soft clipping is where peaks are brought down in level so that they don't cause distortion at the ceiling, they are not allowed to square off as in everyday clipping. Instead the peaks get rounded tops that do not draw attention to themselves through excessive high frequency energy. This is one of the best ways of adding softness to a mix in the digital domain because you can avoid the harshness that ordinary limiters cause when they are squaring off the peaks at the clipping level. Combining soft clipping with a limiter can be a way of getting the loudness you want and at the same time avoid much of the harshness that else would be produced, since you can limited much less in order to get the loudness you want.
Hope it makes sense!

[guardner]

Hey Akiz!

yes! that is what i'm thinking about that feature, but i think i cannot activate the SoftClip function in a VST instance, have a look here:
http://www.arturia.com/evolution/smf/index.php?topic=4796.0

that's why i don't hear any differences.

[akiz]

Hi Guardner,

I replied with the technical meaning of the "Soft clipping", according to the topic's title.
There is a difference between this and a limiter, it's all about how transients are manipulated.
In Logic the AU is working, there's a change in level and a "compression" feeling to the sound. I suppose since Kevin is aware of this VST issue, a fix might occur with the next update around early July. 


Cheers!