Clipping vs Compression

[@david.szoeke]

I really enjoyed this video. Seeing the difference before and after the modules have been applied helped a lot. I assume having lookahead on the compressor would help to reduce or eliminate that initial peak?

[@Dynamic_Music_Tutorials]

@@david.szoeke glad it helped. Yes, you’re correct. The lookahead function looks forward in time and recognizes the transient before it actually happens, clamping down sooner. Useful for peaks that might be abrupt in say a snare or vocal (think sibilance, “p’s” “t’s” and “s’s” that are relatively sharp/ large in amplitude compared to the overall signal)

[@xaviduch]

Thank you!! I can't find so much information about the relation between clipping/compression, mainly which order must be used in a signal chain of a track or bus, so I think the right way is to compress and then, clipping to reduce the peaks so I can handle better the RMS at the final stage? Thanks again!

[@Dynamic_Music_Tutorials]

If you’re looking to clamp down on a sounds dynamic range without introducing much/any distortion then yes compression followed by clipping would work fine (compression to reduce the dynamics more “naturally” then clipping to level off any peaks you don’t want). Take this with a grain of salt, though; there are many ways to control dynamics and so many unique styles of sound that there is never a “one size fits all” fix. Hope this helps!