DYNAMICS · CLIPPER · 28 NEW IN 5.2
Still Clip
Cuts peaks off at a ceiling on the very sample: no pumping, no latency, and a clean mode that keeps it smooth.
Also in the Drums & Band bundle · Livestream & Broadcast bundle
What it does
Still Clip pushes the signal into a ceiling and cuts off whatever goes over it, on the very sample it happens. Unlike a limiter it never turns the whole sound down, so drums keep their punch and nothing breathes.
Knee 0 is a hard clip; turning the knee up bends the top smoothly from below the ceiling. Clean, on by default, removes much of the harsh aliasing a clipper makes without oversampling, and leaves everything under the knee exactly as it was.
Key features
- Input into a Ceiling (−12 to 0 dB); drag the ceiling line on the display
- Knee from hard (0%) to fully rounded (100%), drawn on the curve
- Clean: anti-aliasing on only what is cut off; below the knee is untouched, bit for bit
- Gain match (hear the clip, not 'louder'), Mix (parallel), Output, Delta (hear only what is cut off)
- Display: 10 s of peaks (blue out, gold cut off), In / Cut / Out meters, share of samples in the knee
Quick start
- Insert on the drum bus, a kick or snare, or the stream bus before the limiter.
- Turn Input up until gold just touches on the loudest hits (1–3 dB cut off).
- Harsh? Add Knee (20–60%) and keep Clean on.
- Press Gain match to compare honestly; Delta lets you hear what you are losing.
Controls
| Control | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Input | 0 to +24 dB | How hard it is pushed into the ceiling. |
| Ceiling | −12 to 0 dB | Nothing passes above it (sample peak) at Mix 100% and Output 0 dB. |
| Knee | 0–100% | 0 = hard clip; higher starts bending below the ceiling. |
| Mix / Output | 0–100% / −24 to +12 dB | Parallel blend with the pushed signal; final level. |
| Clean / Gain match / Delta | On, off | Anti-aliasing; level matching; listen to what is taken off. |
FACTORY PRESETS
Default (hard, −1 dB) · Drum bus, punch · Kick and snare, tame peaks · Band bus, soft · Stream bus, before the limiter · Loud and proud · Parallel grit · Safety only
GOOD TO KNOW
Measured: bit-exact below the knee; the ceiling holds on every sample; Clean takes the aliasing of a hard-clipped 5 kHz tone from −10.7 to −24.1 dB and leaves a clean 15 kHz tone untouched. True peaks can pass the ceiling slightly: leave about 1 dB, or put Still Limit after it, for a stream. About 0.1% of one core in stereo.