How to use a clipper on your master

A limiter holds peaks down by turning the signal down around them, then back up. When a limiter is pushed hard, you hear that as pumping, and the mix loses punch and depth. A clipper only removes the part of a peak that goes over, and only while it is over. Short peaks like drum hits make up most of a mix's peak level. Shaving a little off them is hard to hear.

The cost is distortion. Crude digital clipping also folds new frequencies back into the audible range. That is the harsh, gritty sound of a badly clipped master. Oversampling keeps it out.

Many engineers use both. A clipper takes the sharpest peaks first, so the limiter after it has far less to do. A clipper with its own true-peak ceiling can also finish the master by itself.

1. Put MC-1 last on your master, or just before your limiter. Start from a preset such as Master Light.
2. Set OS for your session's sample rate. Use 8x at 44.1 or 48 kHz, and 4x at 88.2 kHz and above. The support page has the full table.
3. Raise Clip until the master is as loud as you want, and watch the peak-reduction meter.
4. Switch on Auto and compare with Bypass. Auto matches the loudness, so you judge the sound, not the level. If it does not sound better at the same loudness, back Clip off.
5. Turn your monitors down and switch on Delta to hear only what MC-1 adds or removes. If you hear the music rather than just the edges of the drums, it is clipping too much.
6. Turn Character up to make the clipper back off where it would be heard. Or try Loud, which pushes harder in the same way. Raise Knee for a rounder sound, or lower it for more punch.
7. Set TP Ceiling for your delivery. A ceiling of -1 dBTP is common for streaming.

MC-1 is a clean mastering clipper for Mac and Windows, with a 30-day free trial.