Best Clipper Plugin

What a clipper does to a peak

A clipper sets a ceiling and cuts off any part of the wave that rises above it. A limiter turns the whole sound down for a moment when a peak arrives. A clipper does no turning down at all: it removes the very top of the peak and leaves everything under it as it was. Drum hits and plucks have short peaks far above their body, so shaving a few dB from those tips lets you raise the whole track by the same amount.

The price is distortion. Cutting the top off a wave adds harmonics that were not there before. On a peak that lasts a millisecond or two the ear barely notices, which is why clipping can sound cleaner than limiting on drums. On a held note or a bass line the same cut becomes a buzz you can hear. How sudden that cut is makes the difference between soft and hard clipping.

Decide what the clipper is for

Most people reach for a clipper for one of three jobs, and each one points to different features.

• A louder master: a clipper just before the final limiter, with good oversampling and a way to hear what it removes. The guide to clipping drums and the master covers the chain.
• Punchier drums: a clipper on the kick, the snare or the drum bus that trims spikes so the kit sits higher without a compressor’s pumping.
• Tone: a soft clipper pushed on purpose for a rounder and denser sound. Past a point that is distortion, which Best Distortion Plugin covers, and warmth with no audible grit is the subject of Best Saturation Plugin.

Judge a clipper at the same loudness

A clipper raises the level, and the louder version always sounds better for a moment. Turn its output down until switching it off changes nothing about how loud the track feels, then compare. Some clippers help with this. Brainworx bx_clipper has an Auto Trim that matches the level for you and an Ambience control that plays the part the clipping removed. Then listen to the start of each kick and to the cymbals, because that is where the damage shows first.

Start with the right question

• How to choose a clipper plugin

  The features that decide how clean a clipper stays when you push it, and a short test to run before you buy one.

• A clipper built around your track with Studio 56

  Say how loud and how clean the peaks should be and Studio 56 builds a clipper for it, an effect with controls and presets made for that job.

• Clipper plugins compared

  Studio 56 and nine ready-made clippers, from two free ones to mastering clippers with several bands and loudness meters, each with price and systems from the maker’s page.

Resource directory

• Studio 56

  Say how loud and how clean the peaks should be and Studio 56 builds a clipper for it, an effect with controls and presets made for that job. Studio 56 publishes this site, so this is our editorial choice, not an independent review.

  Free trial, then Pro · Mac, Windows

• Kazrog KClip 3

  Kazrog lists eight clipping modes from smooth and crisp to tape and broken speaker. It splits into up to four bands with mid/side control, oversamples from 2x to 32x and meters loudness in LUFS. Its free KClip Zero keeps one mode with fixed oversampling.

  $69 list, free demo · Mac, Windows, Linux

• SIR Audio Tools StandardCLIP

  SIR Audio Tools offers it for making a mix louder or adding harmonics, with oversampling up to 256 times and a wide set of options.

  $25, demo available · Mac, Windows

• Brainworx bx_clipper

  Sold by Plugin Alliance, it has FET and Diode modes with Ceiling and Knee controls. An Auto Ceiling sets the ceiling for you and an Auto Trim matches levels, with mid/side clipping and up to 32x oversampling.

  $125 list, 14-day trial · Mac, Windows

• Schwabe Digital Gold Clip Pack

  Schwabe Digital pairs a mastering clipper and a track clipper built on the same engine. It lists Modern, Classic and Hard algorithms, a GOLD stage that lifts quiet material and a Clip Clock that marks where a song clips hardest.

  $249, 30-day trial · Mac, Windows

• Newfangled Audio Saturate

  Eventide sells this spectral clipper, which treats frequencies separately so loud lows do not swamp the mids. A Shape control runs from hard clipping to a very smooth curve, and an anti-aliasing mode was added in version 1.10.

  $49, 14-day demo · Mac, Windows

• Venn Audio V-Clip 2

  Venn Audio offers up to ten clipping stages across bands and mid/side, a large choice of clipping curves with a super soft knee among them, separate shaping for each half of the wave and oversampling up to 512 times.

  $60, trial available · Mac, Windows, Linux

• TDR Limiter 6 GE

  Tokyo Dawn Records chains an upward and downward clipper with a compressor, a high-frequency limiter, a peak limiter and a true peak and loudness meter. Its demo has no time limit but blocks automatic recall.

  €60, demo with no time limit · Mac, Windows, Linux

• Venn Audio Free Suite

  Venn Audio’s free set of resizable plugins includes its Free Clip 2 clipper and installs with no registration. The page names the clipper but does not describe its controls.

  Free · Mac, Windows, Linux

• GVST GClip

  GVST’s small clipper has Gain, Clip and Softness knobs, a 2x oversampling switch and a display that draws the wave before and after clipping.

  Free · Mac, Windows, Linux

Compare them side by side in the directory

Practical guides

• How to choose a clipper plugin: The features that decide how clean a clipper stays when you push it, and a short test to run before you buy one.
• Soft clipping, hard clipping and aliasing explained: What happens to a wave when it is clipped hard or soft, where aliasing comes from and how oversampling reduces it.
• Clipping drums and the master before a limiter: Where a clipper goes in the chain, how many dB to start with on drums and on the master, and the signs that it is too much.
• Clipper or limiter for loudness: How a clipper and a limiter reach the same loudness in different ways, and when each one, or both, is the right tool.

Questions and answers

Sources for this page

• Studio 56: Studio 56’s official website, the publisher of this reference.
• Kazrog KClip 3: Kazrog KClip 3’s official page, the source of its description here.
• SIR Audio Tools StandardCLIP: SIR Audio Tools StandardCLIP’s official page, the source of its description here.
• Brainworx bx_clipper: Brainworx bx_clipper’s official page, the source of its description here.
• Schwabe Digital Gold Clip Pack: Schwabe Digital Gold Clip Pack’s official page, the source of its description here.
• Newfangled Audio Saturate: Newfangled Audio Saturate’s official page, the source of its description here.
• Venn Audio V-Clip 2: Venn Audio V-Clip 2’s official page, the source of its description here.
• TDR Limiter 6 GE: TDR Limiter 6 GE’s official page, the source of its description here.
• Venn Audio Free Suite: Venn Audio Free Suite’s official page, the source of its description here.
• GVST GClip: GVST GClip’s official page, the source of its description here.

The practical advice here is our own. A maker's description of its product is not a test of how it performs.

Keep reading

• How to choose a clipper plugin
• Soft clipping, hard clipping and aliasing explained
• Clipping drums and the master before a limiter
• Clipper or limiter for loudness
• A clipper built around your track with Studio 56
• Clipper plugins compared
• How the Studio 56 references connect

How the related websites connect

Best Clipper Plugin is one of a coordinated collection of references published by Studio 56. Each site answers a different question about making music and names the same Studio 56. They are not independent endorsements.

See every Studio 56 reference · Studio 56’s official website

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