Worst examples of clipping

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Tyler, May 14, 2003.

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  1. Tyler

    Tyler Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hawaii
    While I don't have a program that shows the actual clipping, one particular album comes to mind.

    Rush's last album "Vapor Trails" seems to be infested with clipping. Does anyone else have examples of extreme clipping?
     
  2. metalbob

    metalbob Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I just mentioned this in another thread, but there is a Whitesnake 2CD set (1987 and Slip Of The Tongue) remastered on Axe Killer from France that has got to be up there with Rush. At least the Rush is a new album with no old version to compare it with.
     
  3. Tyler

    Tyler Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hawaii
    Yes but that doesn't make listening to it any easier. Vapor Trails is a really good album, I think some of Rush's strongest material. But why did it have to sound so bad? The sound quality was a real let-down. There's almost no dynamic range, really bad form from a major label.
     
  4. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    Modern country is mixed and mastered hot sounding as well. Lots of major clipping involved.
     
  5. ivor

    ivor Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Zwan's album clips horribly all over the place. If I remember correctly, I counted upwards of 20 consecutive samples all at 0 dB... and that wasn't even the place where it sounded worst.
     
  6. jeendicott

    jeendicott Senior Member

    By far, the hottest CD I've heard is Iggy Pop's remix of "Raw Power." That thing would overload my prior amp after a few minutes, even at low volumes.
     
  7. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Worst example of clipping? Did you see the last haircut Karla gave me? Sheesh.

    Other than that, almost ANY modern CD is going to have clipping issues. Get used to it or get into a different mindset. It's not going away. It's a damn shame, but it's not going away.
     
  8. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Horrific, that one. Glad I got to preview it before buying; I'll stick with the old vinyl, thanks!

    ED:cool:
     
  9. Tyler

    Tyler Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hawaii
    I'm noticing a ton of clipping recently. The sad thing is that it doesn't have to happen. Discs with clipping overkill should not be released, you don't have to be an audiophile to want your music to sound decent. You'd think an artist would want their work to be heard in the best possible context, maybe some don't care.
     
  10. Jason Brown

    Jason Brown Forum Resident

    Location:
    SLC, UT
    Some of the worst in my collection are:

    Rush - Vapor Trails
    RHCP - Californication
    Saxon - Innocence Is No Excuse (Axe Killer remaster [can the french do anything right?])
    Metallica - Garage Inc.
    The King Diamond remasters
     
  11. aashton

    aashton Here for the waters...

    Location:
    Gortshire, England
    Well Rush are one of my top bands but I have to say that I never made it the whole way through Vapor Trails and I'm not really planning on listening to it again anytime soon - which is sad. Is it available on vinyl and if so does it suffer from similar problems ?

    All the best - Andrew
     
  12. Mike Dow

    Mike Dow I kind of like the music

    Location:
    Bangor, Maine
    :laugh:
    Good one! If she's anything like my (what is it she likes to be called...oh yeah..) stylist, she claims to "only cut out the gray ones..." Then why does the floor always look like Chewbacca's shower when she is done?
     
  13. rontokyo

    rontokyo Senior Member

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Boy, ain't *that* the truth. Some songs on the LP are a little on the thin side, but the LP as a whole is certainly listenable--something that can't be said for the remixed CD. If there's a lesson here, it's keep the artists far, far away from the mixing console [especially if they're suffering from an obvious hearing impairment].
     
  14. Claus

    Claus Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Clipping = RUSH Vapor Trails... the worst recording what I've ever heard.
     
  15. Dan

    Dan Senior Member

    Location:
    WNY
    The only difference with the Rush album is the clipping took place during the RECORDING process. How someone lets that happen I don't know.

    Another clipping candidate: Lars Ulrich said in an interview the the forthcoming Metallica album is the "loudest album ever mastered" or something to that effect. :rolleyes:
     
  16. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    It is very hard to get used to, especially since what I have learned on this forum about what to hear for when I listen to music, so what I do is play modern CDs in the CD player part of my MD/CD combo player and turn down the volume of the deck on the DJ mixer as low as it can go before I have no sound and turn up the volume on the minisystem. That way, the music will sound more lifelike than the CD player built into the minisystem. I'm essentially re-engineering the music to make it sound more lifelike.
     
  17. metalbob

    metalbob Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    That's what scares me....it's now a competition.
     
  18. Beagle

    Beagle Senior Member

    Location:
    Ottawa
    Sadly, it's been a competition for years.

    The new Jayhawks is brutal, clipping distortion all over the place. I sold my copy, hoping it will see the light of day on LP or SACD.

    Also, the latest Buzzcocks (judging by the sample track "Useless Situation".
     
  19. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Raw Power - Search and Destroy Tail of the Tape (err...disc):
    Code:
    					RMS	  Max	   Max@         DR 
    Search and Destroy - Stooges		-16.2 dB  -1.7dB   115.128 sec  14.5 dB
    Search and Destroy Remix - Stooges	 -5.0 dB   0.0dB     4.3   sec   5.0 dB
    That much limiting coupled with frequent clipping is a recipe for some bad bad audio.

    I understand that the recent Sundazed vinyl uses the original mix, but I have not heard it.

    Regards,
     
  20. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    I will definitely have to keep the volume down on the mixer (which serves as my phono preamp as well) and just use the volume on the minisystem for modern recordings, etc. for years to come but that's no big deal. I love doing that kind of stuff anyway.
     
  21. Gardo

    Gardo Audio Epistemologist

    Location:
    Virginia
    Holy Moley, Ken. Am I reading that right? 5db average-to-peak range??!! That's practically a square wave.

    Sorry, I'm just a bit stunned by those figures.:bigeek:
     
  22. teaser5

    teaser5 Cool Rockin' Daddy

    Location:
    The DMV
    Stupid Question

    Listening to Santana on Gold Mastersound CD and there is distortion on the high end when the guitar and organ are really screaming. I have heard it on three different systems. Is this what we are talking about?

    I thought it was me
    Thanks!
    Norm
     
  23. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    NO.

    That's the organ distorting. They all do it.
     
  24. teaser5

    teaser5 Cool Rockin' Daddy

    Location:
    The DMV
    Really?!
    You know I think it was the organ! And after all you hear about B-3's too.
    Interesting
    So what is a succinct definition of clipping please?
    Peace
    Norm
    Guess you weren't at Wolf Trap after all Steve....
     
  25. GoldenBoy

    GoldenBoy Purple People Eater

    Location:
    US
    Oh man, does that CD sound like ****e. The irony of it all is that, IMO, though they were trying to make it sound as loud as hell plugged through 20 Marshall stacks turned up to 11, it doesn't even sound loud to me. It is so squashed with compression that it just sounds that way, squashed - not even as loud as their previous albums.
     
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