Distorted Recording? How to Prevent Clipping

You laid down a strong take, but when you play it back it crackles on your loudest words. That's called clipping. Your signal was louder than your recording can handle. Here's how to spot it, and how to prevent it on your next recording.

What is clipping?

Digital recording has a ceiling: 0 dBFS. Anything above that gets cut off. The peaks of your waveform turn flat, and you hear that as crackling or distortion. You can't really fix a clipped recording afterwards. So you have to prevent it while you record.

Where's the problem usually?

  • The gain on your interface is too high. This is the most common cause. Your voice comes in too hot, before your DAW even does anything with it.
  • You rap louder than during the test. You stay calm while setting up, then go all out in the real take.
  • You're too close to the mic. Especially on loud parts and shouts.
  • A plug-in on your recording track. An effect that makes your signal louder can distort too.

How to set your gain properly

  1. Start with the gain on your interface low.
  2. Rap your loudest part, as loud as you'll go in the real take. Think of your hook or your ad-libs.
  3. Slowly turn the gain up while watching the meter in your DAW and the lights on your interface.
  4. Stop well before you hit the red. A common guideline is to keep your peaks around -10 to -6 dBFS. That leaves room for a sudden loud moment.

How it works per interface: Scarlett Solo, Scarlett 2i2, Audient EVO 4, MOTU M2, PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 and Arturia MiniFuse 1.

The fader in your DAW doesn't help

A lot of people pull down their track's fader when it crackles. But that fader only changes how loud you hear yourself. What gets recorded is set by the gain on your interface. Fader down and it still crackles? Then the problem is at the input.

Too quiet isn't good either

Don't swing the other way and record everything very quietly. If you have to turn a quiet recording up a lot later, the noise comes up just as much. So aim for solid, but with room to spare.

Already recorded and it crackles?

Only crackling on a few words? Re-record those parts with the gain a bit lower. Read punch-in and comping: pick your best take.

FAQ

Can I remove clipping afterwards?

Not really. Some tools can soften it, but the original is gone. Re-recording is almost always better.

How loud should I record?

Solid, but with room to spare. A common guideline is peaks around -10 to -6 dBFS.

Why does it crackle when my meter isn't in the red?

Then it might be something else, like a plug-in on your track, a broken cable or being too close to the mic. Remove the plug-ins and try again.

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