|   What's meant by saying that a speaker "clips"? | Ran Away Crying
Dec 5, 2002 2:12 PM | | Kind of a newbie here, but I find almost all of this information facinating. I've seen several posters refer to a speaker clipping. What does that mean? |
| re: What's meant by saying that a speaker "clips"? | Ray from RI
Dec 5, 2002 2:39 PM | | Clipping usually refers to the amp, not the speakers (of course, you HEAR the clipping through the speakers). I haven't heard a decent amp clip myself, but what it means is that at a certain output level, the distortion of the amplifier will suddenly shoot up to very high level from a low baseline. That's the wattage of an amp clipping.
-Ray |
| re: What's meant by saying that a speaker "clips"? | Oscah
Dec 5, 2002 2:58 PM | | A simpler explanation is that when an amp is called on to do more than it is designed to, the audio output waves are cut off sharply...meaning the rounded tops of the wave output (like you would see on an oscilloscope) have flat tops....resulting in the ugly sound that Ray described. |
| Or for a visual... | jeskibuff
Dec 5, 2002 7:59 PM | | There's this guy in his back yard jumping up and down on his trampoline. He's got a nice rhythm going and you watch as his head rises and falls with each jump. Then he gets close to a tree branch and his graceful rise is abruptly stopped as his head hits the branch! OW! He didn't go as high as he should have gone if the branch weren't there and he did some damage in the process.
OK...here's some better visuals... a "sine" wave with no clipping. Note the smooth but pointy tops of the wave between the 10ms and 50ms marks. This indicates no clipping.
<img src="http://www.rane.com/n128fig2.gif">
Now, notice the difference with a wave that experiences the clipping phenomenon:
<img src="http://www.rane.com/n128fig3.gif">
This is a common occurrance where an amplifier is fed an input signal and is expected to reproduce it beyond its capacity to do so. It only has enough power to reproduce it within a certain range, hence, it is "clipped". |
| For more information: | jeskibuff
Dec 5, 2002 8:07 PM | | Here's the website I got those pictures from. It describes the phenomenon in greater detail for you.
http://www.rane.com/note128.html
I didn't read it, but it looks like a decent explanation. I just found it while doing a quick web search to find some pictures to post for you. |
| You guys are amazing | Ran Away Crying
Dec 6, 2002 8:46 AM | | ...not only in your knowledge, but in your helpfulness as well. Most boards i visit usually have a certain % of people who flame newbies with simple questions. All I got was straight answers. Thanks again. |
| I am familiar with the types... | arc_light
Dec 6, 2002 10:03 PM | | of boards of which you speak. It usually has nothing to do "newbies", but rather folks who jump on and post the kind of questions that have been answered a zillion times. It isn't that they don't want to help, but sometimes take offense to folks who can't be bothered to expend any sort of effort of their own, beforehand.
I could retire if I had a dollar for everytime I've seen the same types of questions posed 3, maybe even 4 times a day, day in, day out, where just taking the time to read back a few days worth of discussions would have given one what they desired.
On the other hand, IMO, your question here wouldn't qualify as the kind of question that comes up all that often, nor deserves the kind of snub you've experienced or seen happen elsewhere.
Welcome aboard RAC. |
| I should qualify my prior comments... | arc_light
Dec 6, 2002 10:17 PM | | by saying that I have rarely seen that type of behavior here. Much of what goes here has a lot to do with peoples experiences and their opinions about this, or that.
Many boards where the discussion can get cut and dried technical at times, a tad of basic knowledge is pretty much a prerequisite.
Now, if you want to witness some real losers at their best, I might suggest you visit some of the Canadian Junior hockey boards. Hold onto your hat. |
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