I wouldn't think it would be normal for the Matering engineer to be doing any song editing like what you tallking about unless it was absolutely necessary.

By the listen and looks of many releases of CD's over the last few years, digital overs or rather flat topped cliped waveforms are a fairly normal occurance. You can't replace what has been destroyed and taken away. I guess you try to draw and recreate the tops of the waveforms, but it's never going to be the same as it was before the damage was done.

And what constitutes a proper digial over error? Is it one sample that exceeds 0dbFS or something up to 20 consecetive samples? It seems to vary by device, and some devices let you define how you want to interpet how many samples that is.

Originally posted by AudioGaff:
I wouldn't think it would be normal for the Matering engineer to be doing any song editing like what you tallking about unless it was absolutely necessary.

By the listen and looks of many releases of CD's over the last few years, digital overs or rather flat topped cliped waveforms are a fairly normal occurance. You can't replace what has been destroyed and taken away. I guess you try to draw and recreate the tops of the waveforms, but it's never going to be the same as it was before the damage was done.

And what constitutes a proper digial over error? Is it one sample that exceeds 0dbFS or something up to 20 consecetive samples? It seems to vary by device, and some devices let you define how you want to interpet how many samples that is.

Audiogaff, thanks for your reply.

As far as what is normal I've never been interested in that. Half the stuff I work on is done in home studios by folks with marginal experience. I'll do whatever it takes to get the song to sound the best it can. I've never had much luck redrawing a wave. Maybe someone out there with some experience in this can give me some tips. Many digital overs will be okay as long as there are not too many consecutive samples. I trust my ears more than looking at the wave form. I'm talking here of the distortion heard when you do have enough samples in a row to make it audible. Just to put a finer focus on the question at hand I would like to set a few ground rules for this particular thread.

1- would prefer not to focus on a discussion on whose job this is.

2- would prefer not to focus on a discussion on how to avoid digital overs through proper levels, compression, limiting, etc.

3- would prefer not to focus on a discussion on how one should simply re-record the take.

4- am interested in a practical discussion on what folks here do to salvage a mix with one or two instances of enough consecutive samples to cause audible digital distortion.

4- am interested in a practical discussion on what folks here do to salvage a mix with one or two instances of enough consecutive samples to cause audible digital distortion.

I am interested as well. But I forsee a short thread of discussion as I can't imagine what practicle things can be done by anyone to material with audible distortion and/or damaged waveforms.

Best recommendation...don't get digital overs in the first place.

If you do get them there are some plugins that may help.

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=14

or

http://www.cedar-audio.com/news/sadieclick.html

or

http://www.jdklein.com/clickfix/

Plus there are many more that you can find on line with a little patience

or you could

Run Cool Edit Pro's 'Clip Restoration' feature to rebuildthe clipped peaks of the audio.

Just some ideas....

Thomas, thanks for the links. I tried to download the Sony demo. I put in the required authorization numbers but still got nothing but zipper noise. It was a pain going through their demo process especially after it didn't work when I was through with it all. Since overs are so common with mixes brought here I thought it was a weak point in my editing skills.

Where is the clipping occuring? During a kick or snare hit? I sometimes find that replacing a few milliseconds of the initial hit MAY do a good job at covering it up. Try to cut on the zero-crossing and use very fast crossfading.

If it's something like vocals, then, well, you might get by just shifting a part from before or after the clip and crossfading it over the clipped, making sure the phase or frequency response doesn't "jiggle" or go out of line. I've done similiar things like this before and it can work really well in some situations.

I've found that sonic foundry's Vegas is really an awsome program for these type of surgical jobs.

Yon, Thanks, that's the kind of practical response I've been looking for. I'll have to give it a try. The mix with the current problem is during a vocal part.