Avoid Clipping When Increasing the Signal Level

Processors often increase the signal level. If you are not careful, your file may be distorted when it exits the batch. To prevent this, you can use the Only if Clipping option of the Level Normalizer multipass plug-in.

It is no problem for the signal to be amplified above 0 dB (full level) within the audio stream, because WaveLab Pro uses 64-bit internal processing. There is a lot of extra headroom and the signal will not be clipped. However, when a signal that exceeds 0 dB is converted to a 16-bit file at the output of the Batch Processor, clipping occurs.

To remedy this, you can insert the Normalizer effect at the end of the signal chain. The Normalizer raises or lowers the levels so that the signal peaks exactly at the specified value just before it is converted to a file. This is useful to do even when Only if Clipping is not activated.

If you only want the Normalizer to be applied to avoid clipping, activate Only if Clipping. When this is activated, the signal output may be low, but the audio does not clip due to amplification within any of the processors.

This allows you to use the Normalizer as a completely distortion-free limiter.

If you reduce the bit depth, add the dithering plug-in after the Normalizer plug-in.