LF Audio | Help Center

Clip Detection

basic

What Clipping Is

Clipping happens when the signal coming out of an amplifier (or going into one) is asked to exceed the maximum voltage it can produce. The waveform's peaks get cut flat ("clipped") instead of staying smooth. Clipped signals sound harsh, generate large amounts of high-frequency distortion, and are the leading cause of blown tweeters and burned voice coils.

Clip detection in the WVC watches every output channel in real time and warns you the moment a channel starts losing headroom, so you can pull volume or gain back before damage is done.

Note

Per-channel clip detection requires WVC firmware 3.10.0 or newer. Older firmware versions still detect clipping on the front channels, but the per-channel CLIP badges and severity tiers described here only appear once the WVC, daughtercard (WVC-PRO-6 only), and connected knobs and RTC units have all been updated.

Where You'll See Clip Warnings

The same clip-severity stream drives indicators across the entire LF Audio ecosystem:

  • AuralSync app: a CLIP badge appears next to the affected channel on the spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope views, on the device card, and in the channel list.
  • RTC: the spectrum, oscilloscope, hi-res FFT, and waterfall screens show a CLIP badge on the channel currently being viewed.
  • WVC-PRO-6 daughtercard touchscreen: clipping channels are flagged on the per-channel data displays.
  • Pilot and other LF Audio remote displays that show FFT visualizations also light up a clip glyph for the active channel.

All four use the same yellow / orange / red severity scale, so what you see on your phone matches what the system is showing on its own displays.

Severity Tiers

Color Severity What it means What to do
Yellow Mild Occasional, brief clipping. Most listeners won't hear it on music. Generally safe, but consider trimming volume a bit if you see it often.
Orange Moderate Audible distortion is starting. Sustained transients are clipping. Turn down the volume or reduce input gain. Speakers are not yet at high risk, but distortion will be obvious.
Red Severe Continuous, hard clipping. The amplifier is being driven well past its rails. Reduce gain or volume immediately. Sustained red-level clipping is the fastest way to destroy tweeters and overheat voice coils.

The detector responds quickly: clipping that starts now will typically show up within a fraction of a second, not several seconds later.

Adjusting Clip Detection Sensitivity

The Clip Detection setting has four options: Off, Low (default), Medium, and High. Off disables clip detection entirely; Low through High are progressively more sensitive:

Level What it does When to use
Off Turns clip detection off entirely. No CLIP badges appear on any view, and no per-channel clip data is sent to displays. Bench measurements, shows where you want a clean display, or chains you already know are clean. Not recommended for everyday listening, since real clipping can damage speakers and amplifier inputs.
Low (default) Flags only clear, obvious clipping (the classic flat-topped waveform). Stays quiet on loud-but-clean music and deep sub-bass content. Most users. The recommended starting point. Catches dangerous hard clipping without complaining about loud playback.
Medium The historical tuning shipped with earlier firmware. Flags clear clipping and moderate clipping that has just crossed into audible distortion. Daily listening when you want a useful middle ground, or when tuning a new install.
High The most sensitive setting. Catches subtle soft-clipping and codec saturation in music (heavily compressed source material that arrives already dynamically squashed) in addition to clear clipping. Tuning sessions where you are looking for any clipping event, sensitive measurements, or systems with delicate components (high-frequency drivers, ribbon tweeters) where any clipping is unacceptable. May be too eager for everyday listening.

If you find the badges appearing more often than you'd like, step down one level. If you want the earliest possible warning of any clipping event, step up. Choosing Off disables all clip indicators across every view.

See Signal Analysis Features for a deeper breakdown of what each level catches and the recommended use case for each.

Note

The Clip Detection sensitivity control requires WVC firmware 4.1.0 or newer on WVC-PRO and WVC-PRO-6 hardware.

Tip

The Clip Detection level stays in sync everywhere. Change it in the AuralSync app, on the WVC touchscreen, or on the Knob, and the new value applies across all three.

Coverage

Clip detection runs on every output channel the WVC produces:

  • Stereo WVC variants: CH1 and CH2 (front left/right).
  • WVC-PRO-6: CH1 through CH6 (all six output channels).
  • WVC-LITE: front channels only, since LITE has no rear/sub processing.

If a channel isn't physically present on your hardware (for example, channels 5/6 on a stereo WVC), no badge will ever appear for it.

Why a Channel Might Show Yellow at Normal Volumes

A few common, non-emergency reasons you might see a yellow badge:

  • High preout source. If your head unit puts out 4 V or more and you've also added gain in the WVC, the input stage can clip before the amp does. Pull WVC gain down (see Channel Groups: Gain Calculator).
  • Bass-boosted material. Heavy rebass or sub-30 Hz content has very high peak-to-average ratios, so peaks can clip even when the song doesn't sound loud.
  • One channel hotter than the rest. If only one channel shows yellow, check that channel's gain in the app. It may be set higher than the rest of the system.

These are tuning issues, not failures. Adjust the gain or input level until the badge stays clear at the volumes you actually listen at.

Clean-Tone False Positives Are Fixed

Earlier firmware could occasionally light up a CLIP badge on clean test tones or pure low-frequency content even when nothing was clipping. Firmware 3.10.0 reworked the detector so a clean sine wave at any volume the amp can actually reproduce no longer triggers it. If you're testing with a tone generator and seeing CLIP at moderate levels on 3.10.0+, the signal is genuinely clipping; check your gain structure.