I'm hearing more and more people saying that inter-sample peaks (ISPs) are just a theoretical issue, and won't have any real impact on the sound we hear. Some have even gone as far as to call them a "hoax".

That's not my view - in my experience hard clipping is almost always a problem, and there have been plenty of times when I've thought I heard a problem with ISPs above zero. Plus the R128 broadcast standards and online streaming guidelines suggest we avoid inter-sample peaks above -1 dBTP.

But I've never tested this fully... until now.

In this video I explain what inter-sample peaks are and how they occur, and why they might be a problem.

More importantly I show you how to do a real-world test to see if ISP clipping can be audible – and the results surprised me !

Take a listen and see what you think...

I was recently invited to speak by the Audio Engineering Society in Cambridge.

The talk was also streamed online and had several hundred people watching from all over the world, but not everyone was to watch live at the time.

The good news is that the full replay is available now, and you can watch it for free above.

I hope you enjoy the talk !

Ian

Can you take advantage of the Loudness Penalty and use it to your advantage ?

Short answer - yes, you can !

Want to see how, and hear a real-life example ? Watch the video above.

I'm using my Perception AB plugin in the video, but you can use exactly the same technique with any loudness meter - probably including the one included with your DAW. Perception just makes it faster and easier 🙂

The video is only 15 minutes long, but if you get curious then I'm sure you'll also enjoy this webinar where I show exactly the settings I used to re-master the song. The full 90-minute replay is still online - click here to watch.

I hope you find the videos useful !

People are always asking me - what limiters do you recommend for mastering?

And often, I dodge the question.

But not today.

In this video, I show you two of my favourite mastering limiters, explain why I like them, and demonstrate the differences between them with a challenging example.

(I also explain why I don't love answering this question, along the way, plus digging into the topic of clipping versus limiting, the benefits and problems with each, and quickly test the new Slate FG-X 2 plugin.)

Take a look !