What Does Clipping Sound Like?

myork

I was listening to music yesterday, I had the volume on my Denon 3805 up to -30 in Direct mode through my RTi10s, and in some more involved portions of the songs I begin to hear a clicking noise that seemed to come from the tweeters. It sounded like when an air purifier zaps the air in a smokey room. I immediately turned the volume down and it went away, so I went to the receiver to see if it was hot. It was warm, but no warmer than usual (I have heard that the 3805s run warm). There wasn't any distortion - only this clicking noise.

I dont listen at this volume level often, but I'm pretty sure I have listened to this same music at this volume before (Gov't Mule - Blind Man in The Dark if you must know) and never heard this before.

Is this clipping? Why has it not happened before (the receiver is about a year old and the speakers are 10 months old)? It was pretty warm in NJ yesterday, but I didnt think the receiver was running hotter than normal.

Don't wan't to ruin my speakers, please help!

Thanx in advance!

Dennis Gardner

If the clipping happens only randomly as music transients reach the amp limits, then it can sound like clicking.Turning it up so loud that all content is an overload, usually gives a compressed sound through your speakers, the highs and lows just go away and only the middle frequencies are let through. All amps handle clipping in differnt manners. Same have electronic circuits that allow for a "soft clip" while others are very abrupt.

Clipping effects tweeters the most, since when an amp can't deliver the smooth wave of sound at the volume level you requested, it clips off the top of the wave and sends a "square wave" which is very difficult for the tweeter to duplicate.

Heavy bass content requires lots of amp power and the tweeter gets blown most often, since they are more delicate.

steveinaz

The most hideous/common sound is cone breakup--like a cheap car stereo being pushed too hard. By then, you're way into clipping.

gregure

The 3805 is a good unit, and -30 is not that loud on it. It should be able to drive the 10's better than that. Honestly, I think there is something wrong with one of your components.

aaharvel

(kicccckkkkkkk! kicccckkkkkk!)

mulveling

Originally posted by gregure
The 3805 is a good unit, and -30 is not that loud on it. It should be able to drive the 10's better than that. Honestly, I think there is something wrong with one of your components.

Yep, I agree. I've heard LSi's driven FAR louder than that by the 3805 (up to -4db ! :eek: Not mine though, they were hifi buys floor models ) and there were no problems at all. -30db should be nothing for that receiver unless something in the audio chain is defective.

billbillw

I have a Denon from the same series. I frequently listen at -10 db and higher. Unless you really have a high gain source unit, or have the speaker level adjustments set high, you should have no problem with -30.

myork

Thanx for the input, I did some critical louder listening today and I couldn't recreate the problem.

I guess it could be the source equipment, IDK. I have my cd collection ripped to a PC using the onboard sound card connected to an optical input on the receiver. I have the music ripped at a pretty good bitrate - 350kbps ogg files.

The only thing that is different in the mix is I updated Winamp to version 5.09. It did install kinda funky, I'll do some more checking and see if it could have been the culprit.

billbillw

Originally posted by myork
Thanx for the input, I did some critical louder listening today and I couldn't recreate the problem.

I guess it could be the source equipment, IDK. I have my cd collection ripped to a PC using the onboard sound card connected to an optical input on the receiver. I have the music ripped at a pretty good bitrate - 350kbps ogg files.

The only thing that is different in the mix is I updated Winamp to version 5.09. It did install kinda funky, I'll do some more checking and see if it could have been the culprit.

OK, that makes sense. Playing from a computer can introduce all kinds of problems. I frequently get bad rips with that kind of chirping/clicking noise when I play back the MP3. Sound card drivers can be pretty unstable at times too, especially Creative's.