Question about Digital vs. Analog
On Sunday, February 10, 2019 at 8:22:32 AM UTC-6, Scott Dorsey wrote:
James Price wrote:
What's the differentiating factor between digital clipping at the input sta=
ge, and its effect on the end result, compared to how an analog guitar ampl=
ifier sounds when boosted?
This is not a digital vs. analogue question. You are asking whether clipping
the analogue input of an ADC is different than clipping the analogue input of
a guitar amplifier.
And... the answer is.... it depends a lot on the ADC and on the amplifier.
In both cases you're creating a lot of odd harmonics, but the actual
spectrum varies a lot. You can likely assume both are nonlinear but
time-invariant (although there used to be some ADCs that would stick to
the rails when clipped).
To refine the question, if I'm recording guitar using a digital amp / guita=
r cab simulator into a DAW and the input of the guitar is clipping, how doe=
s that clipping affect the digital amp / cab and what's the end result at t=
he output end (after the amp / cab) compared to an analog amplifier with hu=
ge amounts of input boost?
It will sound different because the spectrum is different.
But you're using this as a musical instrument. If it sounds the way you
want, do it.
But be aware that although most guitar amps are designed with the intention
of clipping them, most ADC designers didn't spent a lot of time worrying about
clipping behaviour because they didn't expect people to use them that way.
So you're likely to find that no two ADCs sound quite the same way when
overloaded.
I was under the impression that the primary difference is that overloading
the front end of the ADC would potentially produce digital hard clipping at
the output, that is assuming the amp sim's volume isn't set particularly low
and the input level is cranked high enough. For example, a 50 dB boost applied
to the input of an ADC vs. an analog amp. Both will clip, but my presumption
was that the ADC would produce digital hard clipping in the form of a square
waveform, whereas hard clipping in the analog amp would produce a waveform
that wasn't chopped.
|