From: Thomas Martitz <kugel_at_rockbox.org>
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2012 22:48:53 +0200

Am 15.10.2012 22:38, schrieb Alex Parker:
> On 07/10/12 12:37, Alex Parker wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Seeing as we have replaygain turned on by default, I think it'd make
>> sense to turn on prevent clipping by default too. Anyone object to me
>> doing this?
>>
>> Alex
>
> So the debate has raged on somewhat here:
>
> http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,38781.0.html
>
> Final thoughts?
>
> In a probably futile attempt to get anyone to reply, if nobody does by
> next weekend I'll turn on prevent clipping by default :)


I don't think we should turn it on by default.

a) It imposes quite a CPU load on affected files, since it requires more
DSP processing (in contrast to just replay gain).

b) Also, I think it may alter the sound (even if it only affects volume)
too much in certain cases. Especially on albums the songs may become
unequally load (because the clipping protection turns down some songs
more than others).

c) People (including me) may prefer to risk some slight clipping over
unequal loudness throughout albums, especially since it comes with a
battery life cost. But then I haven't really heard clipping in my
collection. Anyway, I have turned it off and would explicitly do this if
it becomes default.

I can see clipping protection be a useful feature for many people. But
it's not without drawbacks and for me it's more of an anti-feature, so I
vote against this.

Best regards.
Received on 2012-10-15