Clipper - is an effect that chops off the signal once it crosses a certain threshold. It doesn’t try to preserve the natural shape of the waveform — it simply cuts off anything that goes beyond the limit.

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Imagine you have a lump of dough. A limiter gently smooths it out to keep it within the baking mold. A clipper, on the other hand, just grabs a knife and slices off anything that sticks out! The dough stays flat — but with its edges cleanly chopped.

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Fun fact:

Clippers originally appeared by accident — in old analog consoles, when engineers “overloaded” the signal to get that warm, gritty, and slightly distorted character we now often seek out on purpose.