Clipbuddy - Bitwig Device

Clipbuddy is a Bitwig native device that allows for transparent hard clipping to tame instantaneous peaks on single instruments, sub groups, and master bus. When set correctly, you can often gain 3-5dB of headroom for subsequent devices in the signal chain, with no audible change in the signal. 

Compared to a limiter, the main difference is that a clipper will leave the signal below the threshold unaffected. However, a limiter can work very well after a clipper in a signal chain because the clipper will trim off the instantaneous peaks, letting the limiter work more with the RMS / dynamic material of the signal.

Basic Usage:

Load Clipbuddy onto a track, and adjust the 'Drive' knob up or down until no distortion is heard. Then bring down 'Clip Level' until you start hearing audible clipping, and then bring it back up until it's not producing an audible effect.

The oscilloscope in the 'Overview' tab shows amount of clipping being applied to the signal. The orange peaks show the amount of clipping being applied to the signal.

Macros:

Drive: Bipolar parameter to control amount of gain being sent into Clipbuddy.

Clip Level: The volume threshold at which Clipbuddy will start clipping signal.

Soft Clip: Controls knee shape of clipping curve. 0% is a hard clip effect, and 100% is a soft clip effect.

Gain Out: Transparent gain control to trim the output of the device, and has no effect on the clipping amount.

Osc Scale: Scales the y-axis of the oscilloscope, to allow for useful reading of a wide range of signal levels.