page 3 – 42
AM-10HD / Aug 2008
A M - 1 0 H D G U I
Clipper Threshold Adjustment Screen
Multiband Mode
The 10‑band limiter has three different operating modes in the
AM‑10HD.
Limit & Clip – In this mode each of the 10 limiter bands oper‑
ates with its own distortion‑masked clipper. The benefit of this
mode is that when the limiter bands are operated with relatively
long (>10mS) attack times the embedded clippers offer excellent
control of audio peak energy without using conventional dynam‑
ics control to accomplish the peak limiter function.
Limit Only – In this mode each of the 10 limiter bands operates
without the benefit of its embedded clipper. This mode is useful for formats
that are less competitive and/or where the ten band limiters can be operated
with short (<10mS) attack times without causing excessive distortion in the
main clipper.
Clip Only – This mode allows the 10‑band distortion masked clippers to oper‑
ate on their own and without the 10 band limiters. This can be an extremely
transparent (and loud!) mode of operation of the 10‑band section, but it also
requires the most care in the setting of drive levels. This is because continu‑
ous deep clipping (above 3dB to 6dB) can exceed the masking capability of
our distortion control scheme and some distortion, particularly in the mid
band frequency region, can become audible*.
* This is a normal consequence of the design of the 10‑band limiter. It does
not need, and therefore does not have, the high dynamic range distortion
masking algorithms that the main clipper has (and needs!).
