In Summary

As well as Auto Gain level setting, Scarlett 4th Gen has its own antidote for those unexpected level jumps that hit the red lights. See and hear Clip Safe in action as we check it out for ourselves to see how well it works.

Going Deeper

The Perfect Level

It could be said that setting recording input gain has never been easier. Pre-digital, engineers had to stay well out of the noise floor during quiet sections without pinning their channel or tape at the other end when things got hot. 24 bit recording now gives any well-designed desktop box the kind of dynamic range that engineers twenty years ago would have killed for.

Added to the dynamic delights that digital recording delivers, a more recent development has been devices that set the level for users. These interfaces are aimed at recording creators who might be invested in more pressing issues like having a song to record in the first place… These all have a similar MO, where the user presses a button and then plays while the box listens and sets the gain.

Using Scarlett 4th Gen Clip Safe

Enhancing the 4th generation Scarlett range’s Auto Gain party piece is its Clip Safe tech. This tracks the input level and can ride the gain away from clipping on unexpected peaks where needed.

Using a source with a well-known tendency to tip the balance on recordings, in the video we try out Clip Safe on piano. Having set a safe level with plenty of headroom using Auto Gain, we then deliberately dig in to hit the red lights.

For an identical performance, we then use MIDI to retrigger the piano, this time with Clip Safe engaged with impressive results…

What Does Clip Safe Actually Do?

On a per-sample basis (up to 96kHz), Clip Safe achieves its results through a combination of analogue preamp adjustment and DSP to track the input level and make adjustments. What makes this significant is where the processing is happening, and Clip Safe is unique on a product in this price range, as it is doing the same thing as the analogue limiting found in front of the converters in high-end field recorders. What is different is a digitally-controlled analogue preamp doing the ‘limiting’ instead of a dedicated limiter.

Although many will recognise Clip Safe as doing the same thing as a limiter, its actual purpose is to let recording creators get on with the task in hand, which in their own mind is not audio engineering.

In Safe Hands?

Pros will have their own opinions on what a good recording level looks like, however auto-setting boxes aimed at recording musicians solve a problem and will undoubtedly make their recordings better.

Clip Safe can be used with either Auto Gain or manually-set levels as a great fail safe option. This will really suit those who know what they want their level to look like. It could be argued that 24 bit recordings mean that levels can be set way down low, making Clip Safe redundant. That said, most engineers instinctively will want their average level to hover around near the middle of their meter - even this level of margin can get crunchy with that sneaky level adjustment beween takes courtesy of the performer…

Knowing what Clip Safe can tolerate will become known with more use on a wider range of sources, but in our test, Clip Safe works really well. It doesn’t over or under-correct, so unless conditions are totally predictable, it provides all the advantages of working in the meter’s sweet spot without the spectre of red lights from the keyboard player’s volume knob…

A Word About This Article

As the Experts team considered how we could better help the community we thought that some of you are time poor and don’t have the time to read a long article or a watch a long video. In 2023 we are going to be trying out articles that have the fast takeaway right at the start and then an opportunity to go deeper if you wish. Let us know if you like this idea in the comments.