ModulTone ModulTone MS Clipper

ModulTone’s MS Clipper,

Hold the middle with Limit so the vocal and the kick keep their shape, and run the sides through Fold, where the waveform turns back on itself and the cymbals get their edge.

Both lanes have their own shape, drive and knee. Clipping the mid and the side separately is a different operation from clipping left and right separately, even with identical settings on both.

A nonlinearity does not commute with the mid/side matrix, which is why the Stereo/Mid-Side switch is a mode of its own.

Clipping shapes:

– Soft.

A quadratic knee that meets the line at slope 1 and arrives flat. The most forgiving of the five, and it adds a little harmonic colour as it catches transients.

– Hard.

A corner. Anything past the ceiling gets cut, and the brightest of the five as a result. Best at raising perceived loudness.

– Limit.

Reaches the ceiling by pulling gain down instead of bending the waveform. The everyday setting, and the one that leaves character alone. Knee sets its release.

– Sine.

A sinusoidal knee: the longest, smoothest approach to the ceiling of the four that clip.

– Fold.

The same sine curve left unclamped, so the waveform folds back on itself past the quarter turn. Loud, obvious, and the reason the side lane has its own shape selector.