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Clipping

Audio Clipping

Distortion that occurs when an audio signal exceeds the maximum level a system can handle.

Technical Detail

In the audio processing pipeline, clipping affects how sound is captured, stored, and reproduced. Digital audio fundamentals — sample rate, bit depth, and channel count — determine the theoretical quality ceiling. The Web Audio API provides browser-native DSP (Digital Signal Processing) capabilities including gain control, filtering, spatialization, and real-time analysis. Understanding clipping is essential for optimizing audio delivery, where format choice can reduce file sizes by 70-90% with minimal perceptible quality loss.

Example

```javascript
// Clipping: Web Audio API example
const audioCtx = new AudioContext();
const response = await fetch('audio.mp3');
const buffer = await audioCtx.decodeAudioData(await response.arrayBuffer());
const source = audioCtx.createBufferSource();
source.buffer = buffer;
source.connect(audioCtx.destination);
source.start();
```

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