Detect Clipping in WAV Audio
Scan uncompressed WAV samples for full-scale clipping, then get counts, timestamps, longest runs, and the worst distorted regions.
About this tool
Digital clipping happens when audio samples hit full scale and flatten against the ceiling. A waveform can look mostly fine while a few short runs of full-scale samples create harsh clicks, crunch, or distortion. This tool decodes a short uncompressed WAV clip and reports exactly where those clipped samples occur.
Paste WAV bytes as base64 (default) or hex. The detector supports uncompressed RIFF/WAVE PCM (8/16/24/32-bit integer) and IEEE float WAV (32/64-bit). It counts individual clipped samples, sample-frames with any clipped channel, the longest consecutive run, the overall peak in dBFS, and the worst regions with start/end timestamps.
Worked example
The sample preset contains an 8 Hz mono WAV with three consecutive full-scale samples. Run it with the default 0.99 threshold and you will see one clipped region from 0:00.250 to 0:00.625, 3 of 8 clipped samples, and a longest run of 3 frames. Set Output to json when you want structured counts and region objects for another script.
Controls
- Threshold is the absolute sample magnitude that counts as clipped.
0.99catches true 0 dBFS peaks with a small guard band;1.0only catches exact full-scale samples. - Minimum run length filters out single-sample spikes. Audacity's classic clipping check uses
3consecutive clipped samples. - Bridge gap merges runs separated by a few clean frames so one distorted burst is not split into many tiny regions.
- Worst regions limits how many regions are listed, ranked by length and then by peak.
Limits and edge cases
This is a sample scanner, not a decoder for every audio format. Convert MP3, AAC/M4A, FLAC, Ogg/Opus, A-law, or mu-law audio to uncompressed WAV first, then paste those bytes here. Very large audio should be clipped to the section you want to inspect before base64/hex encoding; the page is designed for short diagnostic clips. Stereo and multichannel files are scanned frame-by-frame: one clipped channel makes the frame count as clipped, while the sample count still counts every clipped channel sample.
FAQ
What does "clipping" mean?
Clipping means a sample reached the maximum representable amplitude, so the waveform is flattened at the top or bottom instead of following the original shape. A few isolated full-scale samples may be harmless, but consecutive runs often mean audible distortion.
Why do I need WAV bytes instead of uploading an MP3?
This pure WebAssembly tool inspects decoded PCM samples directly. MP3/AAC/FLAC/Ogg need a codec decode step first, so they are rejected with a clear message rather than guessed at. Convert the file or the suspect section to uncompressed WAV, then paste its base64 or hex bytes.
Which threshold should I use?
Use 0.99 for a practical scan: it catches samples that are effectively full-scale even if a codec or export step nudged them slightly below 1.0. Use 1.0 when you only want mathematically exact full-scale samples. Lower values such as 0.95 are useful for finding near-clipping headroom problems.
What is a clipped region?
A region is a consecutive run of sample-frames where at least one channel is clipped. min_run decides how long the run must be before it is listed, and gap can bridge a few clean frames between clipped frames when one distorted burst is broken into fragments.
Developer & Automation Access
Run it from the terminal
Same engine as this page, headless — via the gizza CLI:
gizza tool clipping-detector "UklGRjQAAABXQVZFZm10IBAAAAABAAEACAAAABAAAAACABAAZGF0YRAAAADNDJkZ/3//f/9/ZibNDAAA"New to the CLI? Get gizza →
Open it by URL
Pre-fill and auto-run this tool with query parameters — the names match the API/CLI:
https://gizza.ai/tools/clipping-detector/?input=UklGRjQAAABXQVZFZm10IBAAAAABAAEACAAAABAAAAACABAAZGF0YRAAAADNDJkZ%2F3%2F%2Ff%2F9%2FZibNDAAA&input_format=base64&output=report&threshold=0.99&min_run=1&gap=0&top_regions=5Machine-readable descriptor: tool.json — title + parameters JSON Schema for agents.