Clipping When Mastering: Causes and Fixes

Updated August 2026 · by Loopin

Clipping when mastering is almost always true-peak (inter-sample) clipping — your peaks exceed 0 dBFS, and lossy encoding pushes them over the edge. The fix is a true-peak limiter set to a −1 dBTP ceiling, real headroom in the mix, and not slamming the limiter for loudness. You can cap true peaks safely, free, in Loopin’s browser mastering.

Why your master is clipping

Clipping in mastering is usually not the obvious kind. It’s true-peak (inter-sample) clipping: your peaks push past 0 dBFS, and when the file is encoded to a lossy format for streaming, those inter-sample peaks get pushed over and distort. The distortion may not even be audible on your own system — it can appear only after the platform re-encodes your file, which is the worst time to discover it because it’s already published.

It often hides in plain sight because a normal sample-peak meter can miss it. The samples themselves may read just under 0, but the reconstructed waveform between samples overshoots — and that’s what clips on playback. This is why a master can look perfectly clean in your DAW and still come back distorted once it’s on Spotify or Apple Music.

The trigger is almost always the pursuit of loudness. To hit a competitive level people push the limiter and let the ceiling creep up to 0, which is exactly where inter-sample peaks turn into clipping after encoding. Keep some room and the problem disappears.

True-peak overshoot: peaks exceed 0 dBFS between samples
Lossy encoding: streaming conversion pushes borderline peaks over
No headroom left: the ceiling is at 0, leaving nothing for the encoder
Limiter slammed: chasing loudness drives peaks right up to the edge

Sample peak vs true peak

Here’s the trap: a sample-peak meter measures the level of each digital sample, but audio is reconstructed as a continuous wave on playback. The wave can rise higher between samples than any single sample reads — that overshoot is the true peak, and it’s invisible to a meter that only looks at sample values.

So a master that a sample-peak meter says is fine at −0.1 dBFS can still have true peaks above 0 dBTP. That’s why you meter and limit in dBTP, not dBFS, for the final ceiling. A true-peak limiter oversamples the signal to catch those between-sample overshoots and hold them below your ceiling — something a plain limiter or fader simply can’t do.

Sample peak (dBFS): level of individual samples — can miss overshoot
True peak (dBTP): the real reconstructed peak — what actually clips
A ‘clean’ sample-peak reading can still clip after lossy encoding
Always judge the final ceiling by a true-peak meter

The fix: a true-peak limiter with a safe ceiling

The reliable cure is a true-peak limiter that catches inter-sample peaks and holds them below a ceiling with a little room to spare. The extra dB below 0 is deliberate: it’s the headroom the lossy encoder needs so that when it reconstructs the waveform, even the overshoots stay under the line. Skip that headroom and you hand the encoder no margin at all. Use these targets:

Standard ceiling: −1 dBTP (safe for most streaming platforms)
Amazon Music: −2 dBTP (stricter peak requirement)
Mix headroom: bounce with peaks around −6 dB and no mix-bus limiter
Loudness: reach about −14 LUFS without slamming the limiter

Stop clipping step by step

Here’s the fastest path from a clipping master to a clean, safe one:

Go back to the mix — remove any mix-bus limiter and leave peaks around −6 dB of headroom.
Bounce to WAV at full quality, not a pre-limited MP3.
Open Loopin’s free mastering tool and drop the file in.
Let the true-peak limiter cap peaks at a −1 dBTP ceiling while loudness targets about −14 LUFS.
A/B against your original — check the peaks are controlled without the track sounding crushed.
Confirm the true peak reads −1 dBTP, then download the 16-bit WAV.
For Amazon Music, aim for a −2 dBTP ceiling instead.

Leave headroom in the mix

A lot of mastering clipping is actually imported from the mix. If you glue a limiter across the mix bus and bounce with peaks jammed against 0, the master stage has nothing to work with and true peaks sneak over. Worse, that mix-bus limiter has already flattened your transients, so the master stage inherits a squashed source and can’t undo the damage.

Mastering acts on the whole stereo file, so give it room. Bounce the mix with peaks around −6 dB and no mix-bus limiter, and let the master’s true-peak limiter be the one thing controlling the final ceiling. Headroom in the mix isn’t wasted level — it’s exactly the room the master stage needs to raise loudness cleanly and catch peaks in one place.

Remove the mix-bus limiter before bouncing
Peaks around −6 dB in the exported mix
One limiter — the true-peak one at the master stage
Full-quality WAV, so no pre-baked lossy clipping travels through

Common mistakes

Trusting a sample-peak meter — it can miss true peaks that clip after encoding.
Setting the ceiling at 0 dBFS — leave −1 dBTP (or −2 for Amazon) for the lossy encoder.
Slamming the limiter for loudness — pushing harder past −14 LUFS drives peaks to the edge and invites clipping.
Stacking a mix-bus limiter and a master limiter — that double-limiting is a common source of overshoot.
Mastering from a pre-clipped MP3 — the distortion is already baked in; start from a clean WAV.

Is it clipping or is it distortion from the mix?

If you hear crackle even before the limiter, the clipping may be coming from the mix — an individual track or the mix bus clipping internally. That’s a mix problem, and no true-peak ceiling on the master will remove distortion that’s already recorded into the file. Once a clipped waveform is printed into the bounce, it’s permanent; the limiter downstream only controls the file’s outer level, not the crackle baked inside it.

Mastering works on the finished stereo file, so fix internal clipping in the mix first — find the track that’s overloading, pull it down, and clear any red on the mix bus — then bounce clean with headroom. Once the source is clean, the master stage’s true-peak limiter handles the final ceiling — drop it into Loopin’s mastering tool and let it cap peaks at −1 dBTP.

Fix it free

Loopin’s online mastering ends in a true-peak limiter that holds peaks at a −1 dBTP ceiling while targeting about −14 LUFS — all in your browser, free, no signup, nothing uploaded, no watermark. Drop in your mix, A/B it, and download a clean 16-bit WAV that won’t clip on streaming.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my master clipping?

It’s usually true-peak (inter-sample) clipping — peaks exceed 0 dBFS and lossy encoding pushes them over. Use a true-peak limiter set to a −1 dBTP ceiling, leave headroom in the mix, and don’t slam the limiter chasing loudness.

What is inter-sample clipping?

Audio is reconstructed as a continuous wave on playback, and that wave can rise higher between samples than any single sample reads. Those true peaks can exceed 0 dBFS and clip after lossy encoding, even when a sample-peak meter looks clean.

What true-peak ceiling should I use?

Use −1 dBTP for most streaming platforms, which leaves headroom for lossy encoding. For Amazon Music, use a stricter −2 dBTP ceiling. A true-peak limiter enforces this, unlike a plain sample-peak meter.

Does a sample-peak meter show clipping?

Not always. Sample-peak metering measures individual samples and can miss true peaks that overshoot between them. Judge your final ceiling with a true-peak (dBTP) meter and limiter instead.

Can I fix mastering clipping for free?

Yes. Loopin’s free browser mastering ends in a true-peak limiter at a −1 dBTP ceiling, runs entirely in your browser with nothing uploaded, and exports a clean 16-bit WAV.