UnClip

Controls

Output

Applies output trim from -24 to 0 dB after reconstruction. Default: 0 dB.

Output never adds gain and does not change what the detector repairs.

Amber lamp

Bypasses UnClip. The lamp and the host's bypass control operate the same parameter. Lit means active; dim means bypassed.

The status display shows READY while no accepted samples are being reconstructed and REPAIRING while repair is active.

How UnClip behaves

Clipping does not always remain at 0 dBFS. A recording may have been clipped, turned down and converted to another bit depth before it reaches UnClip. The detector therefore looks for short plateaus and their surrounding shape rather than assuming a fixed clipping level.

Repeated compatible peaks establish evidence for a positive or negative clipping ceiling. UnClip can then recognize shorter events at the same ceiling. A larger sample on that side invalidates the remembered ceiling.

Accepted areas are reconstructed with a sparse spectral method. Surrounding clean samples provide context, but only samples accepted as clipped are replaced. Positive and negative peaks are handled separately, and stereo channels are analyzed independently.

UnClip has no limiter, hidden normalization or automatic gain reduction. Reconstructed peaks can exceed 0 dBFS inside a floating-point host. Use Output when the next processor or final export needs more headroom.

UnClip reports approximately 99.4–99.5 ms of latency at 44.1 and 48 kHz. The host can compensate for this delay during playback and export. Bypass uses a short crossfade to a dry path delayed by the same amount, so switching bypass does not move the track in time.

Reconstruction runs on a background worker to reduce audio-thread load. If a repair cannot finish by its sample-count deadline, UnClip plays latency-matched dry audio for that area instead of interrupting playback.

UnClip supports mono-to-mono and stereo-to-stereo processing. It is intended for editing, restoration and mixing rather than latency-sensitive live monitoring.

There are no factory sound presets. UnClip has one automatic repair behavior.

Features

• Automatic reconstruction of short hard-clipped peaks.
• Detects clipping that has been turned down after the original overload.
• Replaces only samples accepted as clipped.
• Sparse spectral reconstruction with fixed, bounded processing.
• No threshold, sensitivity or repair amount control.
• Output trim from -24 to 0 dB.
• Host-linked, latency-compensated bypass.
• Mono and stereo operation.
• Internal double-precision processing.
• Approximately 99.5 ms of reported latency at 44.1 and 48 kHz.
• VST3 for Windows, macOS and Linux.
• Audio Unit for macOS.
• Native Apple Silicon and Intel support on macOS.

Installing

VST3 (Windows)

Copy UnClip.vst3 to:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\

VST3 (Linux)

Copy UnClip.vst3 to:

~/.vst3/

macOS

Run:

UnClip-<version>.pkg

The installer includes both VST3 and Audio Unit. Use Customize during installation if you only want one of them.

Your host may need a plugin rescan or restart before UnClip appears. UnClip declares the Restoration category in VST3 hosts; the exact location can vary between hosts. Audio Unit hosts may also need their Audio Unit cache refreshed.