I have been using Ash Ultra and I compared it with Standard Clip, KClip.

When comparing these, I found out Standard Clip & KClip sounded a bit brighter than the source if they gets pushed a bit.
ASH Ultra retained the source file also made it a bit punchy, It's not a fluke I did this test many times in the last two years.

Also, there is one thread of MWTM (MixWithTheMasters) where Jaycen Joshua talked about replacing StandardClip with ASH Ultra or Gold Clip, I don't know the entire conversation cause it's for MWTM Members only forum.

I haven't tried Gold Clip...
Has any of you guys tried Gold Clip?
How does it compare with ASH Ultra?

 

don't push so hard on the clipper, it just makes a mess of the audio. Clip 1db then limiter

Gold clip when pushed hard will sound like a dull watery mess

 

Genesis Lavry Gold preset.

 

I agree for mastering purposes I use it like that only. These days I am just going with my ears and automating the clipping happening between sections, sounds cool.

On tracks, I usually push them a bit more like on snares, hihats & other drum & perc sounds.

Other clippers like StandardClip & KClip sounds brighter compared to ASH Ultra idk why. Also I tried everything on StandardClip like Different Modes, Oversampling, Oversampling Filters & Everything.

 

I didn't get it, Can you give a link or explain a bit?

 

that is how it looks when talking about gear you've never seen in your life.

 

Fire the clip sounds better than ash. It pushes the bass more and has a wider image. Some mastering guys prefer fire the clip. I haven't tried gold clip but the dry wet function is noticeable.

 

Gold Clip is nice, but if you are going to demo it via iLok, see if they also have an Orange Clip trial also. I tried them both when Orange Clip was first released and I actually liked it more. Orange Clip was their second plugin and at the time it seemed more complete, like they had learned things from the first one. Maybe after some rounds of updates, that may be no longer true.

 

Have you tried Standard Clip on the Soft Clip Pro mode? Also, have you tried to clip without oversampling? I use those settings in 80% of my tracks.

 

I've tried KClip, Standard Clip, Saturate, and a few others, and I failed the blind test I set up. Saturate almost won, but by definition, I still failed. I think once you're pushing the clippers to the point where you can actually hear a noticeable difference between them, you're stepping into sound design territory, which is totally fine. But if that's the case, why would anyone choose the most "transparent" or "better sounding" option?

I know you didn't ask about this, but it's such a funny bit of minutiae that I couldn't help but remember the blind test I ran a couple of years ago.

Anyways, check Saturate (Newfangled Audio) if you haven't already.

 

If you engage soft saturation on Pro mode of StandardClip you will get more gradual, pre ceiling saturation, that will prevent sudden spikes if you push the sound it into the ceiling, acting like a soft knee control on a limiter.

On my usage i generally don't push clippers on high GR values. Limiters tend to deal better with the sound for that purpose.

 

They changed the waveform display and a few other things with the Kclip3 update version 3.6. I rolled it back to v3.5.1.

There are so many good ones and different uses, and if you are using them all over the place to shave; you have more than enough opportunities to try them out. They are not big plugins with massive content to fill up storage space. You have to be careful no matter what you do with them and usually they benefit from some fine tuning (esp. listening to just the delta), unless you want to really hear the clipper. There is no reason you cannot add DMG Limitless after one.

 

Fr

 

Interesting!! Dale Becker uses that one in mastering. Recently, A review got added to GOLD CLIP reviews on the official Schwabe Digital Website, He said he mastered an album using GOLD as his Final Limiter/Clipper.

Interesting that you say FTC sounds better!! I haven't tried FTC but I compared ASH vs ASH Ultra, they both sound different when you use the AA+ Oversampling in the ASH Ultra. And really sounds better to me.

On gearspace somebody from acustica said ASH is a improved version of FTC, FTC was "old technology"
here is the comment
https://gearspace.com/board/showthread.php?p=16311832

Did you compare Fire the clip with ASH ULTRA with AA+ Oversampling? ASH Ultra has this different "AA+" Oversampling which sounds different than the ASH's regular oversampling.

 

fr indeed. Mentioning a preset attempts to lend credibility to randomly mentioning hardware you don't own in a thread about plugins.

Now, is that worse than an "engineer" spending thousands of dollars on a piece of gear to use presets? Someone else can pick.

 

Yes, I've tried that one too. StandardClip has a different transient response compared to all the others.

Standard Clip
- Brighter Frequency response after clipping
- Clear Transient (Like it's best skill is to retain transient specially the high frequency transient)
- Because it has a clear high frequency transient response, in the end it sounds like you lost some meat in the bass region. But that might because it retains the higher frequency transient a bit better than lows. Tested it several times.

ASH Ultra
- Flat frequency response after clipping
- Forward Transient Response, it makes every sound a bit forward like it gets closer to you and sounds a bit punchy too.
- It's really close to lavry, It wins when comparing with other clippers in terms of the audio sounding a bit punchy and forward after clipping.
- When comparing with Lavry, Lavry has this Thumpy Low end Boost, you can mimic this with Wavesfactory Spectre before pushing into ASH ULTRA.
Here is a comparison

 

I've compared Saturate too with all the other clippers.
It sounds different and it has a different clipping point, It does something to the low end that's why I don't use it on the master. On tracks, ASH Ultra sounds punchier also doesn't mess with the frequency spectrum.

Saturate is a Spectral Clipper, It tends to alter the sound when you push a bit.
I've tested this many times on a Linn Drum kit.
ASH Ultra sounds very clear in comparison. I've tested it many many times, never really loved Saturate tbh even in blind tests.

 

You know that you can tweak and even completely disable the 'spectral' aspect of Saturate, right? Unrelated question, do you happen to have a favorite EQ that you consider to be cleaner than all the rest?

 

Yup, tried that one too.

Idk why Standard Clip Sounds brighter when pushed in comparison with ASH Ultra on every Standard Clip mode also also with Soft Saturator Dials in StandardClip. Specially on Drums & Masters.

 

I asked the AI to create a little shootout comparison of the mentioned so far clippers, and a few I use which aren't mentioned yet.

Spoiler

▶️ ULTIMATE CLIPPER PLUGIN SHOOTOUT + CHAINING GUIDE
(Comparing 11+ top clipper plugins for mastering, mixbus, drums, and vocals — with tier lists and chaining tips. Focus is on clipping behavior, sound character, CPU use, and best use cases. OS/DAW support not covered.)

PLUGINS COVERED:

• Acustica Ash Ultra
  
  
• Acustica Fire The Clip
  
  
• Kazrog KClip 3
  
  
• SIR Audio StandardCLIP
  
  
• Schwabe Gold Clip
  
  
• Schwabe Orange Clip
  
  
• Brainworx bx_clipper
  
  
• Black Salt Audio Clipper
  
  
• Acustica Diamond Lift Master
  
  
• Fuse Audio Ocelot Clipper
  
  
• Newfangled Audio Saturate

PLUGIN COMPARISON
Acustica Ash Ultra

• Sound: Ultra-clean, precise, transparent
  
  
• Clipping: Digital; surgical transient shaving
  
  
• CPU: Very High
  
  
• Best For: Mastering, post-limiter cleanup
  
  
• Avoid For: Analog vibe, grit

Acustica Fire The Clip

• Sound: Clean-to-colored depending on mode
  
  
• Clipping: Variable soft/hard; dynamic IRs
  
  
• CPU: Medium-High
  
  
• Best For: Mixbus, mastering glue
  
  
• Avoid For: Real-time fast clipping

Kazrog KClip 3

• Sound: Flexible — clean or analog-style
  
  
• Clipping: Shapeable slope; multiband, M/S, pre-EQ
  
  
• CPU: Low-Medium
  
  
• Best For: Universal — mix, master, drums, vocals
  
  
• Avoid For: N/A — jack of all trades

SIR Audio StandardCLIP

• Sound: Transparent, soft touch warmth
  
  
• Clipping: True hard/soft, oversample, waveform view
  
  
• CPU: Low
  
  
• Best For: Clean mastering or peak control
  
  
• Avoid For: Harmonics, analog tone

Schwabe Gold Clip

• Sound: Warm, musical, analog-modeled
  
  
• Clipping: Soft; tube/tape-like
  
  
• CPU: Medium
  
  
• Best For: Vocals, synths, analog feel
  
  
• Avoid For: Hard transient control

Schwabe Orange Clip

• Sound: Aggressive analog character
  
  
• Clipping: Hard; fast, gritty
  
  
• CPU: Medium
  
  
• Best For: Drums, vocals, bass
  
  
• Avoid For: Transparent or mastering use

Brainworx bx_clipper

• Sound: Clean-neutral with BX flavor
  
  
• Clipping: Curve, stereo link, M/S, oversample
  
  
• CPU: Low-Medium
  
  
• Best For: Mixbus, mastering
  
  
• Avoid For: Analog color fans

⚫️ Black Salt Audio Clipper

• Sound: Fast, direct, modern
  
  
• Clipping: Hard clip; simple controls
  
  
• CPU: Low
  
  
• Best For: Drums, fast mix fixes
  
  
• Avoid For: Oversample or precision workflows

Acustica Diamond Lift Master

• Sound: Rich, analog saturation
  
  
• Clipping: Saturation, not true clipping
  
  
• CPU: Very High
  
  
• Best For: Tone, glue, analog mastering chains
  
  
• Avoid For: Clean peak shaving

Fuse Audio Ocelot Clipper

• Sound: Subtle analog tone, rounded
  
  
• Clipping: Soft/hard switchable; dynamics-reactive
  
  
• CPU: Low-Medium
  
  
• Best For: Master bus, vocals
  
  
• Avoid For: Severe peak limiting

Newfangled Audio Saturate

• Sound: Clean to harmonically rich, psychoacoustic
  
  
• Clipping: Peak saturation with spectral shaping
  
  
• CPU: Medium
  
  
• Best For: Transients with tone; drum buses, final mix
  
  
• Avoid For: "Analog" saturation purists

TIER LISTS BY USE CASE
Best for Clean Mastering

• Ash Ultra
  
  
• StandardCLIP
  
  
• KClip 3 (clean mode)

Best for Mixbus Tone + Loudness

• KClip 3
  
  
• bx_clipper
  
  
• Fire The Clip

Best for Drums + Aggressive Clipping

• Orange Clip
  
  
• Black Salt Clipper
  
  
• Saturate (fast shaping, spectral)

Best for Vocals

• Gold Clip
  
  
• Ocelot Clipper
  
  
• Saturate (gentle color + control)

Best for Analog Color

• Diamond Lift Master
  
  
• Gold Clip
  
  
• Fire The Clip

Best All-Rounders

• KClip 3 — the “Swiss Army knife”
  
  
• bx_clipper — clean, safe, fast
  
  
• Saturate — clean but vibey with unique tone

HOW TO CHAIN CLIPPERS (FOR LOUDNESS + TONE)
Using multiple clippers in a smart sequence lets you build tone, control transients, and avoid harshness. Here are tried-and-tested chains:

CHAIN A – Tone ➝ Clean ➝ Limiter
[Gold Clip / Fire The Clip] ➝ [KClip 3 / StandardCLIP] ➝ [Limiter]
✅ For: Mastering pop, house, hip hop

CHAIN B – Slam (Parallel) ➝ Clean
[Orange Clip (parallel)] ➝ [bx_clipper or Ash Ultra] ➝ [Limiter]
✅ For: EDM, rock, percussive mixes

CHAIN C – Analog Bus Mastering
[Diamond Lift Master] ➝ [Ocelot Clipper] ➝ [Limiter or none]
✅ For: Indie, folk, analog-style full mixes

⚔️ CHAIN D – Loudness in Layers
[Black Salt] ➝ [KClip 3] ➝ [Saturate] ➝ [Limiter]
✅ For: Club-ready loudness, trap, techno

Tips:

• Stack > Slam — Shave peaks in stages
  
  
• Color First — Tone up front, clean control after
  
  
• Oversample Final Clipper — Prevent aliasing
  
  
• Use Saturate for psychoacoustic “boost” without distortion