Hey guys, I noticed that when I convert my FLAC files to mp3 I get a lot of clipping (in some cases its over 3000 clipped samples).
So I was wondering if I decrease the amplitude of my FLAC file, save it as a WAV and then convert to mp3 V0 to prevent clipping, will it have any negative effects on the data and sound quality?
Cheers.
You can decrease the amplitude before encoding to prevent clipping, or you can take those encoded files and adjust their amplitude without reencoding. Either way works.
And there is no significant effect on audio quality.
Just to add more information:
What pdq means by "adjust their amplitude wihtout reencoding" is using either Replaygain or MP3Gain.
First one is a tag that needs to be recognized by players. Second one is a modification of the mp3 data to adjust the final volume without altering anything else.
More info in the wiki or searching here.
The clipping is simply a decoding artifact which may or may not be audible. It most likely isn't going to be audible. I'd be more concerned with the mastering of the original source material that is resulting in so many clipped samples after decoding of the lossy compressed file.