Clipper 2

Name: Clipper 2
Price: 9.99 USD
Author: Initial Audio

by Initial Audio · Clipper · Soft clipper with LUFS meter

Not rated yet

Clipper 2 is a free soft clipper from Initial Audio with a saturation curve, true peak limiting and built-in LUFS metering.

A pre/post waveform scope shows what gets clipped. It is free with an Initial Audio account.

Best for: Drums, Drum Bus, Mix Bus, Mastering, Bass. Genres: Hip-Hop & Trap, Electronic & EDM, Pop.

Keywords: metering, soft clip, drums, bass, bus processing, free, true-peak, warm, full mix, mix bus, 808s, drum bus, gentle, mastering, built-in mix knob, mixing, single-band, smooth, visual feedback.

What it does

Clipper 2 is Initial Audio's free soft clipper, made to catch peaks before a limiter so a track gets louder with "smooth saturation and harmonics" instead of harsh crunch. It updates the 2021 Initial Clipper with a new interface, a ceiling and built-in loudness metering.

Input Gain: pushes the signal harder into the clipper.
Threshold: sets where full saturation begins, with a soft knee easing the signal into it.
Saturation curve: shapes how the clipping bends the waveform, from gentle rounding to more harmonic warmth.
Ceiling: true peak limiting that keeps the output below a set level.
Output and mix: an output level control; Bedroom Producers Blog also lists a dry/wet control for blending in the unclipped signal.
Scope: a higher-resolution real-time waveform display showing the signal before and after clipping.
LUFS meter: Integrated, Short-Term, Momentary and Loudness Range readouts, so you can check loudness without a separate meter.

Clipper 2 came out in October 2025. It is free and is cleared for commercial use. The developer describes its CPU use as low.

Source: Initial Audio product page

When to use it

Clipper 2 is the pick for a free, simple soft clipper with loudness metering in the same window. Compared with StandardCLIP and KClip 3, it has a single soft-clip curve and lists no oversampling choices, but it costs nothing and is quicker to set up. Unlike Venn Audio's Free Clip 2, which offers several clip shapes, it builds in a LUFS meter and a pre/post scope, which helps when pushing drums or a mix bus towards a loudness target. It is gentler by design than a hard clipper, so it suits warmth and peak control more than aggressive distortion.

Best for: free peak control and extra loudness on drums, 808s, bass and mix buses before a limiter.
Genres: hip-hop, trap, EDM and pop.
Look elsewhere if: you need several clip shapes, oversampling options or mastering-grade control; StandardCLIP or KClip 3 do more, and Free Clip 2 gives more shapes for free.
Tip: use it ahead of your limiter to shave peaks first, as the developer intends, so the limiter has less work to do.

What producers say

Coverage so far treats it as a good-looking, solid free clipper rather than a big step up from version 1.

Bedroom Producers Blog (October 2025) called it "one of the better-looking free clipper plugins out there", praising the clear layout, the scope, the output meters for gain staging and the built-in LUFS meter.
Gearnews featured it among the free plugins of the week, highlighting the Saturation control for adding warmth and the multi-mode LUFS meter.
Criticisms: Bedroom Producers Blog noted it is "not a huge leap from the original version", so owners of another clipper may not need it.

Where to buy

Initial Audio: $9.99

Tutorials and reviews

Similar plugins

Soft Clipper by AIR Music Technology · Soft clipper · $14
StandardCLIP by SIR Audio Tools · Soft/hard clipper · $28.39
Planer by HoRNet · Soft clipper with adjustable curve · $10.21
Clipper by Black Salt Audio · Hard clipper · $59
Little Clipper 2 by Boz Digital Labs · Hard/soft clipper · $49
Ash by Acustica Audio · Sampled hardware clipper · $89.70
Fire The Clip by Acustica Audio · Ultra-linear digital clipper · $55.64
Free Clip 2 by Venn Audio · Waveshaping clipper · Free
OCELOT Clipper by Fuse Audio Labs · Peak clipper and shaper · $69
DualClip by Plugin Boutique · Soft and hard clipper · $19

All clippers