James R. answered • 05/29/19
Take Advantage of 30+ years of Technology, Science and Math
Clipping occurs when the voltage output of a device is abruptly limited. If you could draw a picture of the output waveform on a piece of paper, then "clipping" is literally the effect you would see if you took scissors and cut along the top edge of the paper, below the level of the highest peaks: you would clip off the tops of the voltage peaks. Think of jumping on a trampoline with a ceiling above you that you bump your head on when you try to jump too high. :)
Now, there are other ways to do voltage limiting that can avoid clipping, such as gradually compressing the output as it nears the limit point. In our bouncing analogy, this would be equivalent to having a bungee cord tied to your waist, such that it would pull you back, increasingly as you jumped higher, just enough to keep you from hitting the ceiling.
