ClipHack

What is ClipHack?

ClipHack is a macOS utility for preparing broadcast audio clips — news stories, promos, inserts — before they go into a podcast, show, or mix. It runs each clip through a configurable FFmpeg pipeline and outputs a 24-bit WAV at your target sample rate.

The typical use case: you have a clip from a broadcast source that's inconsistently leveled, noisy, or peaking hot. Drop it into ClipHack, enable the stages you need, click Process. The output is ready to drop into your DAW.

What ClipHack is not

ClipHack is not a mastering tool or a final delivery step. It's a pre-edit prep tool. If you need EBU R128 delivery normalization or MP3 export for your finished mix, use WaxOff.

First Launch

xattr -cr /Applications/ClipHack.app

After running that command, ClipHack will open normally. You only need to do this once.

Getting Started

1. Configure your settings in the right panel — sample rate, ceiling, and any optional processing stages.
2. Drag and drop audio files onto the window, or drag them into the file list on the left.
3. Click Process.
4. Output files are saved alongside the originals, or in your chosen output folder if you've set one.

You can queue up a batch before hitting Process. Files are processed in parallel — a batch of 10 clips takes roughly as long as the longest single clip.

Update Checker

ClipHack checks for new releases on launch and via Help → Check for Updates. If an update is available, you'll see a prompt with a link to the release page.

Interface

File List (left panel)

Drag files here to add them. Each row shows the filename, processing status, and — after analysis — RMS level, peak level, and LUFS. A warning badge appears when the noise floor is high enough to affect level accuracy.

Select a file to see its waveform. For stereo files, L and R channels are displayed separately with independent amplitude scales.

Waveform (center)

Shows the selected file's waveform. Stereo files display both channels stacked with L on top. The amplitude axis is calibrated in dBFS.

Settings Panel (right)

All processing controls live here. Toggle the panel open or closed with the ☰ button in the toolbar. Settings are saved between sessions.

Toolbar

• Process — start processing all queued files
• Remove — remove the selected file from the queue
• Clear — clear all files from the queue
• ☰ — toggle the settings panel

Processing Pipeline

Each stage is optional except the final limiter. Stages run in this order:

1. Resample Resamples to the target sample rate. Skipped if the file is already at the target rate. Preserves the original channel count.
2. Noise Reduction optional RNNoise neural network model via arnndn. Attenuates broadband background noise — hiss, room tone, HVAC. For stereo files, each channel is processed independently, then recombined, so the stereo image is preserved.
3. Channel Extraction For mono output from a stereo source, extracts the selected channel (Left or Right) using an explicit pan filter. Skipped for stereo input when Stereo Output is on.
4. Level Audio optional Dynamic leveling via FFmpeg's dynaudnorm. Evens out level variation across the clip. Three parameters — frame size, Gaussian smoothing, and max gain — scale together from Gentle to Aggressive.
5. Loudness Norm optional Two-pass EBU R128 loudness normalization. First pass measures integrated loudness; second pass applies a linear gain to hit the target LUFS. Runs before the limiter.
6. Brick-Wall Limiter 2× oversampled true peak limiting at the configured ceiling. Always applied as the final stage. Output format: 24-bit WAV.

Settings Reference

Output

Noise Reduction

Level Audio

Aggressiveness Parameters

Three dynaudnorm parameters scale together as you move the slider:

Three parameters are always fixed: RMS-based measurement (responds to perceived loudness, not transient peaks), channel-coupled (L and R get the same gain, preserving the stereo image), and boundary extension (gain holds steady at the start and end of the file rather than tapering to zero).

Loudness Normalization

Output Directory

By default, processed files are saved in the same directory as the source file. Use Choose… to set a custom output folder. Click Reset to return to the default behavior.

Output Naming

Output filenames encode what processing was applied:

{original-name}-{rate}{nr-}{leveled-}{norm-}clipped-{limit}dB.wav

Tokens

Examples

clip-44kclipped-1dB.wav
clip-44knr-clipped-1dB.wav
clip-48knr-leveled-norm-clipped-3dB.wav

Supported Formats

ClipHack bundles FFmpeg and accepts any format it can decode:

WAV, AIFF, AIF, MP3, FLAC, M4A, OGG, Opus, CAF, WMA, AAC, MP4, MOV

All output is 24-bit WAV at the configured sample rate.