Behringer DSP1100 User Manual page 23

Take the following simple example using a sine wave. If an analog signal starts to overload, it results in the
amplitude of the signal reaching a maximum level, and the peaks of the wave starting to get compressed, or
flattened. The greater the porportion of the wave being flattened, the more harmonics, audible as distortion,
will be heard. This is a gardual process, the level of distortion as a percentage of the total signal rising with
the increase of the input signal level.
Digital distortion is quite different, as illustrated by this oversimplified example: If we take the situation where
a 4 bit word has the positive maximum value of 0111, and add to it the smallest possible value of 0001 (in
other words, the smallest increase in amplitude possible), the addition of the two results is 1000 - the value of
the "negative" maximum. The value is turned on its head, going instantly from positive max to negative max,
resulting in the very noticeable onset of extremely unpleasant signal distortion. Due to an intelligent algorithm
the FEEDBACK DESTROYER prevends such "turning on the head". A occuring overflow is replaced by the
maximally permissible value. This solution corresponds to the peak-limiter and clipping technique in analog
audio engineering. In this way new distortions result, however with less disturbing character.
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5. OPERATION