Filtering Audio Voltages <4VPK with IC/Circuitry

[Rmac]

I'm working on a circuit involving an incoming audio signal via a 3.5mm headphone jack. The circuit cannot handle voltage spikes greater than 4 V_PK. Is there any sort of IC, or circuit that allows voltage under 4 V_PK to pass through, but filters any voltage over 4 V_PK to exactly 4 V_PK? The only way I have come up with is to use a micro-controller that samples the incoming audio signal every 50 microseconds and perform the calculations to limit any voltage over 4 V_PK. It'd be much easier and cheaper if I could use some sort of IC or circuit to filter the voltage instead of using a micro-controller.

To be clear, I am not trying to filter based off of frequency, I essentially want any incoming audio signal greater than 4 V_PK to essentially "platue" at exactly 4 V_PK. So if the incoming signal has 3 V_PK, it passes into the circuit as 3 V_PK. If the incoming signal has 5 V_PK, it passes into the circuit as 4 V_PK.

Also, sorry if this is a simple question. I'm about halfway through my EE degree, but I can't seem to figure out a way to do this besides using a micro-controller.

 

[berkeman]

I'm working on a circuit involving an incoming audio signal via a 3.5mm headphone jack. The circuit cannot handle voltage spikes greater than 4 V_PK. Is there any sort of IC, or circuit that allows voltage under 4 V_PK to pass through, but filters any voltage over 4 V_PK to exactly 4 V_PK? The only way I have come up with is to use a micro-controller that samples the incoming audio signal every 50 microseconds and perform the calculations to limit any voltage over 4 V_PK. It'd be much easier and cheaper if I could use some sort of IC or circuit to filter the voltage instead of using a micro-controller.

To be clear, I am not trying to filter based off of frequency, I essentially want any incoming audio signal greater than 4 V_PK to essentially "platue" at exactly 4 V_PK. So if the incoming signal has 3 V_PK, it passes into the circuit as 3 V_PK. If the incoming signal has 5 V_PK, it passes into the circuit as 4 V_PK.

Also, sorry if this is a simple question. I'm about halfway through my EE degree, but I can't seem to figure out a way to do this besides using a micro-controller.

You would use diode clamps or a transistor with base multiplier resistors to clamp at your 4V level.

 

[Rmac]

You would use diode clamps or a transistor with base multiplier resistors to clamp at your 4V level.

Thanks so much for your reply. After researching clamping/clipping circuits, I came across this circuit, which I believe is very similar to what you're describing, however it uses an op-amp.

I continued my research further to see if anyone had used a clamping/clipper circuit for audio, however I ended up finding this Wikipedia page about consumer and professional audio line levels. It turns out that consumer audio has a V_PK of 0.447 V, and pro audio has a V_PK of 1.736 V. It looks like I won't ever have to worry about the voltage peaking higher than 4 V_PK anyways!