A novel method and apparatus for conditioning an analog signal before it is input to a downstream device such as a delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter is disclosed. An analog conditioning circuit having a reference voltage generator circuit, positive and negative voltage comparators, threshold voltage generator circuits, and a plurality of transistor gate switch limiters is disclosed. The reference voltage generator circuit generates predetermined threshold voltages against which the input signal is compared by the voltage comparators. All conditioning circuit components between the conditioning circuit input and output are electrically disconnected from the circuit when the input signal voltage does not exceed the threshold voltages, thereby minimizing signal distortion in the useful range of the input signal. When the input signal voltage meets or exceeds one of the relevant threshold voltages, the conditioning circuit components rapidly and sharply switch into the signal pathway, and the input signal is "clipped" appropriately. Transistor-based switches are used to provide rapid switching, and to reduce power that is consumed by the circuit when no clipping of the input signal is required. An integrated circuit including the aforementioned conditioning circuit and a delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter, and an electronic device incorporating the integrated circuit, are also disclosed.