True-peak limiting, and why −1 dBTP
A converter plays the curve between your samples, and that curve goes higher than they do. What true peak means, and why mastering to 0 dBFS clips on playback.
The last box, and the only one allowed to be absolute. It looks ahead so the gain is already down before a transient lands, and its ceiling is in dBTP — true peak — because a converter plays the curve between your samples, and that curve goes higher than they do. Master to 0 dBFS and a phone will clip on playback.
The controls
Every range and starting value below is the one the processor actually uses — this page is generated from it.
- Push
- Drives the mix into the ceiling — or, below zero, turns it down to hit a quieter target. Every dB above zero is a dB of dynamics spent, so spend it on purpose and check the crest reading afterwards.
- Ceiling
- The hard limit, measured the way streaming services measure it. −1 dBTP is what they all ask for; go lower if you know it'll be encoded twice.
- Release
- How fast it recovers. Short is louder and can distort the bass; long is cleaner and can duck. 150–250 ms suits most music.
- Character
- How much of the loudness comes from soft clipping rather than the limiter. A little sounds louder and punchier; a lot sounds like distortion, because it is.
Sonic Station's mix finisher runs this entirely in your browser — the audio is never uploaded anywhere.
Read next
Stereo width, bass mono, and surviving a phone
Working on the middle and the sides separately — how to open a mix up without dragging the vocal off centre, and why the bottom octave gets folded to mono.
Loudness targets for Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
What LUFS to master to, what every streaming service does to a record that arrives louder, and the true-peak ceiling to leave under it.