What Is True Peak? dBTP, Inter-Sample Peaks and Your Limiter

Your master looks fine in your DAW. The meter never touches 0, nothing is red. Then a loudness checker tells you your true peak is +0.4 dBTP. How is that possible? Because your DAW meter and a true peak meter are not measuring the same thing. This guide explains what true peak is, why streaming services care about it, and how to keep it under control in a few minutes.

Short answer: what is true peak?

True peak is the highest level your audio actually reaches once the digital samples are turned back into a smooth waveform. That includes peaks that land between two samples, which a regular peak meter can miss. True peak is measured in dBTP (decibels true peak).

For streaming, Spotify's own guidance is simple:

• Keep your true peak below -1 dBTP.
• If your master is louder than -14 LUFS, keep your true peak below -2 dBTP.

Spotify says that extra room is there to avoid distortion when your file is transcoded to the compressed formats it streams.

Sample peak vs true peak

Digital audio is a long row of samples, tens of thousands per second. The peak meter in most DAWs shows the highest sample value. That number is called sample peak and is shown in dBFS (decibels relative to full scale).

But your speakers or headphones never play a row of dots. The converter in your device draws a smooth curve through those samples, and that curve can rise higher than any single sample, right in the gap between two of them. That hidden overshoot is called an inter-sample peak.

A true peak meter tries to catch those overshoots. The international loudness standard ITU-R BS.1770, which is also the standard Spotify uses for its LUFS measurement, describes how: the meter oversamples the audio four times, filters it and then reads the highest value. The result is a much closer estimate of what actually comes out of a converter.

That is why a master with a sample peak of -0.1 dBFS can still have a true peak above 0 dBTP. Your DAW says it is safe, the true peak meter says it is not.

Why true peak matters on Spotify and other platforms

You upload a WAV, but most listeners never hear that WAV. Streaming services convert your file to a lossy format to save data. That encoding changes the waveform a little, and peaks that were already sitting right at the ceiling can get pushed over it. Anything over 0 dBFS in the decoded file gets clipped, and that is where the crunchy, harsh distortion comes from.

A few things worth knowing from Spotify's loudness normalization page:

• Spotify normalizes to around -14 LUFS by default.
• Louder masters get turned down, quieter masters get turned up, but only as far as the peaks allow.
• On the Loud setting (-11 LUFS) Spotify uses a limiter that kicks in at -1 dB, so a master with hot peaks can get limited again on playback.

The -1 dBTP limit is not just a Spotify thing either. The European broadcast standard EBU R 128 also sets a maximum true peak of -1 dBTP for TV and radio programmes. It is about as close to a universal safe ceiling as you will find.

What true peak should you aim for?

Think of these as maximums, not numbers you have to hit exactly:

• Finished master around -14 LUFS or quieter: true peak at -1 dBTP or lower.
• Finished master louder than -14 LUFS (common for trap, drill and loud rap): true peak at -2 dBTP or lower, as Spotify recommends.
• Mix that still goes to mastering: stay well below 0 and leave the limiter off. Read how much headroom to leave for mastering.

Wondering how loud your master should be in the first place? That is a separate number, LUFS. Read how many LUFS for Spotify for the full breakdown.

How to control true peak in your master, step by step

1. Put a limiter last on your master bus. Its output ceiling decides how high your peaks can go. In Logic Pro's Adaptive Limiter that control is called Out Ceiling.
2. Turn on true peak detection if your limiter has it. Logic Pro's Adaptive Limiter has a True Peak Detection button that detects inter-sample peaks. Many third-party limiters have a similar true peak or ISP mode. Then set the ceiling to -1 dB, or -2 dB for a loud master.
3. No true peak option? Leave some extra room. A sample-peak limiter set to -1 dB can still let inter-sample peaks slip over -1 dBTP. Set the ceiling a little lower and check the result in step 5.
4. Put nothing after the limiter. No EQ, no gain plugin, no saturation. Every plugin after the limiter can push your peaks back up. Also turn off any normalize option in your export window.
5. Export a WAV and measure the file. Drag it into the free Master Checker. It runs in your browser, nothing gets uploaded, and it shows your true peak in dBTP next to your integrated LUFS, dynamics (LRA) and max short-term loudness. If your true peak is above -1 dBTP, it warns you.
6. Still too high? Lower the ceiling a bit, or push less level into the limiter. Louder masters need more room, which is exactly why Spotify asks for -2 dBTP on them.

Common true peak mistakes

• Trusting only your DAW's peak meter. It usually shows sample peaks. Measure true peak on the exported file.
• Setting the ceiling to 0.0 or -0.1 dB. That leaves no room for inter-sample peaks or encoding.
• Measuring an MP3 instead of your master. Always check the exact WAV you send to your distributor.
• Mixing up true peak and loudness. True peak is the highest point, LUFS is how loud the song sounds over time. A song can have a safe true peak and still be crushed, or a hot peak and still be fairly quiet.
• Thinking a low ceiling fixes a distorted recording. If the vocal or 808 already clipped earlier in the chain, that distortion is baked in. The limiter cannot remove it.

Check your master against a reference

Getting your true peak under -1 dBTP is the easy part. Knowing if your master holds up next to the songs you love is harder. With Master Checker Pro you compare loudness, true peak, dynamics and tonal balance with a reference track, and check a whole EP in one go.

Rather have someone else handle the final step? You can also get your track mixed and mastered by NameOnTheBeat, for vocals only or for vocals and beat.

FAQ

Is true peak the same as dBFS?

No. dBFS on a normal peak meter shows the highest sample value. dBTP estimates the highest level of the reconstructed waveform, including the peaks between samples. True peak is usually equal to or a bit higher than sample peak.

Will a true peak above 0 dBTP always sound distorted?

Not always audibly. But it means the waveform goes over the digital ceiling once it is converted or encoded, which raises the risk of clipping on some devices and after lossy encoding. Keeping it below -1 dBTP takes that risk off the table.

If my limiter is set to -1 dB, is my true peak automatically -1 dBTP?

Only if the limiter works in true peak mode. A limiter that only looks at sample values can still let inter-sample peaks through. Measure the exported file to be sure.

Does -1 dBTP also work for Apple Music and YouTube?

The -1 dBTP limit comes from Spotify's guidance and is also the maximum in the EBU R 128 broadcast standard, so it is a safe default for a single master you upload everywhere. The Master Checker shows roughly what Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music do with your track's volume.

Does true peak matter for a mix I send to a mastering engineer?

Less, as long as nothing clips. For a pre-master mix the bigger rules are no limiter on the master bus and enough headroom. The true peak targets above are for the finished master.

More free help for your release, like a BPM and key finder, audio converter and streams calculator? Check out all our free music tools.

Sources: Spotify for Artists, "Loudness normalization" (support.spotify.com); ITU-R BS.1770 true-peak measurement as described in the Essentia TruePeakDetector documentation; EBU R 128 (tech.ebu.ch); Apple, Adaptive Limiter controls (support.apple.com).