Measure the crest factor and headroom of an audio signal.
Crest factor is the gap between the loudest peaks and the sustained average level of a piece of audio. Masters with low crest factor sound loud but squashed, so balancing it is the heart of loudness and clarity.
Crest Factor
Crest factor = peak level - RMS level
Crest factor = peak level - RMS level Crest factor is the gap between the loudest peaks and the sustained average level of a piece of audio.
Masters with low crest factor sound loud but squashed, so balancing it is the heart of loudness and clarity.
This calculator takes 2 inputs: Peak level, RMS level. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.