Fire2 · Audio QC
Loudness is a measurement—not a delivery decision
A loudness value can answer an important question without answering the whole delivery question. A master can meet a target and still contain an unintended peak, use the wrong export, or carry an exception that the recipient needs to understand. The reliable decision comes from several checks attached to the exact file being sent.
- Published
- Reading time
- 6 minutes
1. Let integrated loudness answer its own question
Integrated loudness describes average programme loudness over the measured duration. It is useful for comparing a master with a delivery target or with other versions measured on the same basis.
It does not describe every moment. Short, dense passages and quiet openings can produce the same integrated result in very different programmes. Read the number together with the musical structure and the specification it is meant to satisfy.
2. Keep true peak and headroom separate
A master can land on its loudness target and still exceed an allowed true-peak ceiling. Loudness and peak behaviour are related, but neither can stand in for the other.
Review true peak, sample peak, and available headroom as separate evidence. If conversion or lossy encoding follows, leave the margin required by the actual destination instead of treating one universal number as a guarantee.
3. Measure the delivery file, not the memory of it
Run the final checks after the export, conversion, metadata, naming, and version decisions are complete. A correct value from an earlier render does not approve a later file.
Keep the filename, format, duration, and integrity evidence beside the analysis results. This makes it possible to distinguish a technical problem from a simple version or identity mistake.
4. Mark the decision, not only the number
Some exceptions are intentional: a transient may exceed a house preference, an archive master may preserve more headroom, or alternate versions may legitimately differ. Do not hide those differences behind a green summary state.
Mark the affected file, record the reason, and carry the note into the report. The goal is not to make every value identical; it is to make the final decision visible, repeatable, and understandable at handoff.
Next step
See analysis and reporting in Fire2