What Is True Peak (dBTP)? Why Your Master Needs -1 dB

The short answer: true peak, measured in dBTP, is the actual highest point of the audio waveform after it's converted back to analog, including peaks that fall between digital samples ("inter-sample peaks"). A normal sample peak meter only reads the samples themselves, so a master can show 0.0 dBFS and still produce peaks of +1 dB or more once it's played back or encoded. That's why streaming services recommend a true peak ceiling of -1 dBTP: it leaves room for the lossy encoding (Ogg, AAC, MP3) that happens after you upload. Turn on true peak mode in your limiter and set the ceiling to -1.0.

True peak is the last number I check on every master before it leaves the session.

Sample peak vs true peak

Digital audio stores the waveform as points. When those points are converted back to a continuous signal, the curve between two loud samples can rise above both of them. Loud, heavily limited masters create these inter-sample peaks constantly. A true peak meter oversamples the audio (typically 4x) to estimate where the real curve goes.

Why streaming makes it worse

When you upload a WAV, platforms transcode it to lossy formats. That encoding reshapes the waveform slightly and often adds peak level. A master at 0.0 dBTP can come out of the encoder clipping, which sounds like crackle or harshness on the loudest hits, and it's baked into what every listener hears.

What ceiling to use

• Streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc.): -1.0 dBTP is the widely published recommendation.
• Very loud masters (around -8 LUFS or louder): consider -1.5 to -2.0 dBTP, since louder files gain more peak level in encoding.
• CD or lossless-only delivery: -0.3 dBTP is common, since no lossy encode follows.

The full loudness picture, where true peak sits next to LUFS, is in how loud your master should be and what LUFS means for streaming.

How to set it

Put the limiter last in the chain (before dither), switch on true peak or ISP mode, set the ceiling to -1.0, and confirm with a true peak meter after the limiter. Most modern limiters (FabFilter Pro-L 2, Ozone Maximizer, Logic's Adaptive Limiter with true peak detection enabled, Ableton's Limiter in True Peak mode) handle it directly. What a limiter does and how to set one covers the rest.

Quick answers

What does dBTP mean? Decibels true peak: peak level measured on the reconstructed waveform, including peaks between samples, relative to digital full scale.

What true peak should I master to? -1.0 dBTP for streaming. -1.5 to -2.0 for very loud masters. -0.3 is fine for lossless-only formats like CD.

Why does my master clip on Spotify when it peaks at 0? Inter-sample peaks and lossy encoding push the real peak above 0. Setting a -1 dBTP ceiling with true peak detection prevents it.

Is true peak the same as LUFS? No. True peak measures the highest instantaneous point; LUFS measures perceived loudness over time. A master has to meet both.