Why True Peak MattersThe true peak reading shows the peak of an audio’s waveform as it will be heard throughspeakers.When monitoring the peak of audio, most people use the output meter in their digital audioworkstation (DAW). In most DAWs, this is a ‘sample peak programme meter’ and only shows youthe maximum sample peak value. However, when any digital audio file is played through analogspeakers, a conversion takes place that often increases the peak.During this digital to analog conversion, the stepped digital audio samples are rounded off togive us a natural listening experience. Consumer speakers as found in laptops and cheap earbudscan’t handle peaks close to 0dB well and the conversion causes clipping. This can give the audioa distorted sound.The best practice to avoid this is to master music to a maximum peak of -1dBTP. This givesplenty of room for conversions that happen before the music reaches its audience.