Audio Quality Checker
A comprehensive technical audit of digital masters prior to distribution. Sonichecks verifies dynamic range, loudness, peak headroom, sample clipping, and file format specifications to eliminate release defects.
PROFESSIONAL AUDIO QC • DETERMINISTIC DSP
Your master.
Pass or fail.
Know before you deliver.
Sonichecks analyzes your audio file against technical delivery requirements so you can find problems before a distributor, platform, broadcaster, publisher, or client does.
WAV can stay on-deviceDeterministic DSPSHA-256 reports
EXAMPLE QC REPORT • AUDIT_VERIFIED.WAV
MASTER_FINAL_01
Midnight Drive (Final Master).wav
overall
98 / 100
LUFS
-14.2
PASS
TRUE PEAK
-1.3
PASS
CLIPPING
0
PASS
SILENCE
0.2s
PASS
FORMAT
48 kHz / 24-bit
CHANNELS
Stereo (2 Ch)
PROFILE
Streaming Target
Technical Pre-Delivery Inspection
Is Your Audio Actually Ready to Deliver?
You finished the mix. The master sounds right. But is the file technically correct? An audio file can sound completely fine during playback and still fail distributor ingest or trigger severe streaming normalization penalties because of hidden digital signal defects.
Loudness Penalty
Excessive Loudness
Over-compressed masters get aggressively attenuated by streaming normalization algorithms, reducing impact.
Codec Distortion
True-Peak Overs
Inter-sample peaks above -1.0 dBTP distort when lossy encoders convert WAV to AAC, MP3, or OGG.
Sample Clipping
Hard Digital Clipping
Consecutive full-scale flat-top samples cause harsh digital crackle on consumer playback DACs.
Format Ingestion
Sample Rate Mismatches
Submitting 44.1 kHz when 48 kHz is mandated for video sync causes pitch shifting or ingest rejection.
Dither & Noise
Bit Depth Discrepancies
Truncating 24-bit masters to 16-bit without proper triangular dither introduces harmonic quantization noise.
Lead-in / Lead-out
Unexpected Silence
Missing lead-in silence clips the initial transient, while excessive tail silence causes delivery rejection.
Phase & Stereo
Wrong Channel Layout
Accidental dual-mono routing or phase cancellation across stereo channels ruins spatial image playback.
Delivery Profiles
Profile Violations
Failing spoken-word noise floor floors (ACX) or European broadcast loudness gates (EBU R128).
Technical Capabilities
Audio Quality Control for Every Delivery
Sonichecks is built as a complete technical quality control inspection system designed for modern mastering, streaming, broadcast, and spoken-word distribution.
LUFS & Loudness Checking
Measure Integrated LUFS, Short-Term Loudness max, Momentary Loudness, and Loudness Range (LRA) using standardized ITU-R BS.1770-4 K-weighting filtering to ensure dynamic balance and prevent streaming volume attenuation.
True Peak & Clipping Detection
Calculates 4x polyphase oversampled True Peak (dBTP) to detect inter-sample peaks that standard meters miss. Pinpoints consecutive flat-top digital clipping runs with exact sample counts and timestamps.
WAV File Validation
Inspect uncompressed PCM headers for sample rate uniformity (44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 96 kHz, 192 kHz), bit depth integrity (16, 24, 32-bit float), channel count, and file duration to prevent ingestion errors.
Audio Delivery QC & Batch Verification
Before delivering final masters to clients, labels, aggregators, or broadcasters, audit entire multi-track release packages simultaneously. The Batch QC Comparison Matrix cross-references loudness variance, sample rates, and channel layouts across all album tracks.
Hidden Delivery Risks
The File Can Sound Fine and Still Fail QC
Listening alone cannot catch inter-sample peaks, container bit depth truncation, or platform gate violations. See what happens when uninspected files are submitted versus verified with Sonichecks:
Unchecked Master Delivery
Common hidden technical defects caught too late
×
LUFS Outside Target (-8.1 LUFS)Triggers harsh automatic volume attenuation on streaming platforms.
×
True Peak Too High (+1.4 dBTP)Inter-sample overs distort during lossy AAC / MP3 encoding.
×
Digital Clipping Detected (48 samples)Flat-top full-scale sample clipping creates audible digital crunch.
×
Missing Lead-In Silence (0.0s)Leading transient is truncated upon platform ingest and player buffering.
Sonichecks Verified Master
Full compliance across loudness, peak, and format
Integrated Loudness Compliant (-14.2 LUFS)Optimal dynamics preserved without unexpected volume drops.
True Peak Controlled (-1.3 dBTP)Sufficient headroom guarantees clean lossy transcoding.
Zero Digital Clipping (0 samples)Clean headroom across all channels with full transient integrity.
Technical Specs & SHA-256 Verified48 kHz / 24-bit PCM container with cryptographic audit certificate.
Delivery Standards
Check Against the Requirements That Matter
Different delivery destinations impose different technical standards. Sonichecks provides purpose-built QC profiles configured for commercial distribution channels.
Standard Delivery
Universal mastering profile for client deliverables and general archive.
True Peak ≤ -1.0 dBTP
Streaming
Optimized for digital streaming aggregators to avoid loudness penalties.
-14 LUFS / -1.0 dBTP
Broadcast (EBU R128)
European television and radio loudness standard with strict gating.
-23.0 LUFS ±0.5 LU
Audiobook (ACX)
Strict spoken-word audiobook specifications with noise floor gates.
-23 to -18 LUFS
Club / DJ Master
High-energy electronic and dance music masters for club sound systems.
-9 to -6 LUFS
Simple 3-Step Process
How Sonichecks Audio QC Works
Three simple steps to audit your masters and verify technical release compliance.
1
Choose your audio
Select a track or batch (WAV, MP3, FLAC, AIFF) and choose the delivery profile that matches your workflow.
2
Run the inspection
Sonichecks calculates loudness, True Peak, clipping, silence and technical file properties.
3
Get your verdict
See clear PASS, WARNING or FAIL results and export professional QC reports on supported plans.
Pricing
Simple Audio QC Pricing
Start with free audio quality checks and upgrade for higher monthly volume, batch analysis, reports, and professional workflows.
Free
For single-file QC checks.
€0/month
- 5 files / month
- Single-file QC processing
- Full deterministic DSP analysis
- LUFS, True Peak, Clipping & Silence
- Detailed fixes & recommendations
- Batch processing & QC Matrix
- PDF Reports & CSV export
RecommendedChoose Pro
Pro
For independent audio professionals.
€4.99/month
- 100 files / month
- Batch QC (up to 50 files per batch)
- Batch QC Comparison Matrix
- Professional PDF QC Certificate
- SHA-256 file hashes in reports
- CSV Batch Export
- Standard & Custom QC Profiles
Studio
For studios and high-volume workflows.
€14.99/month
- 500 files / month
- 200-file bulk batches
- Multi-track Project organization
- Client/Project organization
- Priority processing queue
- Everything in Pro included
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Audio QC
Answers to common questions regarding audio quality control, loudness meters, true peaks, and delivery validation.
What is an audio quality checker?
An audio quality checker is a specialized digital signal processing inspection tool that audits audio files for compliance with loudness standards (LUFS), True Peak ceilings (dBTP), sample clipping, silence, and technical container properties before commercial distribution or client delivery.
How do I check the LUFS of an audio file?
You can check the LUFS of your audio file by dropping it into Sonichecks. The engine applies ITU-R BS.1770-4 K-weighting pre-filters to compute Integrated Loudness, Short-Term maximums, Momentary loudness, and Loudness Range (LRA) in seconds.
What is a good LUFS level for streaming?
For major digital streaming services, masters commonly target an Integrated Loudness between -16.0 LUFS and -14.0 LUFS with a True Peak ceiling of -1.0 dBTP to avoid downstream volume normalization attenuation and lossy transcoding distortion.
What is true peak in audio?
True Peak measures the actual maximum analog signal level reconstructed by digital-to-analog converters (DACs) using 4x polyphase oversampling interpolation. It catches inter-sample peaks that standard 0 dBFS sample meters miss.
How do I check if an audio file is clipping?
Sonichecks analyzes every individual sample across all channels, identifying consecutive samples that reach digital full scale (0 dBFS). It reports the exact clipped sample count, timestamps, and severity of digital flat-top clipping.
How do I validate a WAV file?
Validating a WAV file involves inspecting its uncompressed PCM header, verifying sample rate (such as 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz), bit depth (16-bit, 24-bit, or 32-bit float), channel count, container integrity, and ensuring no corrupted audio frames exist.
What should I check before delivering a master?
Before delivering a master, always verify Integrated LUFS, maximum True Peak (dBTP), zero digital clipping, lead-in and lead-out silence duration, correct sample rate and bit depth, and consistent album-wide loudness across multi-track batches.
What is audio QC?
Audio QC (Quality Control) is the pre-release technical validation process used by mastering engineers, recording studios, and distributors to guarantee audio deliverables meet platform ingestion requirements and sound flawless across playback systems.
How do I check audio before uploading it?
Simply stage your WAV, MP3, FLAC, or AIFF master into Sonichecks, select your delivery target profile (such as Streaming, Broadcast EBU R128, or Audiobook ACX), and receive an automated PASS/WARNING/FAIL verdict with recommended limiter adjustments.
Can Sonichecks check my audio without uploading it to a server?
Yes. Supported uncompressed WAV files are processed 100% locally inside your browser using the Web Audio API and Web Workers with zero audio upload required. Encoded non-WAV files use our secure reference engine.
Don't guess.Check it.
Catch loudness problems, True Peak overs and clipping before the file reaches your client, label or distributor.