How to reduce true peak

1. What should my true peak max be?
2. How does true peak limiting work?
3. What should true peak be for streaming?

What should my true peak max be?

When mastering, you probably want to leave at least 1 dB of headroom. That means your peaks should be below -1 dBFS. That being said, Spotify recommends a headroom of 2 dB. If you want to optimize for their platform, you may want your peaks to fall below -2 dBFS.

How does true peak limiting work?

A true peak meter can show us inter-sample peak values; a true peak limiter can pick them out and make sure they don't clip. Loudness specs for post-production and broadcast usually come with a strict requirement that the program is mixed to true peak levels—not just sample peak levels.

What should true peak be for streaming?

A good rule of thumb was to leave at least 1 dB True Peak headroom. Sometimes though, more could sound better, especially with louder material or lower bitrates. A good way to audition this is by using the Codec Preview module in Ozone.