What Streaming Codecs Do to Your Master

Spotify converts to OGG Vorbis, Apple to AAC. Both introduce inter-sample peaks and subtle artifacts. Here is what happens and why True Peak matters.

Spotify converts to OGG Vorbis, Apple to AAC. Both introduce inter-sample peaks and subtle artifacts. Here is what happens and why True Peak matters.

When you upload a WAV to your distributor, they send it to streaming platforms. Each platform converts it to a lossy format for delivery. This conversion is not transparent - it changes the audio in measurable ways.

Platform | Codec | Quality Spotify Free | OGG Vorbis | 128 kbps Spotify Premium | OGG Vorbis | 320 kbps Apple Music | AAC | 256 kbps YouTube | AAC/Opus | 128-256 kbps Tidal HiFi | FLAC | Lossless

The Inter-Sample Peak Problem

Your DAW shows sample peaks - the loudest digital sample in your file. But codec conversion reconstructs the audio curve between samples, and that curve can overshoot 0 dB even when no individual sample does. This is called inter-sample peaking, and it causes real distortion on the listener's device.

We verified this with real data: Suno MP3 files consistently show True Peak at 0 to +0.3 dBFS, while the WAV version of the same track sits at -2.5 to -3.0 dBFS. The codec added 2.7 dB of peak overshoot. LoudCraft's oversampled true-peak limiter catches these peaks before they happen, guaranteeing -1.0 dBTP on every master.

Did you know? The broadcast standard is -1.0 dBTP specifically because of codec conversion. That 1 dB of headroom is not wasted space - it is a safety margin that prevents your master from distorting on 300 million phones and speakers worldwide.

Key takeaway: Your listener never hears your WAV. They hear a compressed version. The -1.0 dBTP ceiling gives the codec room to work without clipping.