Encyclopaedia/Standards

Standards

Bit Depth

How many bits each audio sample uses — and what that means for dynamic range and noise.

bit-depthdynamic-rangenoise-floor16-bit
dBFS, dBu, dBV — Decibel Reference Levels

The decibel scales used in audio, how they relate, and why the same '−18 dB' can mean different things.

dbfsdbudbvdecibel
Audio File Formats

WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, AAC — what each format does, and when to use which.

wavaiffflacmp3
Headroom

The space between your average signal and the digital ceiling — and why you need more of it than you think.

headroomgain-stagingclippingmixing
Loudness Normalisation (Streaming Platforms)

How Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others normalise loudness — and how it affects mastering decisions.

loudnessnormalizationstreamingspotify
LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale)

The modern loudness measurement standard — what it is, how it works, and what every platform targets.

loudnesslufslkfsmetering
Networked Audio (Dante, AES67, AVB)

How professional audio travels over standard Ethernet — for studios, live sound, and broadcast.

danteaes67avbravenna
Phase

How wave alignment affects sound — the most-misunderstood concept in audio engineering.

phasepolaritycomb-filteringmono-compatibility
Sample Rates

44.1 vs 48 vs 96 kHz — what sample rate means, which to use, and why it matters less than you think.

sample-ratedigital-audionyquistbit-depth
SMPTE Timecode

The 1969 standard for synchronising audio, video, and lighting — still the lingua franca of film and broadcast.

smptetimecodesyncpost-production