Dynamic Range Meter
Drop a track and get a DR score, crest factor and loudness range to see if you brick-walled it. Measured in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
What a dynamic range meter tells you
Dynamic range is the gap between the loudest peaks and the average level of your track. This meter measures the crest factor (peak minus RMS, in dB) and the loudness range (LRA) in LU, then reports a DR-style score. A high number means punchy transients and breathing dynamics; a low number means the master has been squeezed flat by heavy limiting — the classic symptom of the loudness war. As a rough map: under DR7 is squashed and fatiguing, 7–10 is moderate, 10–14 keeps healthy punch, and above 14 is very dynamic. There is no universal target — a loud club mix and a jazz trio live in different worlds — but if drums have stopped hitting and the whole thing feels tiring on good speakers, the crest factor will tell you why.
Here is the part that stings: on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and the rest, loudness is normalized, so all that limiting you added to win the loudness war just gets turned back down at playback. You crushed the dynamics for zero real-world gain, and you kept the distortion and listener fatigue as a consolation prize. The smarter move is to master to the platform target with the transients intact — you end up just as loud on streaming and far punchier where it counts.
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FAQ
What is a good DR / crest factor score?
Roughly: under 7 dB is squashed and fatiguing, 7–10 dB moderate, 10–14 dB healthy punch, over 14 dB very dynamic. It's genre-dependent — loud pop and EDM often sit around DR6–8 while acoustic, rock and jazz breathe around DR10–14. There's no single correct number, just a range that fits the music.
Is my song over-compressed?
If the crest factor is under about 7 dB and the loudness range (LRA) is under roughly 4 LU, the track is likely brick-walled — flattened transients, listener fatigue, and more distortion after codec transcoding. This meter names the problem so you know what to fix.
Does this upload my file?
No. Your audio is decoded and measured entirely inside your browser with the Web Audio API. It never leaves your device.