What LUFS should a podcast be?

Apple Podcasts asks for about -16 LUFS (±1 dB) with a true peak no higher than -1 dBTP. Spotify doesn't publish a podcast target.

Can it tell my co-host and me apart?

No. Level consistency looks at how loud the episode is moment to moment and at the balance between the two channels. It doesn't know who is speaking — a quiet stretch could be a guest, a co-host or a soft passage.

How long an episode can it check?

Up to four hours. WAV, MP3 and M4A are read in 20-second stretches, so long files don't have to fit in memory; FLAC and Ogg files are decoded whole, up to 30 minutes.

What counts as dead air?

Four seconds or more under -50 dBFS (the louder channel's level, measured in 10 ms steps). That's CAPTD's rule of thumb — room tone usually sits above it, true silence below.

Is my episode uploaded?

No. It's decoded and measured in your browser and never leaves your device.

Episode Ready Checker

Check an episode before you publish: loudness against Apple Podcasts' -16 LUFS, true peak, clipping, long stretches of dead air, how even the level is, and the file's format. Episodes of up to four hours are measured in your browser, in stretches — the audio never leaves your device.

Measured entirely in your browser — your audio is never uploaded anywhere.

Your audio is decoded and measured entirely in your browser. It is never uploaded or stored by CAPTD and never leaves your device.

Do this automatically from your episode audio

Ready to publish? Upload the episode to Spotlight's Episode mode and CAPTD writes the posts, finds clip moments and makes audiograms with captions — with the same clean-audio levels.

Episode mode is part of the Spotlight workspace on CAPTD's paid plans — see pricing.

Open Episode mode

How to use this

What it does

Reads the file's format, sample rate, bit depth and channels, then measures the whole episode in your browser: integrated loudness and true peak (ITU-R BS.1770-4), loudness range (EBU Tech 3342), clipping, every stretch of 4 seconds or more under -50 dBFS, and how steady the level is over time and between the two channels.

What you'll need

The episode file you're about to publish — WAV, FLAC, MP3 or M4A.

Steps

Drop the episode on the box, or choose it.
Wait while it's measured — about a minute for an hour of audio on a recent laptop.
Read the checklist; the waveform shows clipping in red and dead air shaded.
If loudness, peaks or levels are off, run the file through Audio Polish.

Reading the result

Loudness and true peak are checked against Apple Podcasts' published requirements (-16 LUFS ±1 dB, true peak no higher than -1 dBTP). Spotify publishes no podcast loudness target. Dead air and level consistency use CAPTD's own thresholds, and say so.

Tips

Measure the final export, after music beds and ads are in — they change the loudness.
A few seconds of silence after a question can be intentional; the list gives times so you can decide.
Uneven levels between hosts? Voice levelling in Audio Polish brings quiet stretches up and loud ones down by up to 6 dB.

Learn more

How loud should a podcast be?

Apple Podcasts asks for an overall loudness of about -16 LUFS, within ±1 dB, with the true peak no higher than -1 dBFS, measured per ITU-R BS.1770. Spotify lists the file types it takes (MP3, M4A and WAV) but publishes no loudness target for episodes.

LUFS measures loudness the way people hear it over the whole episode; the true peak is the highest point of the wave, including between samples, where encoding to MP3 can push it over full scale.

Why podcasters use it

Listeners switch between shows with the volume where they left it. An episode much quieter than the next is hard to hear in a car; one that's clipped sounds broken on headphones. Checking before publishing is quicker than re-uploading.

Common mistakes

Normalising to the peak. peak normalisation leaves speech quiet; loudness (LUFS) is what the apps and listeners compare.
Leaving the edit's gaps in. a deleted section can leave several seconds of nothing — the dead-air check finds them.
One host much louder than the other. listeners ride the volume all episode; level consistency shows it as long dips in the chart.

FAQ

What LUFS should a podcast be?: Apple Podcasts asks for about -16 LUFS (±1 dB) with a true peak no higher than -1 dBTP. Spotify doesn't publish a podcast target.
Can it tell my co-host and me apart?: No. Level consistency looks at how loud the episode is moment to moment and at the balance between the two channels. It doesn't know who is speaking — a quiet stretch could be a guest, a co-host or a soft passage.
How long an episode can it check?: Up to four hours. WAV, MP3 and M4A are read in 20-second stretches, so long files don't have to fit in memory; FLAC and Ogg files are decoded whole, up to 30 minutes.
What counts as dead air?: Four seconds or more under -50 dBFS (the louder channel's level, measured in 10 ms steps). That's CAPTD's rule of thumb — room tone usually sits above it, true silence below.
Is my episode uploaded?: No. It's decoded and measured in your browser and never leaves your device.

Sources — checked on 20 October 2026

Dead air and level consistency use CAPTD's own thresholds; no platform publishes one.