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Loudness and delivery reference
Platform reference

Apple Podcasts — Audio Requirements

What loudness does Apple Podcasts require?

Apple Podcasts asks that overall loudness remain around −16 dB LKFS with a ±1 dB tolerance, and that true peak not exceed −1 dB FS. Both values are calculated according to ITU-R BS.1770-5. Apple Podcasts Connect accepts WAV, FLAC or MP3; 24-bit is recommended for WAV and FLAC.

Source

Transcribed from the published standard, read 2026-09-28. Check it yourself

−16 LKFS
target
±1 dB tolerance
−1 dBFS
true peak
must not be exceeded
BS.1770-5
measurement
newer than most specs cite
24-bit
recommended
for WAV and FLAC

The revision is the part worth reading twice

Apple states that the LKFS and true-peak values are calculated according to the ITU-R BS.1770-5 recommendation. Most delivery specifications in this reference name BS.1770-4, and several older ones name earlier revisions still.

For ordinary programme material the difference will not change a passing file into a failing one. It matters because it tells you which document Apple is measuring against, which is exactly the thing a spec should tell you and usually does not.

The requirements, as Apple writes them

Quoted from Apple's podcaster documentation:

  • Overall loudness remains around −16 dB LKFS, with a ±1 dB tolerance.
  • The true-peak value does not exceed −1 dB FS.
  • Both are calculated according to the ITU-R BS.1770-5 recommendation.

File formats

Apple Podcasts Connect accepts WAV, FLAC or MP3:

  • WAV and FLAC — 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192 kHz; 24-bit recommended.
  • MP3 mono — 44.1 or 48 kHz, 96 to 128 kbps recommended.
  • MP3 stereo — 44.1 or 48 kHz, 128 to 256 kbps recommended.
  • RSS feed delivery accepts MP3 or AAC.

Why this is a tighter brief than it looks

A ±1 dB tolerance is narrow. EBU R 128 allows ±1.0 LU only where the target is not practically achievable, and the UK DPP tightens to ±0.5 LU for non-live programmes. Apple is asking spoken-word material — which has a wide natural dynamic range and usually several voices recorded in different rooms — to land inside two decibels.

That is a mix problem before it is a mastering problem. Levelling several contributors so the integrated figure lands inside the window, without flattening the performance, is the work.

The source

Read from Apple's own podcaster documentation:

Common questions

Is −16 LKFS the same as −16 LUFS?

Yes. LKFS and LUFS are the same measurement under two names — identical except for nomenclature. Apple writes LKFS; EBU documents write LUFS. A meter reading −16 LUFS is reading −16 LKFS.

What does BS.1770-5 change compared with BS.1770-4?

For ordinary programme material, nothing you would hear. The revisions refine measurement detail rather than move the target. The reason to note it is that Apple names the revision at all, which lets you match your meter to the document instead of assuming.

Does the ±1 dB tolerance apply to every episode or to the series?

Apple states it as a property of the overall loudness of the audio, so it is read per file. Each episode is measured on its own, which is the same principle that makes every cut-down of an advert its own measurement rather than inheriting the master's figure.

Next

This page is the lookup. Broadcast and Streaming Loudness Specs for Commercials is the explanation behind it.

Delivering a podcast?

Episodes leave here measured individually against the target, with the reading attached to each file rather than one figure quoted for the season.

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Studio credit

Elephant Audio

Audio production · Sound design · Music production

LahoreEngineering sound since 2018

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