Table of contents:
What is headroom?
Headroom is the space between an audio signal’s highest peak and the maximum level it can reach before the sound becomes distorted. It tells you how much louder the signal can be made without clipping so that the sound remains clean and distortion-free.
What does high headroom mean?
High headroom means there's more space between the audio peaks and the distortion point, so you can create louder sounds without worrying about them getting distorted or clipped.
What does good headroom mean?
Good headroom means having enough space to handle unexpected audio peaks.
What does it mean to leave headroom?
Editors intentionally set audio levels lower than the maximum to avoid distortion and allow for dynamic changes in volume during recording or editing.