glossary
Vocal crest factor shows the gap between vocal peaks and average level.
Crest factor is the difference between the highest peaks and the average level. On vocals, it describes how spiky or controlled the performance and processing are.
A vocal with high crest factor may have loud consonants or plosives but still feel buried. A low crest factor may sound steady but can become flat or harsh.
Compression, de-essing, saturation, clip gain, and automation all affect vocal crest factor. The goal is not a fixed number, but a vocal that stays intelligible without jumping out.
Too much peak control can remove emotion and front-edge clarity, while too little can make the mix bus react to stray syllables.
Use clip gain or automation for outlier words, then compress for tone and consistency. Check whether average vocal loudness improves without creating new harsh peaks.
Meter Core helps connect vocal peaks, loudness, and mix-bus behavior during level decisions.