Download or generate sample audio for testing

Pink noise has equal energy per octave (white is equal per Hz), which matches human pitch perception and is the standard for room measurement, SPL calibration and speaker break-in. White noise sounds bright and hissy because higher octaves have proportionally more energy.

The 1 kHz tone is the historical broadcast and tape reference — it lies in the most sensitive part of human hearing, has the simplest harmonic relationship for level metering, and almost every level meter, VU meter and reference unit calibrates to it at 0 VU = −20 dBFS or −18 dBFS.

dBFS (decibels relative to full scale) is the logarithmic measure used by digital audio. 0 dBFS = full-scale (amplitude 1.0), −6 dBFS ≈ amplitude 0.5, −20 dBFS ≈ amplitude 0.1. We expose dBFS because that is what every meter on every DAW shows — picking −6 dBFS gives consistent results regardless of bit depth.

WAV is uncompressed and exact — bit-for-bit reproducible regardless of encoder. For lossy formats use FFmpeg in your DAW or the audio compressor tools on Timbrica — pick the codec, bitrate and profile that match your testing target.