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Guided workflow variation

-24 LKFS for every spot,checked and corrected in a batch.

Commercials, promos and interstitials bound for US television are measured against ATSC A/85. WavSpec reads the full mix of every spot, sets it at -24 LKFS, keeps true peak under -2 dBTP, and hands you one report covering each version.

Select the ATSC A/85 (2026) preset, drop in the spots, and press Check and correct batch: level, peak and format are set, and the report lists each spot.

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One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Full WavSpec overview
One-time purchase No telemetry Local-first

windows · re-measured from disk · originals never overwritten · nothing uploads

If this sounds like your week

A spot that jumps out of the break gets sent back.

In the United States the CALM Act points to ATSC A/85 for commercial loudness, and stations and networks pass that on to whoever delivers the spots. A week of ad work can mean dozens of 15-, 30- and 60-second versions, tags and cutdowns, each mixed at a different moment and each needing to land at -24 LKFS.

Where tooling usually breaks

Versions multiply faster than anyone can meter them.

Swap a tag line and the integrated figure moves. Push a cutdown for punch and its overs clip after the station’s encoder. Metering each version in real time eats the afternoon, and the traffic coordinator still wants something in writing that says which files were measured, at what level, on which date.

Where WavSpec lands

Every version measured on the full mix, set, and listed.

The ATSC A/85 (2026) full-mix / short-form preset targets -24 LKFS with a ±2 dB window and a -2 dBTP ceiling, at 48 kHz, 16- or 24-bit, in mono, stereo or 5.1. WavSpec applies gain, limits overs using 4× oversampled detection, converts the format, writes loudness into bext, and puts all versions in one report.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Learn more about WavSpec

windows · re-measured from disk · originals never overwritten · nothing uploads

What you get

Feature highlights

Named client specs

ten built-in presets for broadcast, podcast, ad and audiobook delivery, each cited to its source document, plus your own specs, exported and imported as files to share.

Measured per ITU-R BS.1770-5

integrated, short-term and momentary loudness, loudness range, and 4× oversampled true peak, checked against the EBU Tech 3341 and 3342 test signals, plus RMS, noise floor and room tone.

Corrected in one run

gain to the exact target, look-ahead true-peak limiting only where needed, windowed-sinc resampling, bit depth with TPDF dither, and PCM WAV or constant-bit-rate MP3 delivery.

Re-measured from disk

every delivered file is read back and measured again, with up to three passes to land on target, and files that already meet the spec pass unchanged.

A report to send

PDF, HTML, CSV and JSON with before and after values, a loudness timeline per file, client and project details, and a SHA-256 digest for every delivered file.

Audiobook heads and tails

room tone padded with the file’s own room tone or trimmed, digital silence replaced, plain file names, and 192 kbps CBR MP3 for ACX, with originals never overwritten.

Especially when

  • Check a whole batch against the client’s loudness, true-peak and format spec instead of metering and fixing files one at a time
  • Correct loudness, true peaks, sample rate and bit depth in one run, without the gain change pushing peaks over the ceiling
  • Get audiobook chapters within the ACX rules for RMS, peaks, room tone and MP3 format before the upload
  • Send a report with before and after values and a SHA-256 digest for every file, with the audio kept on the PC and the originals untouched

Who benefits

Real-world scenarios

A post house turning around a campaign

A regional campaign comes back with twelve versions: three lengths with four tags each, mixed over two days in different sessions by two engineers.

Drop the folder in, pick the ATSC A/85 (2026) preset, and press Check and correct batch. Every version is set to -24 LKFS on the full mix, held under -2 dBTP, and listed in the report with its before and after values.

Promos that ship with a 5.1 mix

Network promos go out as a stereo mix and a 5.1 mix, and both versions have to meet the same loudness target and the same true-peak ceiling.

WavSpec measures the 5.1 files with the BS.1770 channel weights, corrects them the same way as the stereo versions, and keeps both in one batch report, so the traffic team gets one document for the whole delivery.

A station with its own tighter window

One station’s delivery sheet asks for -24 LKFS within ±1 dB and a -3 dBTP ceiling rather than the wider window in the recommended practice.

Duplicate the built-in preset, set Tolerance to 1 and the peak ceiling to -3, name the spec after the station, and save. Export it as a file and send it to the freelancers who mix for that station, who add it with Import.

Deep dive

What the A/85 check covers for commercials and short-form spots

Same meter, US label. ATSC A/85 uses LKFS, loudness K-weighted relative to full scale. It is the same measurement as the LUFS that EBU R 128 uses, defined by ITU-R BS.1770, so WavSpec’s BS.1770-5 meter reads -24 LKFS exactly as it reads -24 LUFS, and the app shows the target as -24.0 LUFS ±2.0 LU.

The current document. WavSpec’s preset follows ATSC A/85:2026-07, approved on 8 July 2026, which supersedes the 2013 edition: a target of -24 LKFS, measurement variation of about ±2 dB anticipated, and a maximum true peak of -2 dBTP. The preset carries the link to the document, and every report prints it.

Full-mix measurement. For commercials, promos, interstitials and other short-form content, the 2026 edition measures the full mix. That is how the preset measures every spot: all channels, K-weighted, gated, and integrated across the whole file, with 5.1 channels weighted per BS.1770.

Peaks after the encoder. Stations encode audio for transmission, and peaks close to full scale can clip once encoded. The -2 dBTP ceiling leaves that room. WavSpec detects true peak 4× oversampled per BS.1770-5 Annex 2, its look-ahead limiter holds the ceiling, and the written file is measured again to confirm it.

Format. The preset accepts 48 kHz PCM at 16 or 24 bits in mono, stereo or 5.1. Other rates are resampled with a windowed-sinc converter, float files are converted with TPDF dither, and the verified loudness values are written into the bext chunk of Broadcast Wave deliveries.

One report for the traffic desk. The report lists every spot with its integrated loudness and true peak before and after, the correction applied, a short-term loudness timeline, and a SHA-256 digest of each delivered file, as PDF, HTML, CSV and JSON. Fill in Report details once and the client and job reference print on every format.

Scripted runs. For a nightly export from the edit system, the command line runs the same check: WavSpec.exe with --spec and the preset’s name, --out and the delivery folder, then the files or folders. It exits with 0 when every file passes and 1 when a file needs attention, so a script can act on the result.

How it is built

Built to change only what the spec needs, and show the numbers.

Verified from disk

Every delivered file is read back and measured again, with up to three passes to land on target. The report’s After columns and SHA-256 digests describe the exact bytes delivered.

Originals never overwritten

Sources are opened read-only. Delivered files go to a separate delivery folder as a temporary file moved into place, and Broadcast Wave bext, iXML and LIST chunks are carried across.

Nothing leaves your PC

No account, no telemetry, no update check and no cloud processing. Measurement and correction run on your PC. One-time purchase in the Microsoft Store.

FAQ

Straight answers—no glossary dump

What does ATSC A/85 ask for in commercials?

ATSC A/85 is the recommended practice the CALM Act refers to for television commercial loudness in the United States. The 2026 edition sets a target of -24 LKFS, measured per ITU-R BS.1770 on the full mix for short-form content such as commercials, with about ±2 dB of measurement variation anticipated, and a maximum true peak of -2 dBTP. Station and network delivery sheets may set tighter windows on top.

How do I check a folder of spots against ATSC A/85?

Drag the folder into WavSpec, choose ATSC A/85 (2026) full-mix / short-form under Client specification, and press Check only (F6). Each spot shows Pass or Fail with its integrated loudness and true peak, and nothing is written. Press Check and correct batch (F5) to set each spot to -24 LKFS, limit the peaks, and write the files and the report to the delivery folder.

Is LKFS the same as LUFS?

Yes. LKFS, the term ATSC uses, and LUFS, the term the EBU uses, name the same measurement: loudness K-weighted relative to full scale, as defined by ITU-R BS.1770. One LU equals one dB of level change. WavSpec displays LUFS, so the A/85 target of -24 LKFS appears as -24.0 LUFS ±2.0 LU, and the numbers mean the same thing.

What happens to my original audio files?

They stay exactly as they were. WavSpec opens originals read-only and writes every delivered file to the delivery folder you choose, first as a temporary file and then moved into place. If the delivery folder is the source folder, the delivered file gets a new name, so the original is never overwritten. Copies renamed for a platform’s file-name rule are new files too, and the source keeps its name.

Does my audio leave the PC, and how do I get WavSpec?

Your audio stays on this PC. WavSpec opens no network connection: there is no account, no telemetry, no update check and no cloud processing, and settings, specs and the log stay in your local app data folder. It runs on Windows 11 version 22H2 or later on an x64 PC. WavSpec is a one-time purchase in the Microsoft Store, and the Store runs a 15-day free trial of the full product.

Related pages

-23 LUFS and -1 dBTP, across the whole delivery. A folder of WAVs in, every file at the target LUFS. -16 LUFS for every episode, from the pilot to the back catalog.

A batch of audio in.
A verified delivery and its report out.

WavSpec checks every file against the client’s spec, corrects loudness, true peak, sample rate and bit depth in one run, re-measures each delivered file from disk, and writes a PDF, HTML, CSV and JSON report. Originals are never overwritten, nothing uploads, and the Microsoft Store runs a 15-day free trial.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Open full product page

ACX and Audible are trademarks of Audible, Inc. or its affiliates. Apple Podcasts is a trademark of Apple Inc. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB. EBU R 128, ATSC A/85 and the other named specifications belong to their publishers. WavSpec is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

Technical specifications

Technical specifications for procurement

Spec Implementation
Data Sovereignty Reads only the files and folders you add, or the watch folder you choose, and opens originals read-only; writes delivered files and reports only to the delivery folder you pick, as a temporary file moved into place; settings, specs and the log stay in your local app data folder on this PC
Telemetry Status None; no account, no telemetry, no update check, and the app opens no network connection
Core Runtime C# on a self-contained .NET 10 runtime with WPF, packaged as MSIX for the Microsoft Store; loudness metering, true-peak detection, resampling and limiting are implemented natively; AIFF is read with NAudio, and MP3, AAC, FLAC and WMA use the Windows Media Foundation codecs
Network Requirements Fully functional offline; WavSpec makes no network connections, and the Microsoft Store handles the trial and purchase
Deployment Compatibility Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, x64, with 4 GB of RAM and about 150 MB of disk; one-time purchase on the Microsoft Store with a 15-day free trial
Inputs WAV, BWF, RF64, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, AAC/M4A and WMA; mono, stereo, 5.1 and 7.1; files, whole folders, or a watch folder
Measurement ITU-R BS.1770-5 integrated loudness, EBU Tech 3341 short-term and momentary loudness, Tech 3342 loudness range, 4× oversampled true peak, sample peak, whole-file RMS, noise floor, and head and tail room tone
Correction Gain to the exact LUFS or RMS target, look-ahead true-peak limiting, windowed-sinc resampling, bit depth and float conversion with TPDF dither, CBR MP3 through the Windows encoder, room-tone padding and trimming, and plain file names on delivered copies
Built-in specs EBU R 128 v5.0, EBU R 128 s1, UK DPP AS-11, ARD/ZDF/ORF TV (2025), ATSC A/85 (2026) full-mix / short-form, Apple Podcasts, Spotify audio ads, ACX audiobook, Author’s Republic audiobook, and generic 48 kHz / 24-bit; user specs export and import as files
Verification Every delivered file is read back from disk and measured again, with up to three passes to land on target
Outputs Corrected PCM WAV or CBR MP3 in a separate delivery folder, with bext, iXML, LIST and cue chunks kept and verified loudness written to bext (EBU Tech 3285 v2)
Report PDF, HTML, CSV and JSON with before and after values per criterion, loudness timelines, a batch consistency line, client and project details, and SHA-256 digests of delivered and source files
Automation Watch folder in the app (Ctrl+W); command line with --spec, --out, --check-only and exit codes for scripts