Headroom

Headroom is the gap between where your audio normally peaks and the absolute ceiling of 0 dBFS where digital clipping begins. Leaving headroom, often aiming peaks around minus 6 to minus 12 dBFS, gives a mix room to breathe and absorb unexpected loud moments without distorting. For an editor it is insurance: a sudden shout, door slam, or stacked effect can spike well above the average level, and without margin that spike clips and damages the sound irreversibly. Mixers preserve headroom throughout the chain so each stage has room before the next, then bring the final level up at mastering against a known loudness target. Too little headroom risks clipping and a squashed mix; reasonable headroom keeps transients clean and leaves control for the final loudness pass.