Contrast Analyzer

The Contrast Analyzer measures the difference in level between two passages of a track — typically speech and the background behind it — and reports it in decibels. It exists for accessibility work: guidelines on audio contrast ask that foreground speech sit a stated number of decibels above any background sound, and this is the tool that tells you whether a recording meets that.

Where to find it

Analyze → Contrast analyzer.

How it is used

Select a passage of foreground speech and measure it, then select a passage of background alone and measure that. Each measurement is the RMS level of the selection in decibels, and the difference between the two is the contrast figure.

Notes

It measures one track at a time. With more than one track selected it will not run, and with none selected there is nothing to measure — select audio in a single track first.

Choose the passages carefully, because the answer is only as good as they are. The foreground measurement should be over continuous speech rather than including the pauses in it, and the background measurement should be over a stretch with no speech at all.

Nothing is altered: this is a measurement, and there is no undo step to worry about.

Last updated 3 September 2026