Not a lab meter

Hi-Fi Score is not a measured DR or LUFS reading from a mastering lab. We do not analyze waveforms for every album. When you see a number with little community data, it is labeled Early signal.

Preview-measured PLR

When we can fetch a public 30-second preview, we run ffmpeg ebur128 and store Preview-measured PLR (30 s lossy excerpts) plus integrated LUFS. That number replaces genre/era priors in Hi-Fi Score and the badge reads Preview-measured. We never store or redistribute audio. It is not a full-master lab DR meter — confirm on your own system. See PLR, LUFS, and the loudness war.

Early signal (heuristic)

When preview PLR is missing, the score is built from:

• Streaming format tags (Hi-Res / lossless / lossy)
• Era and genre priors (jazz/soul/acoustic lean up; loudness-war genres lean down)
• Optional curator edition notes (known loud remasters, preferred stream cut)
• Editorial dynamic-range hints when we have them (not instrumented meters)

Community-weighted

Once an album has enough Music / Fidelity diary logs (n≥5), the badge shows Community · n=… and blends listener fidelity into the score. Remaster votes and speakers-vs-headphones splits stay separate so edition wars stay visible.

Edition Passport

For remaster groups we publish year, loudness notes, preferred stream edition, and a short before/after story — but only when claims are verified with sources. Unverified bulk templates are noindexed and do not show fake DR meters. Prefer the card that says Stream/buy this edition when status is verified. See remasters.