SonauditA useful QC result should say more than red or green. Some conditions are measurable against a stated rule; others are evidence that a person should listen. Combining both into one failure bucket creates false certainty, while calling every uncertainty a pass hides work that is still unfinished.
Sonaudit uses four file states: Pass, Review, Fail, and Unsupported. The state summarises the current scan. Individual findings still carry the measured value, threshold where applicable, position, explanation, and review decision.
Fail means a rule produced a noncompliant result
A failure is appropriate when the app can compare a readable file with the selected profile or establish a deterministic problem in its audio. Examples include a loudness value outside the profile range, a true-peak value above its ceiling, an ACX file with the wrong required container or sample rate, or an effectively silent file. A file that cannot be decoded is handled separately as Unsupported because the expected analysis did not complete.
The result still depends on scope. A file can fail the selected profile without being universally bad audio. If the wrong profile was chosen, or the receiver's requirement changed, rerun the correct check instead of editing the file to satisfy an irrelevant threshold.
Review means the evidence needs a listener
Possible clicks, hum, abrupt starts or endings, long internal silence, channel imbalance, and negative phase correlation can all be meaningful, yet their acceptability depends on programme content and delivery intent. Sonaudit routes such findings to Review so they do not reject the file by themselves.
Open the marker, audition the surrounding audio, and choose Confirmed, Ignored, or Pending. Confirmed means the reviewer accepts the finding as a real issue. Ignored means it is intentional or not actionable for this delivery. Pending keeps the question visible for another pass. Notes record why the decision was made.
Unsupported is not the same as Pass
An unsupported result means Sonaudit could not complete the expected analysis. The codec may not decode on that Mac, the file may be damaged or empty, or a layout may not support a reliable conclusion. Treating that state as passing would hide missing evidence.
Check the reported reason, confirm that the extension matches the real container, and try the source in a trusted editor or format-specific inspection tool. Sonaudit discovers a broad set of audio extensions, but final decoding depends on macOS support and the specific file. It does not bundle a transcoder as a fallback.
Pass describes this scan, not every possible defect
Pass means the file was analysed and no active primary failure or warning remains after ignored items are excluded. It does not mean that every creative edit was heard, every metadata field was validated, or every external delivery rule was represented in the profile. Current metadata checks identify common metadata types; they do not enforce every required field and value.
A clean automated result is therefore the beginning of sign-off, not a substitute for the receiver's checklist and an appropriate listening pass. This is especially important for speech intelligibility, distortion that falls outside a detector, multi-channel routing decisions, and long-form dialogue-gated broadcast requirements.
Keep scan status and delivery-report status distinct
The Delivery report preset intentionally excludes pending candidates, ignored findings, and informational items. A file that is Review in the workspace can consequently appear as Pass in the delivery PDF if its only findings are still-unconfirmed candidates. Internal Review is the right export when the unresolved queue must remain visible; Full Audit preserves the entire record.
This difference is not an attempt to hide problems. It prevents a client-facing report from presenting every heuristic candidate as a confirmed defect. The reviewer must clear or communicate the pending queue before deciding which report belongs in the handoff.