diff --git a/host/hackrf-tools/src/hackrf_transfer.c b/host/hackrf-tools/src/hackrf_transfer.c
index 4978316d..89ee4832 100644
--- a/host/hackrf-tools/src/hackrf_transfer.c
+++ b/host/hackrf-tools/src/hackrf_transfer.c
@@ -343,17 +343,8 @@ uint32_t stream_tail = 0;
 uint32_t stream_drop = 0;
 uint8_t* stream_buf = NULL;
 
-/*
- * To report amplitude, best would be dB(fullscale) and the variance,
- * but that would require more math per sample (dB(amplitude) = log(sqrt(i^2 + q^2) and sum of squares).
- * For now, just sum iabs(i)+iabs(q) and divide by the number of samples*2.
- * That allows us to give a measure of dB(fullscale).
- * I don't know whether overload causes wrapping or clamping the 8-bit values.
- * Clamping would produce a sigmoid curve, so with a signal of variable intensity you're
- * probably getting substantial overload anytime this reports more than about -6dBfs.
- */
-uint64_t stream_amplitude =
-	0; /* sum of magnitudes of all I&Q samples, reset on the periodic report */
+/* sum of power of all samples, reset on the periodic report */
+volatile uint64_t stream_power = 0;
 
 bool transmit = false;
 struct timeval time_start;
@@ -419,8 +410,18 @@ int rx_callback(hackrf_transfer* transfer)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	byte_count += transfer->valid_length;
+	/* Accumulate power (magnitude squared). */
 	bytes_to_write = transfer->valid_length;
+	uint64_t sum = 0;
+	for (i = 0; i < bytes_to_write; i++) {
+		int8_t value = transfer->buffer[i];
+		sum += value * value;
+	}
+
+	/* Update both running totals at approximately the same time. */
+	byte_count += transfer->valid_length;
+	stream_power += sum;
+
 	if (limit_num_samples) {
 		if (bytes_to_write >= bytes_to_xfer) {
 			bytes_to_write = bytes_to_xfer;
@@ -428,11 +429,6 @@ int rx_callback(hackrf_transfer* transfer)
 		bytes_to_xfer -= bytes_to_write;
 	}
 
-	// accumulate stream_amplitude:
-	for (i = 0; i < bytes_to_write; i++) {
-		stream_amplitude += abs((signed char) transfer->buffer[i]);
-	}
-
 	if (receive_wav) {
 		/* convert .wav contents from signed to unsigned */
 		for (i = 0; i < bytes_to_write; i++) {
@@ -487,12 +483,19 @@ int tx_callback(hackrf_transfer* transfer)
 		stop_main_loop();
 		return -1;
 	}
-	byte_count += transfer->valid_length;
+
+	/* Accumulate power (magnitude squared). */
 	bytes_to_read = transfer->valid_length;
+	uint64_t sum = 0;
 	for (i = 0; i < bytes_to_read; i++) {
-		stream_amplitude += abs((signed char) transfer->buffer[i]);
+		int8_t value = transfer->buffer[i];
+		sum += value * value;
 	}
 
+	/* Update both running totals at approximately the same time. */
+	byte_count += transfer->valid_length;
+	stream_power += sum;
+
 	if (file == NULL) { // transceiver_mode == TRANSCEIVER_MODE_SS
 		/* Transmit continuous wave with specific amplitude */
 		if (limit_num_samples) {
@@ -503,7 +506,7 @@ int tx_callback(hackrf_transfer* transfer)
 		}
 
 		for (i = 0; i < bytes_to_read; i++)
-			transfer->buffer[i] = amplitude;
+			transfer->buffer[i] = -(uint8_t) amplitude;
 
 		if (limit_num_samples && (bytes_to_xfer == 0)) {
 			stop_main_loop();
@@ -625,7 +628,7 @@ static void usage()
 	printf("\t[-S buf_size] # Enable receive streaming with buffer size buf_size.\n");
 #endif
 	printf("\t[-B] # Print buffer statistics during transfer\n");
-	printf("\t[-c amplitude] # CW signal source mode, amplitude 0-127 (DC value to DAC).\n");
+	printf("\t[-c amplitude] # CW signal source mode, amplitude 0-128 (DC value to DAC).\n");
 	printf("\t[-R] # Repeat TX mode (default is off) \n");
 	printf("\t[-b baseband_filter_bw_hz] # Set baseband filter bandwidth in Hz.\n");
 	printf("\tPossible values: 1.75/2.5/3.5/5/5.5/6/7/8/9/10/12/14/15/20/24/28MHz, default <= 0.75 * sample_rate_hz.\n");
@@ -680,6 +683,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 	unsigned int lna_gain = 8, vga_gain = 20, txvga_gain = 0;
 	hackrf_m0_state state;
 	stats_t stats = {0, 0};
+	static int32_t preload_bytes = 0;
 
 	while ((opt =
 			getopt(argc,
@@ -1012,9 +1016,9 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 
 	if (signalsource) {
 		transceiver_mode = TRANSCEIVER_MODE_SS;
-		if (amplitude > 127) {
+		if (amplitude > 128) {
 			fprintf(stderr,
-				"argument error: amplitude shall be in between 0 and 127.\n");
+				"argument error: amplitude must be between 0 and 128.\n");
 			usage();
 			return EXIT_FAILURE;
 		}
@@ -1269,9 +1273,11 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 		.it_value = {.tv_sec = 1, .tv_usec = 0}};
 	setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &interval_timer, NULL);
 #endif
+	preload_bytes = hackrf_get_transfer_queue_depth(device) *
+		hackrf_get_transfer_buffer_size(device);
 
 	while ((hackrf_is_streaming(device) == HACKRF_TRUE) && (do_exit == false)) {
-		uint32_t byte_count_now;
+		uint64_t byte_count_now;
 		struct timeval time_now;
 		float time_difference, rate;
 		if (stream_size > 0) {
@@ -1304,7 +1310,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 			}
 #endif
 		} else {
-			uint64_t stream_amplitude_now;
+			uint64_t stream_power_now;
 #ifdef _WIN32
 			// Wait for interval timer event, or interrupt event.
 			HANDLE handles[] = {timer_handle, interrupt_handle};
@@ -1315,13 +1321,28 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 #endif
 			gettimeofday(&time_now, NULL);
 
+			/* Read and reset both totals at approximately the same time. */
 			byte_count_now = byte_count;
+			stream_power_now = stream_power;
 			byte_count = 0;
-			stream_amplitude_now = stream_amplitude;
-			stream_amplitude = 0;
-			if (byte_count_now <
-			    sample_rate_hz / 20) // Don't report on very short frames
-				stream_amplitude_now = 0;
+			stream_power = 0;
+
+			/*
+			 * The TX callback is called to preload the USB
+			 * transfer buffers at the start of TX. This results in
+			 * invalid statistics collected about the empty buffers
+			 * before any USB transfer is completed. We skip these
+			 * statistics and do not report them to the user.
+			 */
+			if (preload_bytes > 0) {
+				if (preload_bytes > byte_count_now) {
+					preload_bytes -= byte_count_now;
+					byte_count_now = 0;
+				} else {
+					byte_count_now -= preload_bytes;
+					preload_bytes = 0;
+				}
+			}
 
 			time_difference = TimevalDiff(&time_now, &time_start);
 			rate = (float) byte_count_now / time_difference;
@@ -1329,21 +1350,15 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 			    hw_sync_enable != 0) {
 				fprintf(stderr, "Waiting for sync...\n");
 			} else {
-				// This is only an approximate measure, to assist getting receive levels right:
-				double full_scale_ratio =
-					((double) stream_amplitude_now /
-					 (byte_count_now ? byte_count_now : 1)) /
-					128;
-				double dB_full_scale_ratio = 10 * log10(full_scale_ratio);
-				// Guard against ridiculous reports
-				if (dB_full_scale_ratio > 1)
-					dB_full_scale_ratio = -0.0;
+				double full_scale_ratio = (double) stream_power_now /
+					(byte_count_now * 128 * 128);
+				double dB_full_scale = 10 * log10(full_scale_ratio);
 				fprintf(stderr,
-					"%4.1f MiB / %5.3f sec = %4.1f MiB/second, amplitude %3.1f dBfs",
+					"%4.1f MiB / %5.3f sec = %4.1f MiB/second, average power %3.1f dBfs",
 					(byte_count_now / 1e6f),
 					time_difference,
 					(rate / 1e6f),
-					dB_full_scale_ratio);
+					dB_full_scale);
 				if (display_stats) {
 					bool tx = transmit || signalsource;
 					result = update_stats(device, &state, &stats);
diff --git a/host/libhackrf/src/hackrf.c b/host/libhackrf/src/hackrf.c
index ab49a920..49f3a49d 100644
--- a/host/libhackrf/src/hackrf.c
+++ b/host/libhackrf/src/hackrf.c
@@ -2685,6 +2685,26 @@ int ADDCALL hackrf_start_rx_sweep(
 	return result;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Get USB transfer buffer size.
+ * @return size in bytes
+ */
+size_t ADDCALL hackrf_get_transfer_buffer_size(hackrf_device* device)
+{
+	(void) device;
+	return TRANSFER_BUFFER_SIZE;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get the total number of USB transfer buffers.
+ * @return number of buffers
+ */
+uint32_t ADDCALL hackrf_get_transfer_queue_depth(hackrf_device* device)
+{
+	(void) device;
+	return TRANSFER_COUNT;
+}
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 } // __cplusplus defined.
 #endif
diff --git a/host/libhackrf/src/hackrf.h b/host/libhackrf/src/hackrf.h
index 0d3efc8f..4f9ddbc8 100644
--- a/host/libhackrf/src/hackrf.h
+++ b/host/libhackrf/src/hackrf.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSI
 #define __HACKRF_H__
 
 #include <stdint.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 	#define ADD_EXPORTS
@@ -458,6 +459,10 @@ extern ADDAPI int ADDCALL hackrf_start_rx_sweep(
 	hackrf_sample_block_cb_fn callback,
 	void* rx_ctx);
 
+extern ADDAPI size_t ADDCALL hackrf_get_transfer_buffer_size(hackrf_device* device);
+
+extern ADDAPI uint32_t ADDCALL hackrf_get_transfer_queue_depth(hackrf_device* device);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 } // __cplusplus defined.
 #endif