Since streaming’s inception, the best way to master music as it relates to loudness and peaking has been a topic of debate. This problem can be exacerbated by the encoding process, which creates inaccuracies in the digital encoding, or quantizing, of a signal’s amplitude. This is because humans don’t hear frequencies evenly across the spectrum – some we hear louder than others, and some a lot quieter than others (like bass). This indicates that regardless of how music is normalized today, anything that has been uploaded to Spotify will eventually be held to the -14 LUFS standard. Grab our free EQ cheat sheet below! It is recommended that the Target Loudness of the stream not exceed -16 LUFS: to avoid excessive peak limiting, and allow a higher dynamic range in a program stream.1 It is recommended that the Target Loudness of a stream not be lower than -20 LUFS: to improve the audibility of streams on mobile devices. A decibel (abbreviated dB) is the unit of measurement for the intensity of sound. Often when achieving a loud master, we can sacrifice dynamics range for LUFS. This distortion may occur regardless of whether your output meters are showing these peaks or not. As stated a moment ago, the encoding process alters the relationship between a signal’s amplitude and the digital information that can be used to represent this amplitude. In this article, we cover: Want to improve your mixdowns, but struggling with EQ? I know it's discussed all over the web, but in reality very few people actually do it. What’s more concerning than an integrated loudness is the potential of unwanted distortion. I love how they’ve kept everything in a simple interface without sacrificing usability. With these targets, you're good to go! If you’d like to learn more about mastering for other streaming services, you can check out our blog on the topic here: “Master Music for Streaming.”. Figure 4: Bringing the Threshold down to -5.70 gave -13.0 LUFS, and true peak under 0. Bearing all this in mind, depending on the purpose of the music you’re making, you might still want to go above the recommended average of -14 LUFS. Personally, I don’t mind sacrificing dynamic range because I make genres like drum & bass, which are designed to be played in a club. So you’ll get a general idea of how loud the whole song is. If you’d like to learn more about this process, here is a blog that goes into greater detail on the subject: “What is Dithering?”. We’ll master it for you and send you a free mastered sample in return. Much talk and time has been spent on normalization. Again, it’s not as simple as mastering to -14 LUFS, but -14 LUFS does serve as a good foundation for loudness, from which you can measure both your true peaks and encoding peaks. Simply upload a finished mix: We'll master your song and send back a 1-2 minute sample at no cost. Whenever a new medium is introduced in music, be it the compact disc, cassette, vinyl record or what have you, engineers need to put their heads together to figure out the specifics. Compared to the last record, if yours is louder, it will likely be perceived as more ‘professional’. What’s more, this plugin allows you to switch between different encoding processes, to measure if that process results in peaking. Per CD e per lo streaming (I-Tunes, Spotify etc.) If you’re interested in learning more about mastering, I teach 1-on-1 classes and we can dive into the subject. It describes loudness without direct absolute reference and therefore describes loudness level differences. The result? At least when your master is turned down, you don’t have to worry about inter-sample peaking as much as you would if your music was very dynamic and turned up. But the reason it quickly became outdated was because it’s not adjusted for human hearing – it wouldn’t place weighting on certain frequencies which we can’t hear as well. 5.4 minutes to read. It has the standard integrated and momentary (short-term) LUFS readings, as well as true peak, a 3D spectrum analyzer and sound field. But LUFS will allow you to get much more accurate data, and can help you understand why your mix sounds the way it does. LUFS is the modern standard for measuring loudness in music. And to get that results, you need a reliable way to measure that. Remember when I said that mastering your music to -14 LUFS will allow you to focus on other, more important things? You might hear that Skrillex masters at -4 LUFS, so you might try to aim for your tracks to be -4 across the entirety of your music. If you make your master too loud, or your master is normalized too loudly, inter-sample peaks can cause distortion when your music is listened to. The problem is, loudness normalization on streaming services doesn’t adjust dynamic range. So you have a grasp of LUFS, have gotten a plugin and are ready to get your tracks up to scratch. What’s more concerning than an integrated loudness is the potential of unwanted distortion. Targeting Mastering Loudness for Streaming (LUFS, Spotify, YouTube)-Why NOT to do it. For example, if a song has a LUFS of -14, with it’s loudest peak at -.2 on a true-peak meter, and it was normalized to -12 LUFS, this -.2 peak could become a problem. Besides the lack of dynamic range, which has created a years-long debate amongst the music and audio communities. I’ll give my recommendations, but make sure to try them out and use what works for you! Integrated LUFS is most commonly used when comparing tracks. Essentially, during sample rate conversion and bit depth reduction, amplitudes that could otherwise be accurately represented by a bit of data can no longer be accurately represented when that bit is no longer available. That’s why a lot of engineers are purposely mastering quietly these days. Furthermore, Spotify has stated its plans to conform to the ITU 1770 standard, which uses an integrated LUFS as its measurement system. Loudness Units (or LU) is an additional unit. A quiet mix with no dynamics. TIDAL, Amazon Music and YouTube are all now using the same method to measure loudness, and aiming for the same reference level as well - and that’s great news! Remember when I said that mastering your music to -14 LUFS will allow you to focus on other, more important things? That being said, if someone is streaming music, odds are it’s going to be on Spotify. But those things are still hard to get right. Les diffuseurs américains se conforment à la norme ATSC A / 85. This meter measures the inter-sample peaks that can exist when converting a digital signal to an analog signal. That’s it! Although other measurements like the true peak value and other metrics need to be considered, -14 LUFS is the best mastering level when considering loudness. The 2dB of gain added during normalization would push the signal to right below peaking. We can also make streaming services (like Spotify) happy, with -14.0 LUFS and -1.0 TP values (Fig. Spotify’s target playback level is -14 LUFS integrated. The quantization distortion part of this problem is the difference between the original signal and the new signal, as the information that could not be encoded properly is converted into noise, or in extreme situations, harmonic distortion. Simply put, it’s the volume to which the most popular streaming service normalizes music. So it pays to try and get your loudness close to their stated level. You can find Spotify’s exact requirements in the table above! Spotify has lowered its normalization level from -11 LUFS to -14 LUFS, matching Tidal and bringing it closer to iTunes (-16 LUFS).The new level provides increased headroom for dynamics, meaning that dynamic music will play back just as loud as more compressed music. in March, both Adobe and Hindenburg have contacted me to inform how some of their apps now support -14 LUFS (for Amazon & Spotify, and subsequently, the new de facto online delivery standard) and -18 LUFS (for the BBC) in different ways, either via direct preset or indirect settings. The reason being that the encoding process will alter how amplitudes are quantized, in turn changing the nature of inter-sampling peaking and the D to A conversion process. For mastering, -14 LUFS is the best level for streaming, as it will fit the loudness targets for the majority of streaming sources. You’v got LUFS, LRA (loudness range), stereo field, peak, dynamic range and even a ‘bass space’ meter for checking your bass loudness. There are a couple of tools that can be used to see if your music will peak when encoded or when played back. En Europe, la norme EBU R128. LUFS stands for L oudness U nits relative to F ull S cale. The only way this process can affect your master is by affecting its amount of clipping distortion – which is a reason for concern but can be avoided with certain precautions. LUFS stands for Loudness Units Relative to Full Scale. Although other measurements like the true peak value and other metrics need to be considered, -14 LUFS is the best mastering level when considering loudness. That’s why I included a recommended -6 to -9 LUFS for DJ stores – just so your tunes hold up in a club. Integrated LUFS are great for getting a ballpark estimate for your entire song. Youtube normalizes music to around -14 LUFS so the ideal settings for your YouTube master would be -13 to -15 LUFS with the dynamic range reading on LEVELS not lower than 9DR and with a safe true peak of -1 dBTP. This problem can be exacerbated by the encoding process, which creates inaccuracies in the digital encoding, or quantizing, of a signal’s amplitude. One main way they do this is by targeting the same LUFS level for all music, and adjusting the gain as a result. With that said, let’s look at these points in detail, as we discuss why you only need to master to an integrated -14 LUFS. -23 LUFS (EBU R128) con -1dbTP - 24 LUFS o LKFS (ATSC A/85) con -2db TP questo per i programmi televisivi. The dynamic range is the dB difference between the highest and lowest ‘true peak values’. Even though the streaming service may account for this with a limiter, an inter-sample may still be created. Streaming Services Lufs, Indeed recently has been hunted by consumers around us, perhaps one of you personally.People now are accustomed to using the internet in gadgets to view video and image information for inspiration, and according to the name of this article I will discuss about This way, you get the accurate data of your final master. Integrated LUFS is most commonly used when comparing tracks. The same goes for YouTube. Insight 2 is another great option that I’ve played around with and gives you all the features you need. If you love simple yet fancy GUI’s – this is the one for you. This makes using a true peak meter even more important. You can change the integrated LUFS mastering threshold to -14 Int LUFS for Spotify streaming. What we can say with certainty, is that uploading a master file with an integrated LUFS of -14 will not be harmed by Apple’s or YouTube’s normalization process. If you’d like to learn more about it here is a blog that covers the topic: “Loudness Penalty”. And lastly, you can start focusing on other aspects of your master that are just as important, like how peaking, encoding, and loudness normalization relate to how your master is ultimately portrayed when streaming. The main reason for the increase in loudness is that to humans, louder is better. So once you’ve gone loud, you can’t get those dynamics back. Loudness normalization gives a better user experience, but it can be tough to get your head around. Most stores and online streaming services use it nowadays. Netflix will not accept any videos with audio louder than these 2 metrics, meaning it also normalizes audio upward. In August 2020, the EBU has published supplement 2 to R128 (EBU R 128s2) for streaming of broadcast content (live programmes as well as file content). These targets are the maximum loudness (LUFS) for their service. When it comes to clipping that’s associated with the encoding process, these can be avoided on the mastering side of things. Unfortunately, this unwanted clipping distortion is something that occurs frequently during the encoding process. It’s almost impossible to get high LUFS without reducing the dynamic range of the material. The best mastering level for streaming is an integrated -14 LUFS, as it best fits the loudness normalization settings of the majority of streaming services. What exactly is a decibel? Simply put, it’s the volume to which the most popular streaming service normalizes music. This indicates that regardless of how music is normalized today, anything that has been uploaded to Spotify will eventually be held to the -14 LUFS standard. This is where LUFS comes in. Furthermore, loudness normalization will no doubt alter the loudness of your master – meaning that peaks which wouldn’t have distorted during playback can now distort if dynamic enough. Regarding mastering to streaming LUFS loudness normalization targets - I do not recommend trying to do that. As usual, however, things are not quite as simple as that. It simply analyzed a signal over time and gave the average dB reading for it. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the truth of the matter is, all this time we’re spending worrying about how loud our masters should be is time we can spend better understanding the relationship between the encoding process, loudness normalization, and inter-sample peaking. Instead of spending hours debating the perfect loudness for each streaming service, perhaps it’s wise to consider some other variables that can cause some serious damage to your master. The latter situation is what we had found ourselves in as we speculated the best approach to mastering for streaming. This second tool is a plugin from Apple, that allows you to see both peaking and inter-sample peaking in real-time. LUFS fix this problem by tracking the perceived loudness of your music. This has gotten higher and higher over time, as limiting and maximizing has gotten more sophisticated with the algorithms, allowing music to become extremely loud without any obvious repercussions. In short, the encoding process can be understood as converting a PCM file like a WAV or AIFF to an MP3 or similar lossy file type. The default integrated LUFS threshold for mixing is -16 and -9 for mastering. But the reason for bringing it up again is to explain why the notion of a “Loudness Penalty” isn’t too terribly important when considering the other possibilities that come with streaming, loudness normalization, and the encoding process. No damage done. If you are curious at what volume you should master your music, an integrated -14 LUFS is a great place to start and will be adequate for most streaming services. This is the big question. The measurement for LUFS is ‘Loudness Units’, and the ‘full scale’ refers to the comparison to 0dB being the loudest point along that spectrum before clipping. This program either turns up or down the volume of the track to the default -14 LUFS, depending on how loud the master is in comparison to that benchmark. In truth, this information is hard to determine. Everyone wants a clean, loud and polished master – especially if you’re making EDM. They should go last on your master buss, after any limiters or effects. That’s why I created a free EQ cheat sheet for you to understand how to apply it in your mixes. How did -14 LUFS get chosen as the primary loudness at which to master music for streaming? Version 4.0 (August 2020). Waves’ plugins are popular for a reason. Loudness normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio signals. In fact, one could argue that it’s worse to have your master turned up during loudness normalization than turned down. Thanks to LUFS, we can have a balanced and pleasurably loud experience whether listening to music on popular streaming platforms or watching TV. Here are the LUFS loudness targets for each platform. If a track has a loudness level of -9.5 LUFS (like AC DC Back In Black) both streaming platforms will decrease the volume of that track to around -14 LUFS. EBU R128. Fortunately, after a fair amount of research and experimentation by many engineers and audio enthusiasts, it can be said with a fair deal of certainty that the best loudness at which to master your music is -14 LUFS. Since services like Spotify and Apple Music have become the gatekeepers of most music, they each come with their own way of standardizing the listeners experience. In fact, one could argue that it’s worse to have your master turned up during loudness normalization than turned down. TV and radio platforms implemented LUFS around 2013 as a measurement to standardize the volume in audio tracks. Although Apple Music and YouTube hold a great deal of clout in the music industry, Spotify currently holds the largest subscription base of any audio streaming service, with over 100 million paid subscribers and 217 million users in total. So just to recap, when mastering for Streaming, The loudness penalty is something we’ve discussed before in great detail. There’s also a cool intelligibility section, if you’re doing dialogue-related stuff. But that’s all changing with music streaming services. You need to know all sorts of things: EQ, compression, volume, reverb and more. You can read into it more, but basically, mids are heard more prominently than bass and highs, so a mix that has high RMS might have lower LUFS due to the level of the bass, for example. Experience the clarity that professional mastering will bring out in your music. "My advice is to make one digital master that sounds good, is not overly crushed for loudness, and use it for everything." There are two tools with which you can remedy these issues and ensure that when mastering, a loudness of -14 LUFS will be sufficient for all streaming services. Why is this? I’m going to offer a variety of free and paid options for LUFS metering. Then you might need to crank out that EQ, or adjust some levels. Mastering for streaming may be complex, but it’s not as complex as it has been portrayed to be. In August 2010, the EBU published the first version of its Loudness Recommendation EBU R128 (now in … 5). Netflix normalizes audio much differently than other audio streaming services – it only accepts files that are lower than an integrated -27 LUFS, with a max peak of -2dBTP. Fortunately, after a fair amount of research and experimentation by many engineers and audio enthusiasts, it can be said with a fair deal of certainty that the best loudness at which to master your music is -14 LUFS. Unfortunately, not much can be done to remedy this on the end of the mastering engineer, at least not when the bit-depth is being reduced during encoding; however, precautions and techniques are implemented on the encoding side of things. WLM Plus is fully up-to-scratch and compliant not only with music-related metering requirements, but also for film and broadcast (if you’re into that). And to a certain extent, it’s still is a topic of debate. In some circumstances, it is referred to LKFS, which just means that the LUFS measurement is K-weighted – something we’ll get into later. LKFS and LUFS relate to the same thing.Most of the world talks about LUFS, so we will too: but the US broadcast industry, particularly, likes to use LKFS. So they turn down my master by 4dB. Since I published How many LUFS for ideal audio loudness?Why can’t we be friends? LUFS takes into account ‘loudness perception’, and this is based on what is known as the Fletcher-Munson Curve. De nombreuses normes existent : pour le cinéma, pour le streaming, pour un CD, pour un vinyle, etc…. It also means that the loudest peak of your master should not exceed -2dB on a true peak meter. 2020 - R128 s2 for streaming. Integrated LUFS take an average of the entire song. However, utilizing this tool with a true-peak meter can ensure that your music won’t peak during the encoding or playback process. Let’s say I master a song to -10 LUFS integrated. In truth, this information is hard to determine. It’s a standardized measurement of audio loudness that factors human perception and electrical signal intensity together. These inaccuracies may result in greater inter-sample and regular sample peaks, in turn causing clipping distortion if severe enough. The idea behind the loudness penalty is that the worst thing that can occur to your master during the streaming process, is having it turned down by loudness normalization. At a frequency of 1 KHz, the smallest sound that human ears can detect has an objective volume In March 2011, the ITU introduced a loudness gate in the second revision of the recommendation, ITU-R BS.1770-2. Secondly, you can be comfortable mastering your music to one loudness without the fear of truncating your dynamic range, or distorting your master on various streaming services if the right precautions are taken. YouTube are slightly louder, iTunes is a couple of dB quieter, but overall -14 is the loudness you should aim for, right ? They’re relaible and they’ve been doing it for a long time. LUFS are used to set targets for audio normalization in broadcast systems for cinema, TV, radio and music streaming. This results in both quantization distortion and clipping when converting the signal from a digital to an analog signal. The EBU R128 recommendation was primarily concerned with television, but radio programs or podcasts are often consumed on mobile devices and therefore in noisier environmen… This is GREAT news. For a very long time, engineers, musicians and producers have been pushing the maximum LUFS they can get to without ruining the quality of music. It encourages artists to … This means a few different things. Essentially, during sample rate conversion and bit depth reduction, amplitudes that could otherwise be accurately represented by a bit of data can no longer be accurately represented when that bit is no longer available. Mastering for streaming may be complex, but it’s not as complex as it has been portrayed to be. What’s truly important is how your integrated loudness relates to your dynamic range, as making a highly dynamic master louder through normalization can result in peaking. Perhaps it depends on the type of audio, be it dialogue or music, but this can not be said for certain. The idea behind the loudness penalty is that the worst thing that can occur to your master during the streaming process, is having it turned down by loudness normalization. If your song or podcast is louder than their standard, they will turn it down. Whenever a new medium is introduced in music, be it the compact disc, cassette, vinyl record or what have you, engineers need to put their heads together to figure out the specifics. Each bar represents 1 loudness unit. This means they’re more accurate for real-world application. Integrated LUFS is also what the streaming services use as their target value for loudness matching. The LUFS measurement is accurate and considers human perception and listening experience when measuring the audio's perceived loudness. Some report it to be an integrated -12 LUFS for YouTube and -16 LUFS for Apple Music, but these figures are more or less speculative. You have both short term and integrated LUFS measurements, true peaks, dynamics and loudness range, as well as a bunch of other useful tools. 1 LU is the equivalent of 1 dB. So if you play your track from start to finish while metering, the LUFS value at the end will be the average volume of your whole track. Many loudness metering plugins still use RMS, and many DAWs still use it as a metering tool. For Spotify, PCMs are converted to Ogg files, and for Apple Music, they are converted to AAC files. Or if you just looking for a mastering / mixing engineer, hit me up. This second tool is a plugin from Apple, that allows you to see both peaking and inter-sample peaking in real-time. You’ll learn about all of the frequency ranges, different curve types, and some extra tips and tricks. LUFS > decibels. Spotify and Youtube stream audio at around -14 LUFS. But back to dynamic range. Even on Spotify, they don’t sound all that bad personally. This algorithm is a bit different than the ITU-R BS1770 (LUFS).
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