LUFS… WTF ?!?
(And why aiming for -14 isn’t the right answer for online loudness)
We talk about loudness all the time on this show, but how do you actually measure it ? How big is a “loudness unit”, and why are there three different kinds ? What does LUFS stand for, anyway ? How do you loudness match two files using LUFS measurements, and what free software can you use to get started ?
In this show we answer all these questions and more - plus Ian explains the simple technique he uses to optimise loudness for all the online streaming platforms, and why it isn’t about aiming for -14 LUFS.
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Notes
The modern remaster of Stairway to Heaven starts @ -24 LUFS (short-term) and reaches as high as -8 LUFS by the end. The integrated loudness is -14 LUFS
Whereas Back In Black starts @ -12 LUFS (short-term) and reaches -6 LUFS within the first chorus. The integrated loudness is -9 LUFS
These measurements both apply to recent re-mastered versions - the original releases will have been at lower levels. But even so, when I set the playback level of 'Stairway to Heaven' by ear, 'Back In Black' needs to be turned down by 2dB to sound right. Whereas if we were setting loudness by integrated LUFS value, we’d have to turn ‘Back in Black’ down by 5 dB to get it to -14 LUFS ! This would sound much too quiet in comparison to “Stairway to Heaven", in musical terms.
Matching the short-term loudness at the loudest point however, suggests… 2 dB.
QED !
Links
TMS #6 - Loudness: What, Why and How
Measure integrated loudness for free on Mac: r128x-gui (Scroll down to the “Binaries” section to download)
SWS extension for Reaper, including loudness measurement
iZotope RX (Use Window > Waveform Statistics)
How loud ? The simple solution to optimizing playback volume online – and everywhere else
Klanghelm VUMT VU Meter plugin
If you want a free drag and drop loudness meter try the HOFA 4U Meter, Fader & MS-Pan.
https://hofa-plugins.de/en/plugins/4u/
Hi Ian.
I got a question about eq balance.
I have got a reply from a masteringenginer who said that I got to much high end on my mix. And sure I like my air on my music and maby overdid it.
But I dissagred with him on this one. He then replyd that he wanted the spectrum analyser to have equal much of all the frequencys so that the peaks sort of made up a straigt line of all frequencys.
So my question is.
Is this true? Should I try to master my songs after this visual straigt line in the spectrum analyser or is it ok if the high end (say for example 10 k and up) pokes up or down one db or two? Or the same thing with the mids or low end?
What is your opinion on this?
Big thanks from sweden. Love your show, very informativ. 🙂
/Jakob
Hi Ian. I completed your course last year and followed your teaching of matching the loudest parts of each track to help get a good balance and it certainly worked on my last album. What I didn't get, for some reason, was that the -10 you set on the VUMT was to monitor short term loudness - until this podcast. I get it now - thanks 🙂
Just one thing - the link in your show notes to how to set a track level appears to use -9 (http://productionadvice.co.uk/how-loud/)
Regards
Bob
found this free, online "meter", no plugin required, results are immediate -
https://youlean.co/online-loudness-meter/
output example
Momentary Max = -7.04 LUFS
Short Term Max = -8.97 LUFS
Integrated = -13.43 LUFS
MeldaProductions has a free Loudness meter. (VST3 works great in REAPER) See here:
https://www.meldaproduction.com/MLoudnessAnalyzer
Meters include:
Peak
True-peak
Momentary
Short-term
Integrated
Range
PLR
Crest
Plus a time graph.
Second that and it can check a .wav file and is customisable
Great show guys! ...and I've been listening to many others lately.
Ian... I just wonder what your opinion is about the large difference between audio levels that you're talking about here (roughly -12 LUFS) and Broadcast levels for TV. I have checked recently and the EBU standard is -23 LUFS.
If a composer was doing music for TV.... would the post-production sound editors just lower the volume of the track? or should the tracks just be mastered to the lower level?
Cheers