The result? 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.”. Le LU indique juste qu’on se réfère à un niveau de loudness. Figure 4: Bringing the Threshold down to -5.70 gave -13.0 LUFS, and true peak under 0. Since normalization is pushing the signal louder in this instance, up by roughly 2dB, that peak will become louder as well. 4). This makes using a true peak meter even more important. Unfortunately, this unwanted clipping distortion is something that occurs frequently during the encoding process. 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. Having your music turned up by its loudness normalization won’t make your master more dynamic. 1 LU is the equivalent of 1 dB. 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. Well, these are the important things to which I was referring. This makes using a true peak meter even more important. Per CD e per lo streaming (I-Tunes, Spotify etc.) 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. 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. But to get to -6 LUFS, you sacrifice a lot of dynamic range. 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. The dynamic range is the dB difference between the highest and lowest ‘true peak values’. 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. Integrated LUFS take an average of the entire song. It will turn down the LUFS, but you still have a compressed waveform. This means a few different things. 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. No damage done. Thanks to LUFS, we can have a balanced and pleasurably loud experience whether listening to music on popular streaming platforms or watching TV. 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. When it comes to clipping that’s associated with the encoding process, these can be avoided on the mastering side of things. This way, you get the accurate data of your final master. If your song or podcast is louder than their standard, they will turn it down. What’s more concerning than an integrated loudness is the potential of unwanted distortion. 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. Remember when I said that mastering your music to -14 LUFS will allow you to focus on other, more important things? In August 2010, the EBU published the first version of its Loudness Recommendation EBU R128 (now in … 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. 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. 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. This results in both quantization distortion and clipping when converting the signal from a digital to an analog signal. That’s why I included a recommended -6 to -9 LUFS for DJ stores – just so your tunes hold up in a club. 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. The first, loudness normalization does not affect the dynamic range of a recording. Integrated LUFS are great for getting a ballpark estimate for your entire song. 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. There you go… Keep this in mind the next time you are mastering tracks and wonder what LUFS to set the track at. If you’d like someone to handle this mastering process for you, just to ensure everything is handled correctly, send us one of your mixes here: https://www.sageaudio.com/register.php. 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. These targets are the maximum loudness (LUFS) for their service. Regarding mastering to streaming LUFS loudness normalization targets - I do not recommend trying to do that. Recommendation to use an average programme loudness of -23 LUFS and the 'Loudness Range' and 'Maximum True Peak Level' descriptors. The latter situation is what we had found ourselves in as we speculated the best approach to mastering for streaming. Simply upload a finished mix: We'll master your song and send back a 1-2 minute sample at no cost. I’m going to offer a variety of free and paid options for LUFS metering. What exactly is a decibel? 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. But they will NOT turn it up to their stated loudness level. The default integrated LUFS threshold for mixing is -16 and -9 for mastering. Many loudness metering plugins still use RMS, and many DAWs still use it as a metering tool. But that’s all changing with music streaming services. For a very long time, RMS was the standard in music for measuring average loudness. This is where LUFS comes in. They should go last on your master buss, after any limiters or effects. Waves’ plugins are popular for a reason. Each bar represents 1 loudness unit. 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?”. In fact, one could argue that it’s worse to have your master turned up during loudness normalization than turned down. Then you might need to crank out that EQ, or adjust some levels. In March 2011, the ITU introduced a loudness gate in the second revision of the recommendation, ITU-R BS.1770-2. "My advice is to make one digital master that sounds good, is not overly crushed for loudness, and use it for everything." LUFS stands for Loudness Units Relative to Full Scale. As usual, however, things are not quite as simple as that. Since normalization is pushing the signal louder in this instance, up by roughly 2dB, that peak will become louder as well. 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. 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. These tools are a true peak meter, and an AURoundTripAAC plugin to measure the effects of encoding. However, they do plan to switch to LUFS algorithm and they have stated on their website to use LUFS as a guide, so you should not worry that much about the loudness penalty since it is a bit misleading in this case. 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. EBU R128. An integrated level of roughly -12 LUFS, with peaks no higher than -1 dBTP, and a max short term level of no more than -10 or -9 LUFS is likely to get turned down at least a little on all the major streaming platforms (at least for now). However, if this peak was controlled to -2dB or lower on a true-peak meter, then the extra gain from normalization wouldn’t result in an inter-sample peak. With these targets, you're good to go! 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. Whenever music gets distributed to Spotify, the audio is stored, cataloged, and then encoded with information with a program known as ReplayGain. 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. Or if you just looking for a mastering / mixing engineer, hit me up. Loudness normalization gives a better user experience, but it can be tough to get your head around. It should be noted that although you may not see peaking on your left or right channels, there can still be inter-sample peaks that exist during playback. But LUFS will allow you to get much more accurate data, and can help you understand why your mix sounds the way it does. The 2dB of gain added during normalization would push the signal to right below peaking. Il existe d’ailleurs deux échelles graduées différemment pour un indicateur LUFS selon les préférences: What’s more, this plugin allows you to switch between different encoding processes, to measure if that process results in peaking. 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. In some circumstances, it is referred to LKFS, which just means that the LUFS measurement is K-weighted – something we’ll get into later. 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! It only turns your master up or down according to a set benchmark loudness. It has the standard integrated and momentary (short-term) LUFS readings, as well as true peak, a 3D spectrum analyzer and sound field. This is GREAT news. 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. In other words, LUFS is the main reference in the digital world. 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 LUFS measurement is accurate and considers human perception and listening experience when measuring the audio's perceived loudness. This is my personal favourite, mainly because they offer both a free option for producers and engineers who are just getting used to everything, as well as a paid pro option if you need extra detail and want to dive in. So once you’ve gone loud, you can’t get those dynamics back. If you’re a producer, mixing is even more key to getting a clean and loud mix. This meter measures the inter-sample peaks that can exist when converting a digital signal to an analog signal. This problem can be exacerbated by the encoding process, which creates inaccuracies in the digital encoding, or quantizing, of a signal’s amplitude. -23 LUFS (EBU R128) con -1dbTP - 24 LUFS o LKFS (ATSC A/85) con -2db TP questo per i programmi televisivi. That’s why a lot of engineers are purposely mastering quietly these days. Personally, I don’t mind sacrificing dynamic range because I make genres like drum & bass, which are designed to be played in a club. The latter situation is what we had found ourselves in as we speculated the best approach to mastering for streaming. 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. The relationship between these things – your loudness, your true peak value, and your peaks post encoding is what truly matters when mastering for a streaming service. 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. For instance, the difference between -23 LUFS and -18 LUFS is 5 LU. This is the big question. Dropping the threshold by ‑0.7 dB brought the LUFS to -13.0, while maintaining a TP value under 0.0 (Fig. It’s a standardized measurement of audio loudness that factors human perception and electrical signal intensity together. If you master your music to a -14 LUFS, and you control your peaks to roughly -2dB on a true-peak meter, you shouldn’t have any issues when your music is distributed to various streaming services. In truth, this information is hard to determine. 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. Keep in mind that when using this plugin, normalization may still affect the overall volume of your track and in turn affect inter-sample peaking during playback. 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. The more consistency and predictability we can get between platforms, the easier it gets to work with, which can only be a good thing. 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). That’s it! 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. You’ll learn about all of the frequency ranges, different curve types, and some extra tips and tricks. All they did was simply turn it down like you would using a simple volume control. Much talk and time has been spent on normalization. Everyone wants a clean, loud and polished master – especially if you’re making EDM. 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. Much talk and time has been spent on normalization. So, most streaming services normalize their audio to around -14 LUFS. But maybe you’re not just struggling with loudness. Keep in mind that when using this plugin, normalization may still affect the overall volume of your track and in turn affect inter-sample peaking during playback. In truth, this information is hard to determine. The first being distortion that can occur during the encoding process, and the second being distortion that can occur during the digital to analog conversion. But those things are still hard to get right. 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. That being said, if someone is streaming music, odds are it’s going to be on Spotify. This isn’t to say that if you want to purchase one of these plugins you shouldn’t, but just to shift the emphasis or concern from how your master is normalized, to how your master may distort if the transition from your PCM file to a streaming service’s lossy encoding and playback isn’t properly thought out. 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. 2020 - R128 s2 for streaming. This second tool is a plugin from Apple, that allows you to see both peaking and inter-sample peaking in real-time. When this occurs, inter-sample peaking can become exacerbated as the accuracy of quantization can be diminished. 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. I Tested 3 Plugins Our Subscribers Recommended, Mastering Engineer GEEKS OUT on Limiter Plugin. 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). LUFS fix this problem by tracking the perceived loudness of your music. 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. This distortion may occur regardless of whether your output meters are showing these peaks or not. 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. 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. You can change the integrated LUFS mastering threshold to -14 Int LUFS for Spotify streaming. Now it should be noted that although ReplayGain doesn’t alter a master’s loudness to directly correspond with an integrated -14 LUFS, the results are incredibly close. Short-term LUFS looks at a shorter window of time, and is great for identfying the loudness of a particular section. Why is this? Even though the streaming service may account for this with a limiter, an inter-sample may still be created. RMS stands for ‘Root Mean Square’. In fact, one could argue that it’s worse to have your master turned up during loudness normalization than turned down. At a frequency of 1 KHz, the smallest sound that human ears can detect has an objective volume Spotify has long been the outlier in terms of online loudness, streaming a full +4 LU (1 LU = 1dB) above AES recommended streaming practices of -16 LUFS/-1dBTP and causing no end of confusion in the last days of the loudness war. The first is a true peak meter. But back to dynamic range. How did -14 LUFS get chosen as the primary loudness at which to master music for streaming? 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. Integrated LUFS is most commonly used when comparing tracks. 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. But before I do, make sure you use these plugins right. This means they’re more accurate for real-world application. Having your music turned up by loudness normalization or down by loudness normalization doesn’t change the distance between your master’s quietest and loudest moments – it only changes the relative volume at which all those moments occur. And to a certain extent, it’s still is a topic of debate. De nombreuses normes existent : pour le cinéma, pour le streaming, pour un CD, pour un vinyle, etc…. I love how they’ve kept everything in a simple interface without sacrificing usability. The window of time that different plugins use for the short-term varies. You can reset the meters by clicking on the readouts. 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. Compared to the last record, if yours is louder, it will likely be perceived as more ‘professional’. In fact, there are reports of YouTube normalizing audio to various volumes, or flat out not normalizing the audio at all. Mastering for streaming may be complex, but it’s not as complex as it has been portrayed to be. All this to say, that mastering for Spotify, and then having your music distributed to Apple Music won’t result in a truncated master, only a quieter master. LUFS – Loudness units relative to Full Scale. 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. You’v got LUFS, LRA (loudness range), stereo field, peak, dynamic range and even a ‘bass space’ meter for checking your bass loudness. A quiet mix with no dynamics. Simply put, it’s the volume to which the most popular streaming service normalizes music. Here are the LUFS loudness targets for each platform. 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. 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. This second tool is a plugin from Apple, that allows you to see both peaking and inter-sample peaking in real-time. They’re relaible and they’ve been doing it for a long time. Solid advice, there. Loudness normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio signals. Targeting Mastering Loudness for Streaming (LUFS, Spotify, YouTube)-Why NOT to do it. The main reason for the increase in loudness is that to humans, louder is better. What’s more concerning than an integrated loudness is the potential of unwanted distortion. Mastering for streaming may be complex, but it’s not as complex as it has been portrayed to be. non credo esistana una normativa vera e propria ma leggevo da fonti di cui non conosco però l'attendibilità che -16 LUFS … There are two ways to measure LUFS: short-term LUFS and integrated LUFS. 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. We’ll master it for you and send you a free mastered sample in return. We can also make streaming services (like Spotify) happy, with -14.0 LUFS and -1.0 TP values (Fig. First, it means you don’t need to concern yourself with additional plugins to determine your loudness penalty, or in other words, a plugin that shows you to what extent your music will be turned down. Now it should be noted that although ReplayGain doesn’t alter a master’s loudness to directly correspond with an integrated -14 LUFS, the results are incredibly close. YouTube are slightly louder, iTunes is a couple of dB quieter, but overall -14 is the loudness you should aim for, right ? In some regards, this concern for loudness can be seen as an extension of the loudness wars, in that loudness is taking precedence over more important things. Often when achieving a loud master, we can sacrifice dynamics range for LUFS. It’s almost impossible to get high LUFS without reducing the dynamic range of the material. 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). You need to know all sorts of things: EQ, compression, volume, reverb and more. This gives a more than adequate reason for anyone distributing their music to Spotify, to master to or directly below an integrated -14 LUFS. 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. What is LUFS. 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 The same goes for YouTube. This is a loudness standard designed to enable normalization of audio levels. If you’re making music for clubs or festivals, then it needs to be loud and consistent, not just so it’s easy for DJs to mix, but also because that level of loudness brings a certain energy to the music. When it comes to clipping that’s associated with the encoding process, these can be avoided on the mastering side of things. The problem is, loudness normalization on streaming services doesn’t adjust dynamic range. The loudness unit (LU, or LUFS with reference to Full Scale) was originally proposed in the EBU R128 recommendation. Since I published How many LUFS for ideal audio loudness?Why can’t we be friends? You have both short term and integrated LUFS measurements, true peaks, dynamics and loudness range, as well as a bunch of other useful tools.