When samples bunch together at peak
amplitudes, the DAC draws a rounded peak
that can exceed 0 dBFS. These are called intersample
distortions and they can cause audible
distortion in playback devices.
LUFS’ ENOUGH!” Well, thanks for asking! It’s
a big deal.
would have been there if the music was mixed
to spec.
The beauty of this system is that it effectively
crushes the loudness war because submitting
a musical file that’s been created at an
excessive loudness (-8, -7, -6 LUFS, and so
on) will be adjusted to conform to the platform
standard. It won’t sound good and the content
producers will eventually learn that the way to
get their audio to sound great is to conform to
the specified loudness normalization standard.
this point, we might be looking for gentle
compression with a low ratio setting
between 2:1 and 3:1. The attack time
can be slowed down to 20 ms, or so,
to highlight transient content and the
release time is usually between about 120
and 250 ms. The goal is to smooth out
the mix level just enough to tighten the
balances up a little and to help the mix
gel better. Frequently referred to as bus
compression, it’s best not to overdo this
stage, setting the compressor for just a
couple dB of gain reduction.
The standard for specific LUFS and True Peak
levels depends on your target destination.
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
Here’s the big deal. If you don’t provide your
media content in accordance with the target
format requirements, all of these streaming
and broadcast services will adjust your music
to conform to their loudness normalization
standards. The only way to get your loud music
to conform to the format specification is to turn
it down by the amount necessary to achieve
the correct loudness. That means that your
music, which you intended to sound loud,
might actually sound quieter than the music
that was produced in conformance with the
format standard or lower. At the very least, it will
sound like it’s being brutalized by a compressor
and it will lack the transient life and energy that
The top waveform was rendered at the
specified target loudness of -14 LUFS. The
middle waveform was rendered at -6 LUFS,
which needs to be turned down by 8 dB to
conform to the target format. The bottom
waveform shows the comparison of the -14
LUFS version and the gain-reduced -6 LUFS
version.
Click this link to see and hear the difference
between an audio segment rendered at -14
LUFS and the same audio segment rendered
at -6 LUFS and reduced in gain to achieve a -14
LUFS reading.
Master Buss Compressor
This table displays the LUFS and True Peak
readings required by several streaming and
broadcast formats.
HOW SHOULD I GO ABOUT GETTING THE CORRECT
LUFS?
If you’re getting all of this, great! If you’re still
hanging on for dear life, that’s okay, too. I
eluded to it before, but here is all you need to
do.
1. Mix your music to the best of your ability.
Use the tools at your disposal to craft a
well-balanced, musical mix.
2. Insert a compression plug-in on the
MASTER L/R output bus (optional). At
3. Insert a multiband limiter on the master
channel to reshape the tonal balance of
the mix (optional). This tool is very helpful
because it limits each band separately.
The bass band can be controlled without
causing the entire mix to pump every
time a strong low note happens. In
addition to limiting each band separately,
the multiband limiter also lets the user
adjust the level of all 3, 4, 5, or 6 bands
separately to make global tone changes.
118 August 2020
Subscribe for Free...