My reference track in the video sounds loud, and its volume is normalized 100% / 45% (Content loudness 7.0)
And I have (content loudness -5.4) why do I get minus volume? while the reference sounds loud without minus and volume penalty, tell me what I should do on the master bus to get maximum volume without penalty on the youtube.

 

Maybe you can post a link to your video, so we can have a look at it. I think it's the other way round, your reference video has a content loudness of +7.0 and is played back with 45% of 100% to achieve -14LUFS integrated. Your video already has a very low content loudness of -5.4 and so is not lowered in volume on playback, but it also is not boosted. As far as i know, YouTube only reduces high loudness levels, but does not boost lower levels. So, best way is to master your track to -14LUFS.

 

We've already found out in another thread here (sadly, I don't recall which one, ATM) that YT's loudness normalisation is not applied accurately.
IOW, they're cheating - and we could prove that.

 

Firstly, it's not penalization. It's an incorrect word and has a negative meaning. It's just loudness normalization (volume reduction) so that all music has more consistent loudness, and thus the listener/user doesn't have to reach for the volume all the time.

-14LUFS is not a target! People have gotten confused by this and the -14LUFS hysteria has made people believe their music must be -14LUFS. This is ofc not true.

If you REALLY want your music to be "unaffected" then simply upload to the integrated LUFS loudness of the platform (and hope for the best, as there is difference between loudness meters) or produce/mix/master with more dynamics and dynamic range.

Learn about EBU-R128 and percieved loudness. It's not a competition anymore.

Secondly, as already mentioned - Youtube is a bit wonky with LN. You can have a long intro that has low loudness and then when the song comes in (high loudness) the loudness is as mastered, reaching -9LUFS or something like that (when it ought to be somewhere around -14LUFS). It seems like Youtube isn't measuring integrated loudness but only partially.

 

Last edited: Oct 22, 2021

I use fab filter L2 set to -14 LUFS last in the master channel and play my track in the daw and get the overall loudness close to 0 , that works for me. Also make sure your video creator don't mess with the final audio volume.

 

Last edited: Oct 22, 2021

1. i want to become the best of all, that´s why i make music.

2. music is better than other music when it is louder.

3. making music louder is called mastering, and mastering is far more professional than composing and arranging.

4. to make music as loud as possible, you need to know secret tricks.

5. you can find these secret tricks in public forums.

6. when i one day know this secret trick, i will be the only one who knows it and everyone else does not.

7. you can summon unicorns by trickling stardust on your penis.

 

Apparently, your track has a loudness of -14 LUFS - 5.4 dB = -19.4 LUFS. So it's 5.4 dB under the "penalty" threshold, i.e. you could increase the loudness by 5.4 dB without any playback volume change by YouTube. If you increase the loudness by more than 5.4 dB, the normalization would turn it down to -14 LUFS again.

 

i have been composing and producing all my life ever since i was 15 y old , before that i came up with ideas with my guitar or piano (a kawai 88keys with congos and bongos and rythmic loops samples but nonetheless) , i have never in all these years managed to make a track of mine even as far as listeneable as when i hand it over to one of my friend's or stranger "professional mixing and mastering engineers" ,these guys have dedicated their life to this art , all i've done is dabbled with a couple of vst's eq or compression settings because i make my own sound presets on my synths, my result never comes close to their final product,

anyway this is a very interesting topic

 

@Obineg No man, I just want my rock music to sound at about the same level, I don't want to make it louder every time

 

And how do I keep all the tracks at -14 LUFS? It's impossible everything jumps out beyond -11 LUFS.

 

Either you regulate it yourself or YouTube / Spotify regulate it down. If it is too quiet, the volume will be increased.

Streaming portals against loudness mania Similar to the EBU, the various streaming portals have also set their own guide values for the average loudness of the programs they broadcast. With Youtube and Spotify, for example, this is - 14 LUFS, with itunes even -16 LUFS. In this case, the average loudness of the entire song must not exceed - 14 loudness units or - 14 db, otherwise the title will automatically be saved by Portal more quietly. Conversely, quieter tracks are also raised to this value, so that a relatively evenly loud program can be displayed at the end.

With the limiter, the loudest peak (also called output or ceiling) is set to a value between - 1 and - 2 db. This is to ensure that no peak somehow reaches the magical digital limit of 0 db and thus leads to distortion during playback. Now let the song run through completely and measure the LUFS i with the Youlean Meter. If you want to publish your song on YouTube and the measurement results in a value below -14 LUFS, then set the difference as a value in your limiter in the input. For example, if you have measured -20 LUFS i over the entire song, then set the input gain on the limiter to + 6 db. So your song should jump quite close to - 14 LUFS at the next trade fair. Repeat this until you jump to about 0.2-04 db, that should be enough! https://recording-blog.com/lufs-limiter-und-was-man-sonst-zum-laut-machen-wissen-muss

 

This is very true. Many streaming services won't have any trouble pulling the levels down if you're above the target loudness (or TP levels) but won't take the effort to boost you levels if you're below.

There's a few things that come to mind. if your masters are around -11LUFS, there's a chance you're either reaching crazy TP levels, or you're exporting a quieter master (master fader down, wrong bus expored, etc.) and Youtube is not boosting it up again beacause Youtube is Youtube.

Check out this, it'll tell you your penalty. If it's 0dB, you could be exporting your track the wrong way: https://www.loudnesspenalty.com/

Edit: that's assuming you ment -11LUFS integrated

 

Last edited: Oct 22, 2021

-14LUFS is an integrated value over time (the whole duration of the song/track).

If you actually want -14LUFS (which you generally don't) you can lower the volume of the song to reach -14LUFS, if your loudness of the song originally is louder (which is usually is).

On Spotify the LUFS on an (uploaded) album is not changed per song/track, but kept consistent to keep the album experience as intended.

As I wrote, read up on loudness and normalization and it will make sense.

 

Last edited: Oct 22, 2021

Use a limiter with TP, set it to -1TP and adjust the LUFSi with it (that requires ofc that you mix is lower at -1TP).

 

You say that you need -14 LUFS for YouTube and 1.0 TP, this is the standard, yes, I heard about that. But not everyone adheres to it, although it's right, but at -14 lufs track does not sound as impressive as -9 lufs, yes I know, people have an illusion, if the track is loud then it sounds cool to the listener. Listen to how good the reference sounds, and look at youtube volume stats,
That's the kind of volume I'm getting.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

@No Avenger Can you tell me which mode to use in the limiter? A lot of different styles, modern, aggressive, transparent, dynamic, I don't know what to choose, for rock.

 

If you make a good or even great sounding track that people love to listen to you can forget LUFS.

Just a nice little thought. d= ;)

Also, if you have a lot of dosh in the bank, talent, loads of connections, performance and attitude, visual style, loads of people on the stage, great videos full of sex and some SJWism, you will be a next David Bowie no matter the LUFS.

There are not so many people who can pull this these days. Not as much as you might think.

But a lot of people can make something to stand out of the crowd of mediocrity. Try that.

Having said that, try your best to make your tracks not exceed -14dB LUFS and you'll be alright. Compare your master against the Youtube upload. Upload a new version if you find it unexceptable. That'll teach you something and you won't have to worry in the future.

Live long and prosper.

 

Last edited: Oct 22, 2021

@MINIGUNPUNK, think of those modes you are asking about like they are just any other presets. A combination of parameters than you can easily dial up and then adjust to fit your material. They are just more specialized compressors.

You always want the most transparent limiter as possible. It is not there for "artistic purposes", 99.9% of the time.

 

Here is an example, in principle there are only two controllers to operate.
Move until you get to -14 LUFS. The limiter comes at the very end.

Here are some recommended uses of the bx_limiter:

Traditional defeating of peaks - Simply lower the Threshold to stop peaks at a defined level.
Maximizing the Output level - Just boost Gain until the output level hits 0dB.
Loudness Maximizing - Add that extra dB of perceived loudness using the XL saturation.

Source: https://brainworx.audio/products/brainworx/bx-limiter.html

 

Err, nope. Both are too loud for YT's loudness target. The first is lowered by 5.7dB (note there's not a + sign!), the second by 7dB.

Simple answer, the most clean (probably Transparent, but that's not a guarantee).
But, TBH, when you know so little about this topic you probably should not 'master' your songs - if one can call it mastering (no offense).