nice, like musical styles it's all coming back in fashion sooner or later. special edition clipped remaster :D

 

I second that! -1 dBTP is what most mastering people are going for the moment I think. Also -13 LUFS is what is recommend for YouTube and Spotify, but I have noticed that even big productions don`t really care (like that new David Guetta / Bieber song). Also Soundcloud still is crazy loud, so I would also make a version for Soundcloud that has probably -9 LUFS just so the track can compete with the other stuff up there.

 

he came and went i give him credit for a few years but he seemed to fall apart and now he's done. another cut out bites the dust .

 

sounds fat, whats the problem? ;)

i bet this is an early track of his

 

Well it kind of does matter which platform you're preparing your master for - because of different policies (not technically). There will be a guy that will look at what his (batch) meter shows and decide if "they" are ok with it. That is the reason why I asked the Q in such a "stupid" manner. Beatport is selling uncompressed format files which means - the master as it was provided (not to be confused /w streaming services where you upload whatever and then they compress however). The example I posted is 2017 production and obviously their policy is NOT -1 dBTP (as shown) but +1.5 or even more, to my surprise. Maybe Traxsource have a different one (don't have an example atm). Also all this can be done (properly limited) and measured ITB (and the consequences of "cheap" DA Conversion known facts).

LUFS targeting is totally different beast and is not directly connected /w possible clipping/distortion although you can see guidance written as -14 LUFS/-1 dBTP. I think Spotify went down to -14 (like Tidal) as of may, if memory serves. Best thing is to check before you master. But this is all another topic.. Edit: and yes, like you noted, Soundcloud is just all over the place ;)

 

Last edited: Jul 24, 2017

You may have noticed that my answer was just to the true peak question. For that is does not matter which platform, since it isn't about loudness, but about peaks that will occur in the analog domain! In my original answer I therefore seperated LUFS and TP and pointed out that recommendations differ per platform for LUFS.

The essential point is if you are willing to accept that your audience might hear peak-induced distortion by ignoring true peak and just go with dBFS, or if you care for the most pleasant audio experience, in which case you will master with -1 dBTP. Regardless of what the platforms accept. Just make it clear for yourself: If you go for -x dBFS, peak-distortion will appear on the hifi your audience uses (however strong the effect might be). If you go for -x dBTP no peak-distortion will ever appear on the hifi of your audience.

 

What I think nobody mentioned so far, and it is the most important, everything is now working against the "loudness warriors". Nobody forbids you to make your track as loud as you possibly can, but "in the end it doesn't really matter" as the Linkin Park song goes. You can try as hard as you like, but when all tracks get equalised in loudness on any of the streaming services, or in iTunes, or in majority of your players of choice [I still use "Replay Gain" in mine, been using it for more than a decade], your track will sound like shit in comparison to other, more dynamic tracks.

I always tell people to do the test themselves: master your track with the crest factor of 4-5dB and then master another one with 10dB crest factor. Then equalise the loudness of both and be surprised how 5dB down can make a really big difference in quality.

Try watching some of Ian Shepherd's Youtube videos, like this one, if you're still not convinced:

Cheers!

 

So basically, loudness war was stupid since the beginning. With "never remastered crushed music".
And NOW internet platforms (main support for music) are using what conscious ppl where asking for years : auto gain ?

It is funny, because those "never remastered crushed music" will now sound boring and flat against dynamic ones : loudness war defeated by ppl who created it :D

 

Cruel enough, I remembered me, 14 years old, getting goosebumps hearing this song.

You can official put me on a fire and light me up.

 

Team VTX sylenth

 

It's may be mastered in Audition/Cool Edit with they hard limiter. Sound like a tons of other amateurs mix/mastering song... nothing new here...

 

This type of Electronic music is squased to crap. It all is, because the kids are still learning.
'If it sounds good, it's good' and a little overall distortion can be perceived as 'better'.
Clipping some plugins maybe?