LoudnessFinal Mix Measurement

rev 1

Introduction

This article is about loudness measurement of a mix.

There will be several examples of loudness measurement of popular songs in the following pages. It will show the relative loudness of each song.

A loudness meter is used to measure the loudness of a mix. You want to measure the loudness of your mix to make sure it is appropriate for the style or genre of the song. Or to make sure that all the songs in the same genre you are working on are at the same level.

There are several plug-ins you can buy out there to measure loudness, here are some of them:

LM2n by TC Electronic

http://www.tcelectronic.com/lmn/

MasterCheck Pro by Nugen

http://www.nugenaudio.com/mastercheckpro-playout-loudness-dynamics-codec-metering-aax-au-vst_60

WLM Plus Loudness Meter by Waves

https://www.waves.com/plugins/wlm-loudness-meter#wlm-plus-quick-start-guide

2

LM2n by TC Electronic

This is best understood with examples but first some things to know:

Loudness Range (LRA)

- is the overall loudness range of the song from softest to loudest- measured in LU- the larger the number the larger the dynamic range of a song

Program Loudness (PL)

- is the average loudness of the song- measured in LFKS- the more positive the number (closer to zero or less negative) the louder the song

True Peak (TP)

- is the highest peak level your song reached, it could be beyond 0 dBFS- measured in dBFS- 0 dBFS or less is always good

Here is a link to an article about loudness measurement by TC Electronic:

http://www.tcelectronic.com/loudness/loudness-explained/

In this article we will use the TC Electronic LM2n Loudness Meter version 1.1.0.

The loudness meter plug-in is inserted in the master channel, shown below.

3

The standard selected is CD Master.

The Radar tab.

The Stats tab.

4

The songs in the following examples are imported from commercially released CDs into Cubase. The channel fader is set to 0 dB.

Example 1

Song: Make It With You - BreadReleased: 1970

PL -20.2 LKFS

LRA 5.6 LU

TP -3.2 dBFS

Since this song is an older song, listening to it nowadays it will sound soft.

Make It With You

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/anthology-of-bread/297744177

Google https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=B3dah4onu6oedb4efn7nayau47u&tid=song-Tbntpiq4qqrcbcmo7bakjnnh2bq&hl=en

5

Example 2

Song: We Belong Together - Mariah CareyReleased: 2005

PL -11.1 LKFS

LRA 3.7 LU

TP 1.5 dBFS

Compare the numbers with Example 1.

Note the True Peak, it is above 0 dBFS.

We Belong Together

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-emancipation-of-mimi/1094800752

Google https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Mariah_Carey_The_Emancipation_of_Mimi?id=B7ovp4m63xeb6uyglv7zwv3ubba&hl=en

6

Example 3

Song: Just Dance - Lady GagaReleased: 2008

PL -8.2 LKFS

LRA 3.7 LU

TP 1.7 dBFS

Compare the numbers with Example 2.

This is louder, note PL.

Note the True Peak, it is above 0 dBFS.

Just Dance

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-fame/902122441

Google https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Bynqwucgzgcwycjhxnodfe4udem&tid=song-Tfvtdxddto2e2vyjakl77v24sde&hl=en

7

Example 4

Song: P.Y.T. - Michael JacksonReleased: 1982

PL -10 LKFS

LRA 3.9 LU

TP 1.1 dBFS

Compare the numbers with Example 3.

Note the True Peak, it is above 0 dBFS.

P.Y.T.

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/thriller/269572838

Google https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Bzs3hkvcyvinz5tkilucmmoqjhi&tid=song-Thxzumusy5pieotjedu3c6yrfhi&hl=en

8

Example 5

Song: Don’t Know Why - Norah JonesReleased: 2002

PL -13 LKFS

LRA 10.0 LU

TP -0.1 dBFS

Compare the numbers with Example 4.

Don’t Know Why

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/come-away-with-me/721249531

Google https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=B3unotndsbnoq6ydjbk6nlqsesq&tid=song-Tkeqtjhnl6rxhghurjfggcrpk4y&hl=en

9

Now you have an idea of the loudness measurements of some loud songs and soft songs.

Look at the Radar tab of example 5 (Don’t Know Why) and look at the Loudness Range (LRA).

Then look at the Radar tab of example 2 (We Belong Together) and the LRA number.

You can see the peaks and valleys on example 5 which has a higher LRA.

The songs used in this article are assumed to be mastered since they are from commercially released CDs.

You can see that some of these songs have a PL of -13 LKFS to -8 LKFS. These are the mastered levels.

When sending your final mix for mastering, it helps when there is room for the mastering engineer to work with. So the final mix you are sending to the mastering engineer cannot have a PL as high as some of the song in this article.

The song Just Dance is loud when you listen to it, and it has a PL of -8.2 LKFS. If you have a dance music mix, the mastered version should have a PL around the same number. But the final mix you are sending to the mastering engineer should not have the same PL number.

End

10