We are seeing loudness normalisation in more workflows, not just broadcast audio but music streaming services, too. There is a wide range of Loudness meters out there now, and we thought it would be helpful to provide a round-up of the different options that are now available. We know it is not completely exhaustive, but it covers the main players in the loudness meter plug-in sector.
Understanding Loudness Part 5 - Preparing Content For Music Streaming Services
As a follow-up on Mike’s Understanding Loudness, which is now free, in this article, we are going to cover loudness for music streaming services, including loudness normalisation, album normalisation and how to prepare music tracks for music streaming services, with three free tutorials.
Understanding Loudness Part 4 - Creating Loudness Compliant Mixes For Broadcast And Netflix
In part four of a free six-part tutorial series, Mike Thornton shares some tips and tricks for mixing to the loudness standards, explains the importance of ‘loudness planning’ before ending with some specific tips and tricks for mixing short form content like adverts and promos. Mike goes on to look at the changes needed to mix content for Netflix.
Understanding Loudness Part 3 - Calibrating Your Monitors
In part three of a free tutorial series, Mike Thornton covers how to calibrate your monitors. We look at how monitoring should be configured and provide an explanation of bass management and what your sub should be doing before moving on to a practical demonstration of how to calibrate your monitoring with a sound pressure meter.
Reversioning Audio Content For Multiple Loudness Delivery Specs
There is a growing need to be able to reversion mixed content to deliver it on a variety of different platforms, often with different delivery specifications. In this article, loudness guru Mike Thornton takes you through the issues, challenges and a range of solutions.
Understanding Loudness Part 2 - The Development Of One Loudness Standard
In part two of a free four-part tutorial series, loudness expert Mike Thornton covers the development of one loudness standard. We explore how we arrived at a loudness measurement algorithm that works just like our ears and the various criteria we use to define and guide us when working to the new loudness delivery specifications.
Understanding Loudness Part 1 - Why Do We Need Loudness?
Not sure what all this loudness stuff is about and how it affects you? Loudness expert Mike Thornton answers all these questions and many more in this six-part series, now available for free. In this first part, we clarify what we mean by loudness.
Why Are Adverts So Loud? - An Introduction To Loudness
YouTuber Tom Scott has made the most accessible explanation of both the need for, and the method behind loudness workflows we’ve seen. If you feel you need to understand the problem a little better, or you need to explain it to someone less interested than you in loudness-related matters, this video might be what you’re after.
Bad Sound On TV & Movies - A Response
In this article, Dr Neil Hillman discusses new, shocking research that shows that 80% of some viewers rely on subtitles to 'hear' their television programmes and not because they are old or hearing impaired, quite the opposite. He also asks whether it has become the new fashion in television production to be completely ignorant of how sound works.
Experts Dream Studio Gear Advent Calendar - Day 5
The Experts team wondered what we thought people would want to find behind the windows of a dream studio advent calendar. Paul’s first choice is Nugen’s VisLM Loudness metering plugin.
TV Subtitle Usage Up To 80% - What Is Going Wrong With Dialogue Mixes?
Recent research is showing that the use of subtitles on TV has continued to grow, with people choosing to use them. Why is this? If the speech intelligibility of the content we mix is so bad, surely we cannot be doing our job properly. What is going wrong? In this article we investigate and come to some clear conclusions.
Apple Announce Immersive Loudness Guidance - RTW Worldwide Delivery Specification Resource Updated
According to RTW’s worldwide loudness spec resource, Apple appears to be the first streaming service to issue specific guidelines for loudness in immersive content for its streaming platform. Although the difference is not huge, it is good to see that Apple considers immersive audio a format that deserves its own loudness recommendations. We have the details.
Learn How To Master For Streaming Platforms
Our friends at iZotope have produced a useful, comprehensive tutorial about how to master for streaming platforms. Whether or not you own iZotope’s mastering plugins such as Ozone, RX and Insight, there’s some great advice to be found here.
How To Optimise An Audio Mix For Delivery To Netflix
To help the growing number of audio professionals creating content for Netflix, the streaming company has produced a tutorial video designed to provide useful advice on how to optimise a mix for their streaming audiences.
Apple Choose -16LUFS Loudness Level For Apple Music - Here's Why
Apple Music, the last of the big streaming platforms to adopt Loudness normalisation has adopted -16LUFS as its standard. How does this choice, which is significantly quieter than Spotify, YouTube and the like, affect mastering choices?
Loudness Targets For Streaming - What You Need To Know
Although the message doesn’t seem to have go through to quite everyone, the loudness war is over and has been since streaming platforms introduced loudness normalisation. So should you mix to a loudness target? Mastering Engineer Dave Kutch doesn’t think so.
Loudness Standards For Music Discussed By Experts
If you are making content that is destined for any or all of the music streaming services or on-demand services then this article, based on a recent podcast with Bob Katz and Rob Byers, is for you.
How I Reclaimed My Screen From Metering Plugins
In this article Julian shares how he found the ideal solution for his loudness metering needs. By conveniently moving his metering to a mobile device without having to set up the tablet or phone as a second monitor.
How Loud Should My Music Master Be?
“How loud should my master be?” Although at one level, it’s a deceptively simple concept, it can be as complex as music itself. In this article, we share insights into every facet of loudness in mastering.
AES Update Loudness Recommendations For Audio Only Streaming
In this article, Mike Thornton takes a look at the new AES loudness recommendations to see what has changed since 2015.