Loudness Targets

Match levels before comparing, and let platform targets and true peak decide how much dynamics you can keep.

Related

LUFSTrue PeakLoudness Normalization

The problem

Play two versions back to back and the louder one always seems better, with more low end and a more forward vocal. That is not a quality difference but a level difference. AI output often arrives loud, and mixing tends to follow that impression upward until little dynamics remain. On a platform the loudness is normalized away, leaving only the flattening.

How it works

Streaming services normalize by integrated loudness. Spotify and YouTube target roughly -14 LUFS, Apple Music roughly -16 LUFS, and the broadcast standard EBU R128 is -23 LUFS. A track above the target is turned down as a whole, so it is not louder, only flatter. True peak is usually capped at -1 dBTP to leave room for encoding. Integrated loudness averages the whole track, while short-term loudness shows how full the chorus really is, so read both. Single and album context also matter, because relative level inside an album counts for more than the absolute number.

Practice

Mix at -18 to -20 LUFS with 4 to 6 dB of headroom and no limiter on the bus. Decide the delivery platform before mastering, then work to its target rather than to loudness for its own sake. Run the limiter with at least 4x oversampling and keep true peak at -1 dBTP. When comparing versions, match levels within 0.1 dB, then listen for low end and transients. If the original wins after matching, the loudness bought nothing, so go back to the mix for dynamics. When short-term and integrated loudness diverge widely, the section contrast is large, and the limiter should not be allowed to erase it. Make broadcast or film versions separately instead of sending a streaming master into a slot that needs more headroom.

What to listen for

Chopin's Nocturne Op. 37 No. 2 is narrow throughout, which makes it a good check for whether breathing survives at the target. The 138 BPM funk groove tests transients after level matching, and kick weight is the first thing lost in a loudness push. In Mahler's Ich hab' ein glühend Messer, the outburst is where true peak is exceeded first, so hear whether the limiter shaves the attacks. Bring all three to the same level before judging.

Sources

• 流媒体与播送的响度目标，依公开标准与平台文档归纳，未抄文本
• Streaming and broadcast loudness targets, summarized from public standards and platform documentation

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.