Dalmae

If you use the OC Remix Album, I can tell you these are often too loud, at -10LUFS but this is not too excessive (it is, but not too much, I have seen worst). The problem is the dynamics, everything have the same level in those tracks and yes, ears get use to it. I didn't measure the PLR (Peak to Loudness Ratio) but it must not be good. So, this is normal. When you're working in music, this is one of the think you need to be very, very, very careful. If in the morning, I'm working on a pop/rock song which is loud (and this is normal, the style is thought like that) and the afternoon, I got to work on a classical record, I will be very careful and rest my ears one hour before starting to work. Otherwise, the classical will seem to me too low and I will be tempted to push up the level. I play the devil's attorney, but every style have a history, a background. And if the metal is over-compressed when they play live and in CD, it's meaning something. Put everything at -23LUFS But I got to say, always listen all day to over-compressed music (and f*****g mp3) can damage ears and can cause attention disorders. If you are used too always have loud sound in your ears, when the silence comes, the brain is freaking out. And this can be reversible, ears can be educated (and need to be educated). I know how it works, I used it everyday, but even in 5 sec, everything is too low. Coldplay in five seconds, I was clearly not at -18LUFS, so Green Day... and MJ... Don't you see my previous post ? I didn't show you the momentary, but I write about the Max Short Term and the dBTP... I always read them and focus on the sound, how it sounds (have I compressed enough or too much?) and find the best balanced parameters. Oh yes you must ! Ok, in mix music this is not the same, and even if I'm not a specialist in TV mix, I have seen how it works (part of my studies was in the movies industry and I could enter in some post-prod studio) and they look at it because they can very, very easily break it. That's why gun fire in TV are always bad, because they need to have a strong voice but they can't put a very loud noise over too much. The cinema can do that, in fact, the cinema surely can have the best mix and master because they can do how they want. In music, it's the same thing but because the competitiveness, the output level of mobile phones and mp3 player and like I already said, "louder is better" (our perception work that way), producers want to over-compressed the sound. They are not engineers and this is not a good idea, this is just how it is. The AES/EBU is about television and radio, not music. This is why Spotify, Youtube, Itunes have their own Loudness Level, and it's shouldn't be that way. For me -16 LUFS is perfect, because you can do something very balance, or very quiet, or loud (-12LUFS long term at max), it will not alter too much the master. We should do several master : one for mobile uses, one for Hi-Fi uses, one for radio uses... Nice work, it's very nice. ;) I really like this one ^^

One more thing I looked the video you add in your previous post. The guy made a point but I was skeptical about the LUFS he gets, it seems wrong, very week. I mean Green Day at -18LUFS... there is no way they was so low... So, this morning I checked several CD I have, here the result: Coldplay_Square One (2005): Long Term: -9.6 LUFS ; TruePeak: +0.2 dBTP ; Short Term: -6.2 LUFS ; Loudness Range: 10.3 LU Arch Enemy_Blood On Your Hands (2007): Long Term: -4.6 LUFS ; True Peak: +0.8dBTP ; Short Term: -3.9 LUFS : Loudness Range: 1.1 LU Nirvana Unplugged_Come As You Are (1994): Long Term: -12.7 LUFS ; TruePeak: -1.1dBTP ; Short Term: -10.8 LUFS ; Loudness Range: 5.2 LU Daft Punk_One More Time (2001): Long Term : -12.6 LUFS ; TruePeak: +0.6dBTP ; Short Term: -10.1 LUFS ; Loudness Range: 7.2 LU And I checked one of my previous work: Serge Gainsbourg_Melody (1971, remastered 2016): Long Term -19.2 LUFS ; True Peak: -1.2dBTP : Short Term: -12.6 LUFS ; Loudness Range: 13.3 LU (it was the first time I listen on my new monitor, and it still sounds great) I'm not going to make any statement about the differences, it's normal Arch Enemy sounds like that, every type of music have their own code, it's just I don't think -4.6LUFS is necessary. So Green Day at -18LUFS, no way, so Michael Jackson so low... I don't think so, I pretty sure if I had the master tape, it will sound fucking great, but the result will be much more than it does shows it in his video.

I agree with you, we use too much compressors today, and I know what you're talking about because I remastered a lot of music from the 70's and even much older, and the sound are (very often) very excellent. It was more "sensible". The loudness war are now finished, but it happens for two reasons: - if it's louder, it seems better - if you want your music to be heard everywhere (phones, car ...), too much dynamic can make listening difficult or even betray your music if your low level is too low. I understand your view, but even the 70's sound had a loudness between -20 and -14LUFS (in general, there was much freedom about music production, including mix and master). A bit of compression is not the evil, it's just a tool and sometimes it's very helpful to make music more coherent, more "together" without taking away the natural. -23LUFS seems very low to me, you need a good HiFi system to enjoy it and it's not the way people listen today. Everyone does not feel concern by the loudness problematic and it's good to see someone cares about that. I'm curious to hear what you did.

First of all, we are talking about music: the EBU R128 concern TV and radio, nothing more... Don't use as a reference for music CD, you can more further. But if you want to publish your sound in some platforme (like Spotify, Itunes...) I recommend you to put your CD at -14LUFS Long Term. For the loudness, you are several measure: Momentary, Short Term, Long Term. The EBU R128 are very restricted, you only don't have the loudness -23LUFS (-0.5 more or less), but also the short-term, momentary-term, the loudness range and the Maximum True Peak. This was designed for show and podcast with voices and to block the ads to be too loud. But in the music industries, we don't have those issues, we don't care. For example, for one song, from the start to the end of the title, you must reach -12LUFS or -14LUFS (more or less) in long term, but you can reach +4LUFS compared to your long terme reference on short term with no trouble (meaning, if you're looking to be at -12LUFS, your short term can be at -8LUFS). You still have to look at your peak, you should not trepassing the 0dBFS. So, fi you want to go at this level, you will need compressors and limiter. You can trust me on this, I'm also a mastering engineer.

Hi, I see your message and I can help you. First of all, I don't understand why you looking for -23dB LUFS (I suppose it's LUFS you're talking about). For the record, Spotify put everything at -16LUFS, Youtube at -12LUFS. A good method is to use the K-system, meaning the majority of your music must be at -12LUFS (or -14LUFS), which give you a PLR (Peak to Loudness Ratio) of 12dB or less. However, do the mastering track per track, find a setting that sound good to you, and use it track per track. If needed you can change, but the less you change, the better it will, because all your album will be coherent. I can advice you to read this article: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/audio-mastering-in-your-computer Don't hesitate if you have other questions.

Hello everyone, I signed up a long time ago and never participate, which was a mistake that I want to correct. My name is Pierre "Le Gobelin", I play piano (since I was 6), synth and use Reason and Native Instrument for my projects (also use Reaper, Live, Chipsound and, from time to time my original GameBoy with Nanoloop). I have several keyboard (Yamaha Electone Me-50, Eko Super Junior A, Alesis Micron and my master keyboard, a Studiologic SL 990-pro) I have composed for several pieces and I had a band called CHARBON. The group still exist, I just had to leave when I was lived in Paris for work. I was working in a mastering studio and I now have my own in Arras called Carnunnos Mastering. So I can help with technical subject about sound I play video games, obviously. Among my favorites, there is Grim Fandango, Sword & Sworcery, Nuclear Throne, Baldur's Gate II, Dragon Age I,Gunstar Heroes, DMC, Bayonetta... well, in fact, I love a lot of differents games... just like music by the way. I love every kind of music, from the moment it touches me and tells something. Hope to find a place in this huge community