So, after mixing away this trimester I have been learning about loudness standards and exactly what they mean and why they are in place for different platforms. LUFS are loudness units relative to full scale. They are used in mastering to create a standard for different platforms so that every pice of audio on that platform is the same over all loudness level. This is different from the RMS. RMS stands for root mean square. This is a way in which the average loudness of sound waves over time.
"Between the minimum (the quietest sections of the audio) and the loudest section (towards 0dBFS, the peak) is where the RMS value can be found" (Maningo, 2012).
Songs can have a different RMS and be mastered to the same LUFS and have an almost identical over all loudness.
Most music platforms such as Youtube, Spotify, Sound cloud and iTunes have around -14 LUFS as a standard. Why is this? The reason LUFS exist is for a few reasons not only to make different music and audio the same levels on certain platforms. Making things too loud can infect be very distractive for audio quality. It can destroy sound and create distortion. Youtube has a loudness standard of -14 LUFS. This standard will keep the integrity of the dynamic range in mix and won't make your mix over compressed or distorted (masteringthemix.com , 2016).
In comparison, CD LUFS levels can be technically as loud as you want but -9 LUFS is a standard. Anything more than this will over compress and decrease the dynamic range of your mix greatly. Broadcast standard is -24 LUFS this is a lot lower than most music platforms. Mixing and mastering engineers are required to make different masters and mixes to meet these standards.
You can upload any loudness of audio to youtube that you want technically. However Youtube has an automatic system that will make your music -14 LUFS weather you like it or not. This is just so that the next song which was mastered super loud will sound the same over all level as your mix. If you did upload a song that was dynamic and less than -14 LUFS then your mis would sound completely different when uploaded. The general level over everything would be brought up as well as any clicks and pops that are unwanted.
It is important to consider this LUFS standard while mixing also but it is possible to keep the integral dynamic range of a mix if mastered to this standard. Adhering to this will ensure that your mix is consumed in the best possibly form on any given platform (Anderton, C, 2018).
This video shows some really good visual examples of how mastering with different LUFS can effect the over all audio quality.
My plan now for mastering Aubergine's mix is do make 3 seperate masters. 1 fro CD (-9) one for online (-14) and one for broadcast (-24). Although the broadcast one isn't essential and is a completely different ball game I am curious about the consequences of mixing like this!
Here are my references!
Anderton, C. (2018). Retrieved 9 August 2019, from https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-is-lufs-and-why-should-i-care/
Mixing and Mastering Using LUFS. (2016). Retrieved 9 August 2019, from https://www.masteringthemix.com/blogs/learn/mixing-and-mastering-using-lufs
Song mastering for CD, Club Play and Streaming. (2016). Retrieved 9 August 2019, from https://www.masteringthemix.com/blogs/learn/song-mastering-for-cd-club-play-and-streaming
Maningo, E. (2012). Understanding what does RMS stands for in Audio: Definition & Details. Retrieved 14 August 2019, from https://www.audiorecording.me/understanding-what-does-rms-stands-for-in-audio-definition-details.html
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