Hi Bob Thats a fairly good and complex article which I will have to read a few times !.Thanks for the post.I started using Ozone and it has a feature that takes into account ur Luffs level for streaming which is very handy and although i havent streamed anything yet it did help me get the level right for a Youtube video and it seeemed to work out well except with a synth on one of the songs seemed to distort when uploaded for some reason .Thanks again Hugh
Youlean LUFS meter is a good free VST for setting your levels appropriately. It is very easy to use. You put it on your output (master) track then use whatever tool to bring the levels to the correct levels for your streaming service.
I use Limiter No 6 (also free) to adjust the levels without crushing the mix.
For what it’s worth
Tony
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What will stand out in a streaming environment is not louder tracks, but tracks that are more dynamic for a given average loudness.
..
Quote:
The key to getting your music to sound great on streaming services is to mix to the optimal PLR or peak-to-loudness ratio, where ‘loudness’ refers to the target loudness value to which streaming is normalised, and ‘peak’ is the highest inter-sample peak level that avoids codec distortion.
I've been sayin how much I like using the old PARMeter, mostly because of the Peak/Average measurements are displayed alongside regular 'Peak' VU and a perceived loudness VU labeled as RMS. 3 in 1. Seeing these 3 meters react to a song in a single plugin can tell you a lot about the mix in a visual way, and fairly quickly. The real beauty is ability to reset the 'Cumulative Data' readings on the fly during playback.
In image below the P/A shows the mix is approaching Hot, but the RMS is still a little low. Nothing fancy, just good data. Adjustments to the right/wrong place in the chain will change all 3 meters. The trick is knowing how to get RMS up a bit and keep P/A closer to the Dynamic marker than the Hot one (usually anyway, sometimes you want a mix Hot, depending on the genre/intent).
I just like seeing all 3 at once.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
I've used that PARmeter in the past, and found it useful as well. The Mastercheck Pro looks impressive, but I'm using the Lurrsen Console now, and am happy with it.
It's incredible. We used to have to learn to mix for Vinyl, then Cassettes, then CD's, then MP3's, now Streaming. I'm plum wore out.
Lurssen is pretty spot on for streaming. I think it was actually designed for it (and ear buds), as far as I can tell, in interviews done with Gary Lurssen.
Also, I got the new Cakewalk by Bandlab and it is awesome. There is some amazing stuff in the Pro Channels like the compressor that pops up by default (I think) in the Master Bus. It really keeps you honest. Those ProChannels really hold the keys to the Kingdom.
I have done my first few mixes with it and checked them against my meters and everything is spot on LUFS-wise and sounds great. I highly recommend it. It makes one hell of a track after you get used to it all.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
The "final mix" might, in some cases, might actually be in Mono.
"Finally, where high levels of data reduction are required, a similar approach is taken to stereo. The source signal is matrixed from conventional left/right stereo into Middle and Sides channels, and the Sides information is discarded or drastically data-reduced. Some stereo information is then reconstructed at the decoding stage, but at very low bit rates listeners can find themselves hearing the music in mono."
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