[quote=MarioD
I have found that sometimes the Studio One mix down can sound different than the Studio One tracks. I have tried the -3dB in my DAW and sometimes Audacity doesn't change that level, however sometimes it did. So I quit using the DAW and only use Audacity.YMMV [/quote]

This is not a burning problem for me, it's actually more of a curiosity/improve my audio engineering skills kind of thing.

I'm going to try keeping everything else constant in my workflow and experiment with reducing the default -14 LUFS to find the Goldilocks for my system, hopefully that will work for others when they recieve my tracks. If not, I'll adjust accordingly.

You mention mileage varying. Part of my "varying mileage" is involving only one DAW in my workflow. This is because when future problems or questions arise (and I know they will) it's a ton easier to explain and troubleshoot if only one DAW is involved. Sometimes the Studo One forum might be involved and the cats over there might not even use Audacity at all.

Plus I notice that Audacity can't import M4A files without the FFmpeg library. Now I certainly could download it but it's just another variable in the equation that itself will also require periodic updates. Or I could export as WAV do my thing in Audacity and then export as M4A, but now I've got 2 formats involved instead of just one. Since Windows Media Player is just a player it's not stepping on my recordings in any way thereby keeping my workflow simple.

I'm also curious as to why Studio One includes so many different loudness options; I count 15 plus a custum option. This tells me that maybe more than just "simple" loudness is happening. And I see that there are other posts below that I haven't yet read. Maybe they address this.

Also, note that I think most of these curiosities go away when we upload to SoundCloud because each track is processed at their site to (amoung other things) ensure that loudness levels on their platform are consistent from track to track and musician to musician.

https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.