Man, all this makes my hair hurt. I've skirted around the periphery of learning about this topic but always seem to bog down. Sometimes the old dog just can't add another trick.

When I master I often find a reference recording from within the last five years by an artist that I like and for which a similar song is available. I then try and match it not by using Ozone's reference matching but just my listening (often my mastering consists of nothing but Waves' LinMB and Ozones's limiter). The below wave form of a recent project shown in audacity is, from a visual perspective, what I shoot for. And it's what my references look like and what everything I master nowadays tends to look like. And they all seem to sound about the same gain wise and don't clip. But I have only marginal hearing left (I cannot differentiate a 320 mp3 from a wav file) and from what I'm reading none of my approach matters regarding the streaming platforms. So w/o understanding this luft thing I fear we have an album on all the major platforms and 50 songs on Soundcloud that must sound like crap. A bit depressing.

Bud


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