LUFS Meter Plugin

[HoRNet]

Just to add to the discussion, we have an R128 meter in our catalog that is fully compliant with the standard:

https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/hornet-elm128/

Have a look.

Saverio

[Compyfox]

Thanks for your response, with Audition CC's "Copy All" I can capture the elements below. It's been very helpful as I'm "mastering" the first album I ever released which has serious volume mismatches between tracks. The stats pretty much match my aural perception. I've pasted the results in a spreadsheet to compare with commercial tracks I find impactful.

Since I've been doing this for quite a while now, the most important stuff for you to know is:

• True Peak Amplitude (I guess this is dBTP max)
• Possibly Clipped Samples (did it exceed your master limiter's set threshold? Example: -1dB, -0.5dB? I DO NOT recommend -0,3dB, especially not anything higher -8LUFS SLk)
• DC Offset (if these values are in the -100dB and below area, you "should be fine" - this value is most important for vinyl releases)
• Measured Bit Depth (just to see if there is no Bit Offset "post" master limiter, and if that would cause issues for burning on to an audio CD)
• ITU-R BS.1770-3 Loudness: -19.76 LUFS (here it depends on what this was measured on, I assume "Integrated" or ILk, not Short Term or SLk)

To make things super simple - focus while mastering (if you're using an ITU-R BS.1770 type meter for measurement purposes) on the following:

• dB True Peak max
• Short Term Loudness Average (SLk avg, e.g. if you shoot for -14 LUFS as "average limit", your content should be around -14LUFS for mezzo-forte passages)
• Short Term Loudness Max (forte-fortissimo passages shall not exceed this value, I recommend to not go 3-4LU higher than your target with e.g. -14LUFS, meaning DO NOT exceed -10LUFS SLk)

If you did things right, everything should hover around +-1 (though +-2 is still fine for music) -14LUFS ILk (Integrated Loudness)


I wrote PLENTY of posts about this in recent years, see my KVRmarks...

You're right, Audition uses tc electronic's Loudness Radar. I've yet to use it, the specs I'm referring to come from the Amplitude Statistics section.

I dislike Statistics Sections in hosts, especially with the RMS values (the readout is often not similar to plugins at all). They're great for a quick overview, but for accuracy, use a dedicated plugin and truck through hours of material. Which can be done in parallel to save time, and is what I usually do with Cubase... (load all tracks, have them on individual channels, all of them having a dedicated metering tool, press play, read out all values 10min later)


Else, I've worked with the tc Loudness Radar in "Premiere"... really easy to setup, not easy to read if you're not used to that concept. Setup your "target" level (which sets a color code "split") and then have a focus on the "inner ring" (which shows SLk). If your signal hovers around your target value, you're fine. The "outer ring" shows MLk, and can overshoot up to +9LU - which is still within ITU-R BS.1770-x specs for broadcast material, though could be(!) a bit high for music.

If the RADAR is irritating for you, and you don't want to spend a dime on another metering tool, just use the mentioned freebie "Youlean Loudness Meter"...

[simon.a.billington]

iZotope Insight, but that's bloody expensive.

Then there is Waves WLM and Brainworx bx_meter, which are much cheaper when on sale

It's dirt cheap if you buy it as part of their production bundle though.

Yeah, I got it with RX4 Advanced myself. Buying it as part of a suite the better way to grab it though.

[MogwaiBoy]

iZotope Insight, but that's bloody expensive.

Then there is Waves WLM and Brainworx bx_meter, which are much cheaper when on sale

It's dirt cheap if you buy it as part of their production bundle though.

Yeah, I got it with RX4 Advanced myself. Buying it as part of a suite the better way to grab it though.

Although this is on rendered export only, RX5 is my #1 for track analysis (RMS, LUFS, peak, true peak, DC offset, spectral and frequency graphs) and I much prefer a standalone application with a selection tool and near-instant response, rather than sitting there waiting through sections of the song in realtime with a plugin.

I have also found that some realtime plugin meters display different results on different play throughs, even of the same material - even when fully reset in between plays. I don't get that.

When I do use them, my favs are TBProAudio DPmeter II (free), bx_meter (was $9) and the LUFS readout in Limitless.

So I only use them