I was aiming for -14 LUFS for awhile, but I found it was just too quiet, especially if that final master gets played anywhere where there isn't loudness normalization.
As much as I understand, dynamic range is the key. How loud should the master be? -> stop gaining up towards the true ceiling when you start loosing transient information (start to sound squashed). This is what I understand. On a pop or rock track this setting have never settled on -14 in my experience; most of the time it hits at least -10. Of course this is a genre dependent subject :)
Thanks for watching! Best not to aim for an LUFS like you said, but find what works best for the song/genre. I usually make mine a little louder, or make multiple versions if I know it'll be distributed to both normalized and non-normalized streaming services. SageAudio.com
Hey, love your work! I have a question: should I use an OTT to master an EDM song already with regular multiband mid side compression and heavy limiting?
Thanks for watching! I'd say stick with analog emulation plugins, and try to saturate the signal with a tape machine plugin. Other than that you can use a regular mastering signal chain and it should work well if the mix is lo-fi already. SageAudio.com
Hi, thanks for very informative video. I have one question. While streaming services upload the song and they convert the track into lossy file, does it always get turn up by 2dB? I've mastered many tracks for streaming services and always set my limiter ceiling at - 0.5 and there was no clipping or distortion on any tracks uploaded. Is - 0.5 not enough in your opinion? Am I doing it wrong?
Hey Lucas! Thanks for watching! The more you master pushes up against the ceiling, and the louder it is, the more likely it is to have significant gain changed during encoding. If you're working on a softer genre, -0.5dB to -1dB should be okay. SageAudio.com
@@sageaudio So basically the more limiting is applied, the more headroom it needs? I mostly master rock/EDM and sometimes hip hop with big low end ect. For those you're saying that - 0.5 is not enough? Although I always was setting ceiling on last limiter at - 0.5, I never experienced any distortion or artefacts on my mastered tracks on Spotify. Can you please clarify it little bit more? I kindly appreciate your time and help. I'm still bit confused and would like to get more help in this subject. Lucas.
That video is gold. Nice addition with the example mastering chain at the end!
Thanks for watching! Great to hear you liked it!
SageAudio.com
I was aiming for -14 LUFS for awhile, but I found it was just too quiet, especially if that final master gets played anywhere where there isn't loudness normalization.
Exactly this. If you want to release your music elsewehere, or on CD format or Bandcamp , suddenly streaming loudness is nonsensical.
As much as I understand, dynamic range is the key. How loud should the master be? -> stop gaining up towards the true ceiling when you start loosing transient information (start to sound squashed). This is what I understand. On a pop or rock track this setting have never settled on -14 in my experience; most of the time it hits at least -10. Of course this is a genre dependent subject :)
Thanks for watching! Best not to aim for an LUFS like you said, but find what works best for the song/genre. I usually make mine a little louder, or make multiple versions if I know it'll be distributed to both normalized and non-normalized streaming services.
SageAudio.com
@@sageaudio True. I do find myself making multiple masters now. I kind of miss the CD days... 😅 Thanks!
Love this type videos - especially the order of operations at the end 👍🏼 Would love to see how to use Saturn 2 for dialogue 🙏🏻
Thanks for watching!
SageAudio.com
One of the most helpful videos out there
Awesome! Thanks for watching Sanjith!
SageAudio.com
Fantastic MP3 mastering here using your tips --> TKS!!!
(at -14 btw)
ThankU as always sage audio!
Thank you as always Rion!
SageAudio.com
Another winning video posted! Great job
Thanks for watching Paul! Glad you liked it!
SageAudio.com
Hey, love your work! I have a question: should I use an OTT to master an EDM song already with regular multiband mid side compression and heavy limiting?
Thanks for watching! It sounds like it already has enough processing, but try it out and use it very subtly, then see if it's too much.
SageAudio.com
@@sageaudio Thanks!
what plugins should i use for my lofi mastering chain?
Thanks for watching! I'd say stick with analog emulation plugins, and try to saturate the signal with a tape machine plugin. Other than that you can use a regular mastering signal chain and it should work well if the mix is lo-fi already.
SageAudio.com
Hi, thanks for very informative video. I have one question. While streaming services upload the song and they convert the track into lossy file, does it always get turn up by 2dB? I've mastered many tracks for streaming services and always set my limiter ceiling at - 0.5 and there was no clipping or distortion on any tracks uploaded. Is - 0.5 not enough in your opinion? Am I doing it wrong?
Spotify say if its over -14 lufs then the true peak should be -2db
Hey Lucas! Thanks for watching! The more you master pushes up against the ceiling, and the louder it is, the more likely it is to have significant gain changed during encoding.
If you're working on a softer genre, -0.5dB to -1dB should be okay.
SageAudio.com
@@sageaudio So basically the more limiting is applied, the more headroom it needs? I mostly master rock/EDM and sometimes hip hop with big low end ect. For those you're saying that - 0.5 is not enough? Although I always was setting ceiling on last limiter at - 0.5, I never experienced any distortion or artefacts on my mastered tracks on Spotify. Can you please clarify it little bit more? I kindly appreciate your time and help. I'm still bit confused and would like to get more help in this subject.
Lucas.
Dang I've been setting mine at -0.3... Yikes! It seems I have a lot to learn still
I wanna send my mix for mastering
Is this first mastering legit free? I'll get the final mastered audio right?
Thanks for watching! You get a sample of it! So not the full song, but about a minute of it so you can hear how our services sound.
SageAudio.com
I suffer from this too much. Very informative video...
Thanks for watching this one!
SageAudio.com
Nice
Thanks for watching!
SageAudio.com
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🤟
Thanks Gary!
SageAudio.com