Volume question

dsealer

New member
So I'm trying to get my songs to a volume that is somewhere close to commercial/radio volume. I'm using the Youlean Loudness Meter. I've brought all my tracks up to -16db. However when I compared them to songs on my car radio I'm not even close on volume.
What am I missing?
Thanks,
Don.....
 
Yes I was. But it seems like they are maybe 10db louder than my mixes. Is that possible ?

Thanks,
Don.?...
 
From everything I've read, there's nobody looking for material in a -6dB loudness. That would be squashed to death.

How are you comparing your songs to a car radio? That's just not making sense to me.

What's your target? Streaming? Video? iTunes? -14dB is the integrated LUFS/LKFS that seems to hit the middle of the road for most streaming targets (iTunes is supposedly less). If it's a place like Amazon/iTunes, download (buy) a song in your genre and measure it. See how yours compares.
 
Not sure if you're referring to my post or something else but my mixes are -16 db not - 6. So if -14 is the middle of the road then I am in the ball park.

I can Bluetooth my songs from my phone and then switch over to the radio. If I don't change the volume level I can compare.

If -14 is the "middle of the road" what would you say the high/low range would be? Maybe -16 to -12?

Thanks for you're insight.

Don.....
 
Ah so I know now what you were referring to. No I didn't have any volume measuring software in the car. It was just my guesstimate of how much louder the music sounded on the radio. I can't say specifically how much louder it was but it was a significant amount.
Thanks again for your reply and I apologize for the confusion.

Don.....
 
I would not presume to know ANYTHING about mastering but this seems a prime example of the need for "calibration"?

Do you own a Sound Level Meter?

Dave.
 
My point was you've got two sources for some music, even if they're coming through the same device, you can't compare what you're hearing and make an assumption about the "loudness" of the original source material based on listening, or even a measurement because you don't really know what the radio "station" is doing to the material, and you don't have any way to be certain that the device itself is going to treat your [MP3] audio the same way.

If you want to compare your mixed/mastered audio file's loudness against something, it has to be against another audio file. Either download music and compare it to that, or rip a CD track. (They will likely be different even for the same song, which is why mastering engineers often/usually master a song differently for different targets.)
 
You don't even know if the same amount of gain is being applied at the output of the broadcast receiver and the output of the Bluetooth receiver.
 
What would this do? I believe we're off on a different subject. I was just asking why my tracks sound so much lower in volume than does the music I hear on the radio. My songs are basically in the -16 db range. Others here have provided an explanation. But I'm still wonderin what the volume level meter would do.
Thanks
Don.....

---------- Update ----------

True
 
What would this do? I believe we're off on a different subject. I was just asking why my tracks sound so much lower in volume than does the music I hear on the radio. My songs are basically in the -16 db range. Others here have provided an explanation. But I'm still wonderin what the volume level meter would do.
Thanks
Don.....

---------- Update ----------

True

Google "Calibrating studio monitors" (unless someone has a link?) The only way to compare the volume of SOUND is with a level meter and you really should have your monitors calibrated so that you always monitor/mix at a constant SPL.
 
Whether I plug my phone in via the aux hole on my car radio OR on the rare occasions that I can get it to Bluetooth for a couple mins, it's always A LOT quieter than the radio. Phone cranked playing music that I know to be hyper smashed crazy metal music, I have to turn it almost all the way up to be at the moderate/loud level I want, and it never reaches the pain levels I sometimes prefer. If I switch back to FM without turning down the volume, the car explodes. Luckily, there's a bit of a lag, so if I remember right after I push the button, I can sometimes get it down to less damaging levels before it actually kicks in.

Best I can tell, that is an overall level mismatch built into the stereo itself and there's not a damn thing we can do about it except kind of learn where the knob needs to be for each.

But that's before the radio station smashes the bejeezus out of the material. I wouldn't be surprised sometimes to see 6db Dynamic Range on some of those stations. The original is probably in that 9-12 range, but then it gets phase rotated and MBC'd and limited and...

Start referencing to other things ON YOUR PHONE. ;)
 
Thanks for that reply. That is usually what happens to me when I'm in the car. But I'm starting to get a message that a safe level is somewhere maybe -14 to -16. But that store bought cds/ music might be -9 to -12. Then from that point radio probably takes it down some more. Would that be a fair assumption ?
I do appreciate all the feedback. For me it helps me learn.

Thanks,
Don......
 
What comes through the radio in my current car and my old truck is lower in volume than a CD (or MP3 on a USB stick.) I use a Master Limiter plugin to bring the peak volume to -1 dB, then 2 compressors set very lightly ( I think ashcat recommended this method) to bring the peaks to 0dB (first compressor) then just over 0dB but not +1) - I see a little 'red' on the loudest peaks, but that's it. I noticed all the pro mixes I put into Reaper peaked at this same level - it could be that my meters are not accurate, but my mixes end up being as 'loud' as the pro CDs.
 
Using a radio as a volume reference isn't going to mean anything unless you're comparing something going through the exact same processing - and transmitter - and receiver. My car stereo "radio" has little to do with any of the other sources as far as volume is concerned.
 
I hate the loudness wars. I'll finish what I think is a good sounding mix, then after I tweak the limiters on the master bus, now it's kind of squashed and doesn't sound as good. Sure it's louder and might still sound great, but it sounded better beforehand. :facepalm:
 
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