LUFS meter: loudness and true peak
| Platform | Reference | Playback change |
|---|---|---|
| Spotify | -14 LUFS | – |
| YouTube | -14 LUFS | – |
| Apple Music | -16 LUFS | – |
| Amazon Music | -14 LUFS | – |
| Tidal | -14 LUFS | – |
| Deezer | -15 LUFS | – |
Measured to ITU-R BS.1770-4 and EBU R128, in your browser.
A free online LUFS meter. Drop in your mix or master to measure its integrated loudness, true peak and loudness range, and see how much Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube will turn it down. Measured to the ITU-R BS.1770-4 standard, entirely in your browser.
What the numbers mean
- Integrated loudness (LUFS): the average loudness of the whole file, weighted the way ears hear and ignoring silence. This is the number streaming services normalise.
- True peak (dBTP): the highest level the waveform reaches between samples once it is converted back to analog or to MP3/AAC. It can be higher than the sample peak.
- Loudness range (LU): how much the loudness moves between the quiet and loud parts. A crushed master might be 3 to 5 LU; a dynamic film mix 15 or more.
- Short-term and momentary max: the loudest 3 seconds and the loudest 0.4 seconds. Useful for seeing how hot the chorus gets.
How loud should a master be?
There is no single right number. Streaming services turn loud songs down to their reference, so a master far above it gets no louder, only flatter. Common practice:
- Streaming music: anywhere from about −14 to −9 LUFS integrated is normal, depending on genre. Quieter, more dynamic masters often sound better after normalisation.
- True peak: keep it at or below −1 dBTP (Spotify suggests −2 dBTP for masters louder than −14 LUFS) so lossy encoding doesn't clip.
- Podcasts: about −16 LUFS for stereo.
- Broadcast: −23 LUFS under EBU R128 in Europe, −24 LKFS under ATSC A/85 in the US.
Platform reference levels are the published defaults at the time of writing and change from time to time. Some platforms only turn loud tracks down; others also raise quiet ones, usually only as far as their peak headroom allows.
LUFS, LKFS, dBFS and RMS
- LUFS and LKFS are the same measurement with two names (EBU and ITU/ATSC). 1 LU is 1 dB.
- dBFS is level relative to digital full scale; peaks are measured in it. It says nothing about how loud something sounds.
- RMS is an older average level measurement with no frequency weighting and no gating, so a bass-heavy mix reads louder than it sounds. LUFS fixes both.
Drown hits like a truck and never clips your channel.
Siesta plugins are gain-staged to a proper studio level, so a two-knob doom fuzz sits in the mix instead of blowing up your meters. Hear it live in the browser.
Play Drown live →Quick answers
What LUFS should I master to for Spotify?
Spotify normalises to about −14 LUFS integrated by default, so louder masters are turned down to that. Many released masters are louder, around −11 to −8 LUFS, by choice of sound. Keep true peak at or below −1 dBTP, or −2 dBTP for loud masters.
What is LUFS?
LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) measures perceived loudness using the ITU-R BS.1770 standard: frequency weighting that matches hearing, and gating that ignores silence. One LU equals one decibel.
What is true peak?
True peak is the highest level the audio reaches between the digital samples once it is reconstructed, measured by oversampling. It can be higher than the sample peak, and it predicts clipping after conversion to MP3 or AAC.
What LUFS is YouTube?
YouTube's reference is about −14 LUFS. Louder uploads are turned down; quieter ones are not turned up.
Is this LUFS meter accurate?
It implements ITU-R BS.1770-4 K-weighting and gating and EBU Tech 3342 loudness range, and it matches the reference test signals to within 0.1 LU. True peak uses 4× oversampling.
Is my audio uploaded?
No. Your browser opens and measures the file on your device. Nothing is sent to a server.
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