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October 19, 2023
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The unofficial loudness standards for podcast episodes is -19 LUFS for mono episodes and -16 LUFS for stereo episodes.
But some folks publish their episodes a bit louder than that because of……reasons.
I publish episodes at about 0.4 LUFS louder than the unofficial standards because I use more compression than average and therefore, in general, the peaks of my audio don’t peak as high as most podcasts, and therefore I nudge my level up a bit to closer match the average peak level and momentary peak loudness of most podcasts. If I keep my audio at the unofficial standard level it can actually sound LOWER in volume than the average podcast at the same LUFS level, but of course the quieter parts of my audio are substantially louder and more audible than the quieter parts of average podcast audio.
What about you – are you determined to win the Loudness Wars with your audio?!?! hehe… I know Brad from The Cinema Guys is 😉
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2 Responses
Since the so called Podcast “standards” are not governed – perspectives and individual production techniques are and will continue to be subjective. OTOH things change when engineers are required to meet hard delivery specs. (e.g. R128, ATSC A/85, etc.). If your work lacks compliance – it will be rejected.
I will say this for those in the Podcast Production space: in terms of any subjective Integrated/Short Term loudness targets – have at it. However one issue that (for me at least) separates the ametuers from the pros is a full understanding of the importance of suitable True Peak. It’s significant considering how Podcasts are distributed via lossy codecs. When I see a -14.xx LUFS [stereo] Podcast with a +0.08 True Peak – with respect I question the level of understanding of the engineer. There’s simply no way around the necessity for an ample buffer and/or suitable headroom when preparing for lossy distribution.
-paul.
@produceNewMedia
Great points!