The Equal LUFS Illusion Equal LUFS means it'll sound the same loudness, right ? Often yes, but it's not *always* that simple... More info: productionadvice.co.uk/equal-lufs/

I mastered this song for Patrick De Caumette back in 2023 - so cool to see it used as the soundtrack for an award-winning video !

Loving everything about this…

Most music streaming services have a Distribution Loudness of -14 LUFS. So if you master above that, the level will be reduced so it’s important to check you’re happy with the results of that situation, IMO But also, many people in have questions about how loud things “should” be mastered…

Interesting, I was thinking mainly of music but of course dialogue is another important use-case. And yes, in broadcast we have no choice but to pay attention 👍

Love that you put the course to such great use, Steve !

Do you find LUFS measurements useful ? If not, what's your biggest frustration or challenge?

New post: Decoding the Loudness Paradox

Trust me, dither has no effect on POW 😛

For 24-bit the choice of dither doesn’t matter - just simple triangular is fine. For 16-bit it still doesn’t matter very much, there are so many exotic varieties at this point you may as well just choose one you like the name of 😛 Most DAWs have plenty of options & lots of people like Good Dither

Great question - it depends if your goal is to match the loudness of the reference. If it is, I wouldn’t touch the level, I’d just set the limiter at -1, and still match the loudness (peaks tell us nothing about loudness) I’d suggest a different approach though - details in the next reply !

New episode - What IS 'translation' in mastering, and how do you achieve it ?

This is why I love Endlesss

Great advice from Steve as always

Last time EVER at this price... Heads-up - the current early-bird discount on my mastering course ends today, and then goes away forever! If you've ever thought of giving it a try, NOW is the perfect time. Use coupon code HMMINTRO - maybe I'll see you in there 👍 www.homemastering.com/hmm-open

OK this could be legitimately life-changing

Any OpenCore ninjas on here ? For some reason my Blue Yeti mic isn't being recognised under Monterey, even though it's visible in System Profiler. It still works normally booting back into Mojave though. (This is a 5,1 using Martin Lo) Thanks for any ideas !

Finally succeeded in upgrading my ancient cheese-grater to Monterey this week, but it was even more painful than anticipated - and there were 2 sets of cables in this box that made it possible ! Never throw anything away…😂

This is so cool !!! ❤️🐉

Very excited about the launch of Version 2 of my Dynameter plugin, which we announced last week ! I’ve had lots of questions about the new features, so here’s a short video showing you how they work 👍 Explainer vid: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhQP...

Discover the density and dynamics of your music – and why they matter ! I’m running a free livestream on Friday 25th showing you several different ways to increase the density of your music, why you might want to, and how to know exactly how much you need: www.homemastering.com/register

Such a great evening celebrating my amazing @andyshepherdwriter.bsky.social ‘s new book ! ❤️

Great day on Tuesday at the @solidstatelogic.bsky.social Oracle desk launch at Real World Studios Catching up with people like Emre and Julian IRL (plus so many others !) and nerding out is always fun, especially in such beautiful surroundings ! Thanks to @recordprod.bsk.social for the invite !

THIS. IS. AMAZING ❤️ (He’s my boy so clearly I’m biased but is really IS, isn’t it ?!)

Thanks to @mattboudreauaudio.bsky.social for asking me back on the @workingclassaudio.bsky.social podcast ! We talked about the current state of mastering, AI’s growing role, work/life balance, and in-the-box vs. out-of-the-box mastering. Full episode: www.workingclassaudio.com/wca-549-with...

Because there’s much more to perceived loudness than the LUFS value. Things like the performance, arrangement and choice of sounds, EQ balance, density, intensity, internal dynamics, saturation, distortion, stereo image etc etc…

Because we don’t have a target. *They* have a Distribution Loudness (usually-14) that *they* reduce loud songs (to prevent user complaints) but we don’t need to pay attention. Master it so is sounds great, and let them adjust the playback level.

My Dynameter plugin is an attempt - version 2 almost ready to release… www.meterplugs.com/dynameter

Thanks so much to @mattboudreauaudio.bsky.social for asking me fun questions for the 100th episode of The Mastering Show ! Make sure you check out his Working Class Audio podcast if you aren’t already in the loop !

Great to see The Mastering Show listed as one of the Top 10 audio engineering podcasts by Feedspot ! 👍 podcast.feedspot.com/audio_engine...

Remember this post ? IT WORKS !!! (But shhh, don’t tell anybody 😛)

That thing where you’re going out and decide to freshen up …and cut yourself brutally while shaving, ending up looking WAY worse than you did before 🙄 (This is what I’m doing, btw) www.junction.co.uk/events/heart...

Yes, I also master music as well as talk about it ! Happy to to take listen to whatever you’re working on and have a chat - say Hello 😊 #mastering #masteringengineer #audiomastering #masteringservices

So happy for @andyshepherdwriter.bsky.social - new book out soon !

That thing where people comment and ask questions on a livestream while ignoring what's actually being said on the stream 🙄

Musicians and authors concerned about AI… @bennjordan.bsky.social is working on a way to prevent it 👍

Every so often there's a time when I'm genuinely excited to try the latest beta version of one of my plugins. This is one of those times - wish me luck !

So excited for this !

If you didn’t say what time it *really* was when you woke up this morning (“no wonder I’m so tired”) then you’re doing the first Monday after the clocks go forward wrong.

Absolutely fair ! Individually it clearly makes a difference, but the research shows that statistically (meaning overall) it doesn’t have any effect either way

One last meme for the road ? All livestream replays now available ! www.dynamicrangeday.com/drd-live-2025

Everybody keeps asked for hacks, tricks and the secret sauce... 🤔 Don't believe me ? Watch the webcasts ! www.DynamicRangeDay.com/drd-live-2025

As true as it was when I made it…! www.dynamicrangeday.com/research

Next livestream coming up - talking to Abbey Road mastering engineer Oli Morgan about dynamics and loudness !

Going live for Dynamic Range Day in 10 - Gaga versus Loudness ! Come and say Hello 😛

Literally me. You too ? Support www.DynamicRangeDay.com this Friday !

This year's Dynamic Range Day Award shortlist has been revealed - and it includes some really big names ! Who do you think should win ? Did we miss any of your favourites ? #musicproduction #audioProduction #audiosky #mixingandmastering #musicsky

😂

So it's the first time I've been on @bsky.app for Dynamic Range Day – let the memes commence ! www.DynamicRangeDay.com #musicproduction #audioProduction #audiosky #mixingandmastering #musicsky

Further evidence that Brian Eno is 100% legendary www.westminsterextra.co.uk/article/yes-...