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  #1  
Old 01-10-2019, 12:57 AM
Raoul23 Raoul23 is offline
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Default Mastering for itunes question?

First off i'm not a mastering engineer and know i wont get results as good as a pro mastering engineer.

I have a track ive mixed, it peaks around -3db. Im now mastering it for my client which he is going to put on itunes, spotify etc. At the moment the LUFS is -12. Im getting confused because itunes states -14LUFS and some people are saying set True Peak to -0.3 and some are saying -1.0?? What i dont want is iTunes to turn the track down. From what ive read if it doesnt meet certain standards itunes/spotify could do this??

So do i set True peak to -1.0 or -0.3 and do i master to -14.0 LUFS or does this not matter??

Thanks in advance everyone
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Last edited by Raoul23; 01-10-2019 at 06:32 AM.
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Old 01-10-2019, 06:17 AM
its2loud its2loud is online now
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

Deliver to the specs required. If you don’t, you risk the track being altered or rejected.
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Old 01-10-2019, 06:29 AM
Raoul23 Raoul23 is offline
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

That’s the thing what is the proper answer spec wise. I keep hearing and reading different things ??


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Old 01-10-2019, 06:48 AM
its2loud its2loud is online now
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

This should help.

https://www.apple.com/itunes/mastered-for-itunes/
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Old 01-10-2019, 10:37 AM
Raoul23 Raoul23 is offline
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

Thanks It mentions that the limiter should be set to -1.0 but it does not say what LUFS the track should be set to??


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Old 01-10-2019, 10:48 AM
its2loud its2loud is online now
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

Apple doesn’t have an LUFS specification for delivering music.

Since iTunes has an auto leveling function built in, it can auto level all tracks to a nominal level which averages out to 14-16 LUFS. If you don’t want you tracks heavily altered with this feature in iTunes then you can master your tracks to an average 14-16 LUFS. This way, if listeners have this feature turned on, your tracks will not be altered as a result.

Services like Spotify and YouTube do have LUFS specifications so if you’re sending your tracks to other services, mastering at these levels will achieve uniformity across the board.

Setting your TP to -1.0 will assure that no inter-sample clipping will occur
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Old 01-10-2019, 03:02 PM
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crizdee crizdee is offline
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

Hi,

0.3 peak is fine if your checking with inter sample peaks. Pretty much everything I’ve mastered on iTunes and Spotify is at roughly -10 To -12 LUFS integrated. Roughly -8RMS. In fact one album was closer to -6 RMS at their request.

If Spotify users have set same level for all tracks turned on, iTunes users have level check turned on it will level everything out to around -14 LUFS integrated.

“Mastered for iTunes” (mfit) is a slightly different criteria from above.

Chris
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Old 01-10-2019, 03:19 PM
Raoul23 Raoul23 is offline
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

Thanks Chris for chiming in. I’m going to set my limiter to -0.3 master at around -12 to -14 LUFS is there a plugin to show inter sample peaks? If inter sample peaks happen what can be done to prevent these.


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Old 01-11-2019, 06:12 AM
elicious elicious is offline
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

Avid Pro limiter, among others,
will catch and stop those...
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  #10  
Old 01-12-2019, 02:31 AM
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crizdee crizdee is offline
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Default Re: Mastering for itunes question?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Raoul23 View Post
Thanks Chris for chiming in. I’m going to set my limiter to -0.3 master at around -12 to -14 LUFS is there a plugin to show inter sample peaks? If inter sample peaks happen what can be done to prevent these.


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Hi,

-12 to -14 LUFS might be a bit low and that needs to be read LUFS integrated. I would start with -8RMS through the loudest sections then measure the whole song from start to finish with the LUFS integrated scale and see where it reads as each song will vary depending on dynamics and how the volume varies from the quiet sections to the louder sections hence the integrated in the LUFS integrated reading which kind of averages it out between the loudest and quietest sections.

The industry is in a transitional period and it’s not fully implemented yet. So don’t sweat if you’re levels are a bit over. Songs are still being mastered up to -6 -5 by some. I would say RMS -8 to -7 is still the target for most current mastering for streaming. But keep your intersample peaks low -0.3 at least as the various codec conversions can’t deal with over samples and peaks very well. Especially the conversion for mobile streaming which is different from desk top devices and premium account holders etc.

And remember level check auto levelling etc is an option which can be turned on or off by the end user on iTunes and Spotify at the moment but this might change soon as they want to take this option away, then it will be everything at -14 LUFS integrated

Chris
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