Loudness issue PT Ultimate 2019.5.0

[TheSoundshaper]

Having a weird issue that I'm thinking has something to do with an update. One of our mixers has a home rig that he just updated to PT Ultimate 2019.5.0. We are having his mixes kicked back for being too loud. His WLM meter reads the correct loudness but when he sends the mixes to us they are much hotter.

He is using the same template he used before the upgrade. As far as we can tell nothing has changed aside from doing the update. Any thoughts?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by TheSoundshaper

Having a weird issue that I'm thinking has something to do with an update. One of our mixers has a home rig that he just updated to PT Ultimate 2019.5.0. We are having his mixes kicked back for being too loud. His WLM meter reads the correct loudness but when he sends the mixes to us they are much hotter.

He is using the same template he used before the upgrade. As far as we can tell nothing has changed aside from doing the update. Any thoughts?

Who measures and with what?

[TheSoundshaper]

He is using WLM and it’s saying it’s in spec. The network kicks it back saying it’s out of the loudness spec. I checked the mixes with WLM on my rig and they are hot.

[JFreak]

Has he tried any other loudness meters (is it a WavesHell problem?) and is the difference constant, in which case it would be easy to compensate manually?

[its2loud]

How much of a difference is there?

This sounds like a case of the signal being metered is not the same as the signal being recorded.

Is the person measuring the file that’s been recorded before sending it off?

More info is needed on routing and signal flow to determine a cause. I’d also suggest using a different metering plug-in. I have experienced inconsistent metering with WLM compared with Insight 2 or VisLM. I gave up using it as a reliable tool years ago

[TheSoundshaper]

He is bouncing out to disk with WLM as the last plug in on the stereo bus. This has worked fine for him for years. All of a sudden after this update we are getting an issue. He is getting -24LKFS in his session with WLM on his stereo bus.. In my rig I am getting his file at -20lkfs. I’m using the same template he has.

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by TheSoundshaper

He is bouncing out to disk with WLM as the last plug in on the stereo bus. This has worked fine for him for years. All of a sudden after this update we are getting an issue. He is getting -24LKFS in his session with WLM on his stereo bus.. In my rig I am getting his file at -20lkfs. I’m using the same template he has.

A couple of things concern me.

1. “ with WLM on his stereo bus”

Are you saying he has WLM inserted on the same path he is using as his bounce source? Is this on an AUX track, AUDIO Tracks, Master Fader? Is this also the monitor source?

2. If WLM is measuring pre fader output is there any chance the bounce output of that track got pushed up by accident? It’s hard to determine if the bussing and/or placement of the WLM is correct. Regardless of whether this worked before. There is no reason why a Pro Tools update would cause this.

[albee1952]

Good stuff above. I would double-check the WLM plugin for settings(I don't have it here, so I am guessing). A work-around might be to have him deliver what WLM says is -28LKFS to compensate(but I agree that something is not right). I would also have him take a screen capture of WLM and send it to you so you can compare settings