Rome Aftermath R128 & Loudness

[neilwilkes]

Rome Aftermath

Check out in particular the second item from Thomas Lund.
You will benefit from downloading this video & playing it through your workstation, as you will be able to HEAR what hypercompression & excessive limiting is doing - not to mention the massive damage caused by AAC (MP3 is hinted at as being much worse but not mentioned by name)

This should be mandatory viewing in all engineering courses.

[sniperschool]

they've done a good job posting the clips they have so far

[ARIEL]

Wow , great info ! just going through it now . I agree all mastering fellows should view this . As well as managers , bands , record labels etc..

[faun2500]

Agree eveeryone should watch this and ACT!

[ARIEL]

I watched a couple of videos so far . So is the new EBU R128 standard going to be software that actually gets implemented into playback systems such as iTunes ? I hope so ! I think maybe all the audio manufactures should start a "petition" to lobby for this and get all their users informed and on board for a petition.

[monad]

I just got to watch the video and all I can say is that IT'S TIME TO ACT.
The utter madness of the situation is mindblowing! How did we ever get here!?

Luckily, this R128 standard appears to be the solution. We must demand mastering engineers to start offering R128-ready masters as well.

[arf]

Originally Posted by monad

I just got to watch the video and all I can say is that IT'S TIME TO ACT.
The utter madness of the situation is mindblowing! How did we ever get here!?

Luckily, this R128 standard appears to be the solution. We must demand mastering engineers to start offering R128-ready masters as well.

There's no need make music masters hit the -23LUFS target. All that is needed is to retain as much of the dynamic range as musically desired and not apply brick wall limiting just to get the RMS level to match heavily limited releases. Master your music to sound at its best and the system will take care of the rest.

A full-range pop-style record can sit at -12LUFS to -16LUFS quite comfortably. The broadcast/streaming service will take care of lowering the gain to -23.

[monad]

Well if that's the case, then I'm really looking forwards to times ahead! Keeping the integrity of the mix, the quality and smoothness of the sound and retaining healthy dynamics, while adding just a little bit of glue and boost and then calling that a 'master', well - that sounds like a dream come true. We'll see, if that's the case - then the future sounds good.

Perhaps all artists should soon start offering two kinds of masters for the end user to purchase; the squashed ones, and the dynamic ones. I'm sure that, with this new system, people would eventually switch over to buying just the dynamic ones, especially when they realise how much better these sound!

I have an idea for a record label!
It could be called the "Dynamic Range Records" lol

[Babaluma]

Does anyone know if there are downloadable versions of these seminar videos? My DAW is not connected to the internet, but I would like to listen through my ATCs!

[DaVogi]

all the videos are up on youtube. you can easily download any youtube video, just google 'youtube video download' to get a solution for your browser/os or a downloadable file.

when will they release the katz, massenburg videos ?

[neilwilkes]

Originally Posted by arf

There's no need make music masters hit the -23LUFS target. All that is needed is to retain as much of the dynamic range as musically desired and not apply brick wall limiting just to get the RMS level to match heavily limited releases. Master your music to sound at its best and the system will take care of the rest.

A full-range pop-style record can sit at -12LUFS to -16LUFS quite comfortably. The broadcast/streaming service will take care of lowering the gain to -23.

Not quite true, sadly.
A mix that was made to R128 will always sound better, more dynamic & punchier than one normalized down to -23LUFS by an automated broadcast system - that is the whole point.
Once we get this idea fixed, then the loudness wars will stop as there will be no point at all going louder as it will actually sound worse (it does already to my ears).

[arf]

Originally Posted by neilwilkes

Not quite true, sadly.
A mix that was made to R128 will always sound better, more dynamic & punchier than one normalized down to -23LUFS by an automated broadcast system - that is the whole point.
Once we get this idea fixed, then the loudness wars will stop as there will be no point at all going louder as it will actually sound worse (it does already to my ears).

I am sorry, but I think you are quite wrong about this. Pop music requires a certain amount of compression to sound at its best and as a result if you run a proper rock or pop mix full scale without brick wall limiting it will probably hit around -12 to -16 LUFS. (Recall that analog tape machines were aligned for 12dB of headroom over 0VU). Whether the mixer turns down the output of the mix bus, or the mastering engineer drops it to -23, or the broadcast service drops it to -23, it's just a gain change - identical in each case.

[Paul Gold]

Originally Posted by neilwilkes

Not quite true, sadly.

I think it is true. If the mix in Alan's example came in for broadcast the only thing that would happen is a gain change. The audio would remain unchanged except for a lower level. That's the point. Heavily clipped material won't sound any worse either. It will just be turned down with straight gain. Likewise something that is too low will be turned up with straight gain. The point is that it all works with just gain changes and no invasive signal processing.

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by neilwilkes

Not quite true, sadly.
A mix that was made to R128 will always sound better, more dynamic & punchier than one normalized down to -23LUFS by an automated broadcast system - that is the whole point.

But what if you mix a song, mix it so it sounds just right and end up at -16LUFS. I think that was arf's point.

EDIT: I see Alan already responded. That is what happens when you leave 20 minutes between writing a post and sending it. :-)

Alistair

[sonicdefault]

Thanks for posting this.

If anyone would like screenshots of Lund's most relevant slides, I placed them on my userpage here:

Lund R128 Lecture



-SD