[FAQ]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been podcasting for about a year and I feel like I’ve got a decent handle on my editing workflow. However, I’m trying to level up my final production quality and I keep stumbling across the term “LUFS” in articles and videos.

I kind of get that it’s about loudness, but I don’t really understand what it is or why it’s different from just watching the normal volume meters in my editor. I’ve noticed my show is sometimes a lot quieter than the big professional shows, and I want to fix that.

Could someone explain what LUFS are in simple terms? And more importantly, is there a standard number or target level I should be aiming for when I export my final episodes?

Thanks for the help!

[Jeff Bullas]

This is a fantastic technical question to be asking.

Short Answer: LUFS measures perceived loudness, and the industry standard for podcasts is -16 LUFS for stereo and -19 LUFS for mono content.

Mastering to this standard ensures a consistent and professional listening experience for your audience across all platforms.

LUFS, or Loudness Units Full Scale, is the modern broadcast standard used to measure the perceived loudness of audio, which is a far more accurate reflection of what the human ear hears than simple peak meters. It was developed to solve the problem of listeners having to constantly adjust their volume when switching between different shows or even between a show and an advert. There are two primary delivery formats to consider for your content. The first, and most common for speech-focused podcasts, is mono, which should be mastered to a target of -19 LUFS. The second format is stereo, which is best for shows with immersive sound design or significant music, and its target is -16 LUFS. It is a critical mistake to simply push the volume as high as possible; streaming platforms will automatically turn down overly loud tracks, which can often degrade the audio quality you worked so hard on.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Author]

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