Platform targets

LoudSense compares the file's integrated loudness (LUFS-I) and true peak with the numbers below. Where RoomSense's LUFS tab lists the same target, the numbers are the same; a test in the codebase keeps them identical. The sources are listed at the end of this page.

Podcast

Mono or stereo?

BS.1770 measures a mono file as one channel. The same voice played on both speakers (dual mono) sounds 3 LU louder than the mono file measures. That is where the old "−19 LUFS for mono" rule comes from: a mono file at −19 plays about as loud as a stereo file at −16.

Apple measures the file you deliver. A mono MP3 at −19 therefore reads "too quiet" for Apple Podcasts, and raising it to −16 makes it play 3 dB hot on players that do not compensate. The safe route: export the episode as stereo (dual mono) and aim for −16.

Audiobook

ACX measures RMS, not LUFS. LoudSense checks the noise floor first — a noisy recording fails regardless of level — then the RMS window, then the peak ceiling.

Music streaming

Normalisation is playback gain, not a penalty: a master above −14 is simply turned down, and nothing is lost except the headroom the extra limiting cost you.

Broadcast

A broadcaster does not turn a file down — it sends it back. A missed broadcast target therefore reads Out of spec — would be rejected, not "turned down". Most stations add their own rules; check the station's spec and add it under My targets.

Live concert

For recordings of a concert — the release, the YouTube upload, the livestream — and for a concert on live TV. Not for the level in the room: that is a venue's sound level, not a file's loudness.

The stream / release row reads like a streaming row: a louder file is turned down where it ends up, a quieter one mostly stays quieter (YouTube and most music services do not turn quiet uploads up). The TV row reads like a broadcast row: out of the window is Out of spec — would be rejected. A concert recorded live but delivered to the broadcaster as a file afterwards can be normalised exactly; check it against EBU R128 (±0.5) in the Broadcast group instead.

Playback levels and your own targets

Club and festival playback levels have no published standard, so LoudSense does not list them as platforms. If a venue or a client gives you a number, add it under My targets in the Verdict tab: a name, a LUFS value, a tolerance and an optional true-peak ceiling. Saved targets get a Mine tab and a verdict row like any platform, appear in the Fix it menu. Own targets need a free Squaresmile account: they sync to your account and follow you to another device; edits from two devices are merged per target, so neither overwrites the other. Without an account, My targets offers Sign in and brings you back.

How the verdict is decided

1. If the file has clipped samples (runs at full scale): Clipped. Turning it down will not bring the cut-off peaks back — go back to the master before the clip, then limit to the ceiling.
2. If LUFS-I is above the window: Too loud (streaming: the service turns it down; broadcast: out of spec), fix = lower by the distance to the target.
3. If LUFS-I is below the window: Too quiet, fix = raise by the distance; if that would push true peak over the ceiling, the fix adds "with a true-peak limiter at the ceiling".
4. If loudness is inside the window but true peak is above the ceiling: Peaks too hot, fix = limit to the ceiling.
5. Otherwise OK.

A value exactly on the edge of a window counts as inside: a file at −16.0 LUFS passes the −19 to −16 window. A target with a tolerance (±1) or a range counts anything inside it as OK; the fix aims for the target, or the middle of a range. Every row with a fix has a Fix to this button, and the Fix it target follows the group you are looking at.

Services without normalisation (SoundCloud, Bandcamp) show an information row instead: the file will play at exactly the loudness it has, so only the true peak matters there.

What is deliberately missing

TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts and most social platforms publish no loudness spec. LoudSense does not invent one; aim for the YouTube target and keep true peak under −1 dBTP. Netflix and other long-form deliveries specify dialogue-gated loudness, measured with the broadcaster's own dialogue detector; the web tool's speech/music split is an estimate and is not a substitute.

Sources

• Spotify: "Loudness normalization" (support.spotify.com, artists), read 2026-10-01 — −14 / Loud −11 / Quiet −19, positive gain capped by headroom, −2 dBTP above −14 LUFS.
• Spotify Podcast Delivery Specification v1.10 (May 2025) — no loudness target.
• Apple Podcasts: "Audio requirements" (podcasters.apple.com) — −16 LKFS ±1, −1 dBFS true peak.
• ACX: "Audio submission requirements" (help.acx.com, updated April 2026).
• EBU R 128 (2023) and EBU R 128 s1; EBU Tech 3341 and Tech 3342. The ±1.0 LU live window is in EBU R 128 itself.
• Live concert — stream / release: no source to cite, by design — it is a convention that follows the −14 LUFS the music services above normalise to.
• ATSC A/85:2026-07.
• YouTube Help: "Stable volume".
• Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer: no official LUFS page; figures from published industry measurements.