[MLA] Avenged Sevenfold

[Kevin Gross]

Steve Jobs would not offer a track normalization option. Bob Katz has
backed off his assertion that this this is necessary/desirable.

Did you get a sense of how strong a preference the 30% had for track
normalization? You could ask them or you could actually measure it by
giving people more than two playlists to listen to and see how consistent
their preference is.

On Thu, May 4, 2017 at 3:03 AM, Grimm | Eelco <eelco at grimmaudio.com> wrote:

> Guys: It was confirmed by investigators such as Ralph Kessler that Spotify
> is the worst offender both in target and in use of peak limiting  :-(
>
> Well, not the worst. At HKU we did a test last year of all streaming
> services for Dutch Television. Here's an overview of the loudness
> normalization part:
>
> Google Play, Deezer, Qobuz and Groove Music have no normalization at all.
>
> Spotify has a target of app. -12 LUFS (using the original replaygain
> algorithm), which is turned on by default. They do have a limiter. The
> limiter has progressive gain and does not bring up a track of let's say -20
> LUFS all the way to -12 LUFS. But it does show some audible artefacts now
> and then, especially on classical music.
>
> Napster uses radio-like multiband compression for 'loudness normalization'
> that sounds absolutely horrific.
>
> Apple Music has an app. -16 LUFS target (proprietary algorithm) that is
> turned on by default for Apple Music radio and off by default for the other
> services, which leads to weird loudness jumps when switching between these.
> They have implemented album normalization, but choose to use the average
> level of an album in stead of the loudness of the loudest track. Positive
> gain is allowed, which means that especially classical music suffers from
> extreme clipping if normalization is turned on.
>
> Tidal has normalization via their iOS app, with a target of -14 LUFS. When
> streaming via Airplay the target is -18 LUFS. They do not apply positive
> gain, normalization is lost for softer tracks. It is turned off by default.
> They told me that they will turn it on by default only when album
> normalization is implemented, because that is what their hifi customers
> demand. I am working (with Thomas) on an advice for them about the optimal
> target level and album normalization style. The report should be finished
> within two weeks. Preliminary results: 70% of the people (N = 36) prefers
> album normalization even in random track shuffle mode. Optionally a 'track
> normalization' choice can be offered (although this can be confusing for
> many users). A target level of -14 LUFS for the loudest track on the album
> seems appropriate for the large majority of albums.
>
> Cheers,
> Eelco
>
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