[MLA] iTunes NOT using -16 LUFS yet ?

[Bob Katz]

Well, the client loves the master and isn't going to change a thing!!!!


Three cheers for dynamics,



Bob


On 3/1/22 5:55 PM, Bob Katz wrote:
>
> Dear Ian:
>
> Thanks for doing that research.
>
>
> I can't wait till this all gets straightened out...
>
> A client just told me (for the umpteenth time) that his song is 
> playing too soft on some platform or another. I told him either I 
> could crush it for him and it will sound distorted and overcompressed, 
> or he has to live with the problem on non-normalized platforms. This 
> is a great-sounding song that we could ruin for the sake of loudness. 
> Age old story.
>
>
>
> Bob
>
>
>
> On 2/24/22 6:36 AM, Ian Shepherd wrote:
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Buddy got back to me quickly - he says there is a known issue with 
>> the macOS Music app where songs bought and downloaded still use the 
>> old Sound Check value, which they’re working on. This explains the 
>> strange M1 Mac result.
>>
>> I also tested from my iPhone this morning which is normalising to -16 
>> LUFS, even with older files like Death Magnetic, which is great news.
>>
>> However my Mojave iTunes is still using the Legacy Sound Check 
>> setting, I’ve asked Buddy if there will be an update to fix this and 
>> will let you know what he says.
>>
>> So, basically good news - hopefully they’ll fix that bug fairly 
>> quickly, and hopefully also roll LUFS back to older Mac OS versions. 
>> Lots of musicians and engineers use these old versions, so it will be 
>> a source of plenty of confusion if they don’t...
>>
>> Ian
>>
>>
>>
>>> On 23 Feb 2022, at 16:18, Bob Katz <bobkatz at digido.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2/23/22 6:38 AM, Ian Shepherd wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>> Just a heads-up about this. We’re planning an update to Loudness 
>>>> Penalty to reflect the news that iTunes is going to use LUFS for 
>>>> Sound Check, but I wanted to warn you that in our tests it doesn’t 
>>>> seem to be working as intended, even on a brand new M1 Mac with the 
>>>> latest software updates and recently released material.
>>>>
>>>> I have other examples but specifically Bob drew my attention to 
>>>> this song:
>>>>
>>>> https://music.apple.com/gb/album/the-joker-and-the-queen-feat-taylor-swift/1608894948?i=1608894952
>>>>
>>>> Using the afinfo command in Terminal it reports the following results:
>>>>
>>>>> aa itu loudness: -8.5
>>>>> sound check volume normalization gain: -7.50 dB
>>>>
>>>> This would result in a playback loudness of -16 LUFS, but measuring 
>>>> the actual value gives a result of -15.1 LUFS, which is a 
>>>> normalization change of only -6.6 dB
>>>
>>>
>>> Oy vey.
>>>
>>> Well, I agree, this means that the legacy SoundCheck is being used. 
>>> We need some clarification from Buddy Judge.
>>>
>>> Let's compile this information and alert Buddy Judge. At the least 
>>> he will have an explanation.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Whereas the "Song Info>File>Volume" value in iTunes reports -6.7, 
>>>> which is obviously a very close match to the measured result. Since 
>>>> this is the “Legacy” Sound Check value, this song and other 
>>>> examples like it make me think that LUFS values aren’t being used 
>>>> yet, on Mac OS at least.
>>>>
>>>> Testing the results from iOS is tricky because of Apple’s copy 
>>>> protection, but if we make any progress with this I’ll let you know.
>>>>
>>>> I’ve emailed Buddy to ask about this, and will let you know if I 
>>>> get a reply - perhaps it’s just a glitch!
>>>>
>>>> Either way I wanted to make you aware so that we don’t jump the gun 
>>>> announcing the change.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I'm glad you wrote him!
>>>
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bob
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>
>>>> Ian
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ***
>>>> Ian Shepherd
>>>> Mastering Media Ltd <http://mastering-media.co.uk/> - Audio 
>>>> Mastering, Blu-ray and DVD Excellence
>>>> http://twitter.com/ianshepherd
>>>>
>>>> <http://twitter.com/ianshepherd>Mastering Media Ltd,
>>>> Kemp House, 152 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX
>>>> Registered in England and Wales
>>>> Company No. 073500450
>>>>
>>>> Tel. +44(0)1487 842498
>>>>
>>>>
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>>> -- 
>>> If you want good sound on your album, come to Bob Katz 407-831-0233 
>>> DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO Author: *Mastering Audio* Digital 
>>> Domain Website <https://www.digido.com/> No trees were killed in the 
>>> sending of this message. However a large number of electrons were 
>>> terribly inconvenienced.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> MLA mailing list
>>> MLA at grimmaudio.nl
>>> http://grimmaudio.nl/mailman/listinfo/mla_grimmaudio.nl
>>
> -- 
> If you want good sound on your album, come to Bob Katz 407-831-0233 
> DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO Author: *Mastering Audio* Digital 
> Domain Website <https://www.digido.com/> No trees were killed in the 
> sending of this message. However a large number of electrons were 
> terribly inconvenienced.
>
> _______________________________________________
> MLA mailing list
> MLA at grimmaudio.nl
> http://grimmaudio.nl/mailman/listinfo/mla_grimmaudio.nl
-- 

If you want good sound on your album, come to Bob Katz 407-831-0233 
DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO Author: *Mastering Audio* Digital Domain 
Website <https://www.digido.com/> No trees were killed in the sending of 
this message. However a large number of electrons were terribly 
inconvenienced.
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