LUFS Meter

Measure the loudness of a song, a podcast or a whole EP, and see how streaming services will play it. The files stay on your device.

How to check the LUFS of a song

Three steps, in the browser.

Choose files

Drop one file or a whole EP: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, M4A or video, up to 2 GB each.

Read the numbers

Integrated loudness, loudness range, true and sample peak, the loudest moments, and a graph of the whole file.

Check the services

See how much each service turns it down and whether its peaks are over the ceiling. Fix the level in the volume booster in one click.

Loudness targets of streaming services

Services play every track at about the same loudness. A track louder than the target is turned down by the difference, so mastering louder does not make it louder there.

Spotify	-14 LUFS	-1 dBTP
YouTube	-14 LUFS	-1 dBTP
Apple Music	-16 LUFS	-1 dBTP
Amazon Music	-14 LUFS	-2 dBTP
Tidal	-14 LUFS	-1 dBTP
Deezer	-15 LUFS	-1 dBTP
Podcasts	-16 LUFS	-1 dBTP
EBU R128	-23 LUFS	-1 dBTP
ATSC A/85	-24 LUFS	-2 dBTP

Commonly published targets; services can change them, and listeners can switch normalization off.

What the numbers mean

Integrated loudness (LUFS)

The loudness of the whole file, measured as people hear it (K-weighting) and with quiet passages gated out (EBU R128, ITU-R BS.1770). This is the number services normalize by.

Loudness range (LRA)

How much the loudness changes between quiet and loud parts, in LU. Pop masters often sit around 4–8 LU, film and classical much higher.

True peak (dBTP)

The highest peak including those between samples, found by oversampling. Above -1 dBTP, encoding to MP3 or AAC can distort.

Momentary and short-term

The loudest 400 ms and the loudest 3 s: how hard the drops and choruses hit, which the integrated value averages out.

Several files compared

Measure a whole EP or album and see each track against the average; tracks more than 1 LU apart are marked. No account.

Stays on your device

Measured in your browser with ffmpeg's EBU R128 meter. Nothing is uploaded.

LUFS meter FAQ

Targets, peaks and how to fix the level.

What is LUFS?

Loudness Units relative to Full Scale: a measure of how loud audio sounds, weighted for human hearing (ITU-R BS.1770). 0 LUFS is the maximum; music usually measures between -20 and -6 LUFS. LKFS is the same unit.

How loud should my song be for Spotify?

Spotify plays music at about -14 LUFS integrated and asks for true peaks under -1 dBTP. A louder master is turned down by the difference; Spotify turns quieter tracks up only as far as their peaks allow.

What LUFS does YouTube use?

About -14 LUFS. YouTube turns louder videos down and does not turn quieter ones up, so a quiet upload stays quieter than the videos around it.

What is the difference between true peak and sample peak?

Sample peak is the highest sample in the file. True peak also finds peaks between samples, which appear when the audio is played or encoded. True peak is the one to keep under -1 dBTP.

What is a good loudness for a podcast?

-16 LUFS integrated with true peaks under -1 dBTP is the usual target for podcasts; -19 LUFS for mono. Broadcast in Europe uses -23 LUFS (EBU R128), in the US -24 LKFS (ATSC A/85).

My track is too quiet or too loud. How do I fix it?

Press Fix the level: the file opens in the volume booster, where Normalize brings it to -14, -16 or -23 LUFS with a true-peak limit, or Boost changes it by the amount you choose.

Can I check a whole album or EP?

Yes. Select several files at once or add more later; each is measured and compared with the average loudness, and tracks more than 1 LU from it are marked. No account is needed.

Are my files uploaded?

No. The measurement runs in your browser with ffmpeg's EBU R128 meter, so the files never leave your device. Files of up to 2 GB each work.