Levels and loudness
Gain staging, decibels, LUFS and true peak, explained with real meters.
What is gain staging?
Gain staging explained for beginners: set the trim, a plug-in and the fader on a live channel strip, see why -18 dBFS matters and hear where clipping really happens.
What is a decibel?
What a decibel is, how to work it out, and what dBFS, dBTP, dBu, dBV and dB SPL mean, with a loudness lab that shows every 6 dB step on a real mix.
What is headroom in audio?
Headroom is the gap between your loudest peak and 0 dBFS. How much to leave when recording, mixing and mastering, with a live meter to try it on real loops.
What is true peak?
True peak is how high a waveform really goes between its samples. See intersample peaks up close, compare sample and true peak limiters, and set a safe ceiling.
What are dynamic range and crest factor?
Crest factor is the gap between a sound's peaks and its RMS level. Measure it, and loudness range and PLR, on real loops in a free lab, and see limiting shrink it.
What is loudness normalisation?
How Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music normalise loudness, with a live LUFS lab: hear loud masters turned down, quiet ones held back by their peaks, and why.
What is dither?
What dither is, why rounding to 16 bits distorts quiet sounds, when to dither an export and what noise shaping does, with a live lab that rounds a loop to any bit depth.
What are sample rate and bit depth?
What sample rate and bit depth mean, why 44.1 and 48 kHz exist and why you record at 24-bit, with a live converter you can set from 8 kHz and 2 bits.
LUFS vs RMS vs peak
Peak, RMS and LUFS meters compared on real loops: what each one measures, why two sounds with the same peak can sit 8 LU apart, and which meter to use when.
dBFS vs dBu vs dBV
dBFS counts down from digital full scale; dBu and dBV measure voltage against 0.775 V and 1 V. Hear how your converter links them, with +4 dBu vs −10 dBV.
Normalising vs limiting
Normalising moves a whole file by one fixed gain; a limiter turns only the loudest peaks down so the track gets louder. Hear both at the same peak in the lab.
Sample rate vs bit depth
Sample rate sets the highest frequency a file can hold and bit depth sets its noise floor. Hear each one lowered on the same loop and see which matters more.
How to protect your hearing when you make music
How loud is too loud? The 85 dB(A) limit, the 3 dB rule, safe mixing levels, earplugs and tinnitus signs, with a lab that works out your listening dose.
What is LUFS?
What LUFS is and how a loudness meter works, with a live BS.1770 meter: push a master into a limiter and hear Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music turn it down.