SoundCloud LUFS: how loud to master for SoundCloud.

SoundCloud doesn't normalize loudness

Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube turn loud tracks down to a common level. SoundCloud hasn't published a normalization target, and tracks play at the loudness they were uploaded at. That's why the SoundCloud row in our targets table says "No normalization". This page was checked in September 2026; platforms do change.

For you, it means the loudness war still has a front here. Put a −13 LUFS master next to a −7 LUFS one in a playlist and the second plays 6 dB louder, and in a quick comparison louder tends to sound better.

The catch: SoundCloud's encodes

SoundCloud keeps your upload but streams lossy versions of it: MP3 and Opus at modest bitrates for most listeners, higher-quality AAC on some subscription tiers. Lower bitrates throw away more data, and the decoded waveform overshoots the original peaks more. A master limited to 0.0 dBFS can come back with an over on every snare hit.

So the loudness you win by pushing the limiter can come back as distortion in the stream. The louder the master, the more headroom the encoder wants. A −6 LUFS master with a −0.1 dBTP ceiling is the classic recipe for a crunchy SoundCloud upload.

How loud should you master for SoundCloud?

There's no rule, and the right range depends on the style. Many electronic, hip-hop and rock releases sit somewhere around −10 to −7 LUFS integrated. Acoustic, jazz and classical work is often much quieter, and should stay that way. A few ground rules:

1. 01Use the master you send to streaming platforms, unless you have a reason not to. A second, louder SoundCloud master is fine, but measure it.
2. 02Keep true peak at −1 dBTP. If the master is louder than about −9 LUFS, try −1.5 to −2 dBTP and listen to the difference.
3. 03Upload WAV, FLAC or AIFF, never an MP3. Every lossy generation adds its own overshoot.
4. 04Test the encode yourself: convert the master to a 128 kbps MP3 and measure it. If its true peak jumps above 0 dBTP, SoundCloud's version is likely to clip too.

ffmpeg -i master.wav -b:a 128k test.mp3

Then drop test.mp3 into the analyzer and compare its true peak with the master's.

DJ mixes and long uploads

DJ mixes are the SoundCloud upload that most often goes wrong. Every track in the mix arrives at a different loudness, and the limiter on the mix works hardest on the loudest ones. Before you upload, check the full mix's integrated LUFS and its short-term maximum, and look for clusters of red overs on the waveform. A mix with a steady level and no overs sounds louder on phone speakers than one squashed to hit a number.

For long mixes, your browser needs enough memory to decode the whole file: a two-hour 24-bit WAV is about 1.3 GB. Measure very long mixes on a computer rather than a phone.

Check your master before you upload

The online analyzer reads integrated, short-term and momentary LUFS, true peak with every over marked, and PSR and PLR. With no normalization, PSR is worth a look: it tells you how much punch your loudest section has left. More on that in PLR and PSR explained. Under Hear it on streaming, switch between SoundCloud (as uploaded) and Spotify (turned down to −14) to hear what normalization would do.

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