YouTube LUFS: how YouTube normalizes your audio.
YouTube turns loud videos down to about −14 LUFS and leaves quieter ones alone. It never turns them up. Here's how to see what it did to your upload, and how loud to mix for it.
BY OKAN ÇAM · UPDATED
THE SHORT VERSION
- YouTube plays loud uploads at about −14 LUFS by turning them down.
- It doesn't turn quiet uploads up. A video mixed at −20 LUFS plays at −20.
- Right-click a video and open Stats for nerds to see what YouTube did: the content loudness value.
- Normalization is a playback volume change. Your audio isn't re-limited.
- Keep true peak at −1 dBTP: YouTube re-encodes audio to lossy formats.
- For speech, around −14 to −16 LUFS keeps your video level with the ones around it.
How YouTube loudness normalization works
YouTube measures the loudness of each upload and stores a gain value with it. When the video plays, the player turns it down if it's louder than YouTube's reference of about −14 LUFS. Quieter videos play at 100%. That one-way rule is the big difference from Spotify and Apple Music, which also raise quiet tracks.
So on YouTube, being too quiet costs you and being too loud gains you nothing. A −20 LUFS vlog sits 6 LU below the video before it, and viewers reach for the volume. A −7 LUFS music video is turned down to −14 like everything else.
How to see what YouTube did to your video
Right-click the playing video and choose Stats for nerds. The Volume / Normalized line shows the player volume, the normalized volume and, in brackets, the content loudness:
Volume / Normalized: 100% / 63% (content loudness 4.0dB)Content loudness is how far your video sits above YouTube's reference. 4.0 dB means YouTube plays it 4 dB lower, so the normalized volume drops to about 63%. A negative value, say −3.5 dB, means the video is quieter than the reference: normalized volume stays at 100% and nothing is turned up.
On phones, YouTube also offers Stable volume, a viewer setting that evens out the level within a video. Unlike normalization, that one does change the dynamics, and it's up to the viewer.
Music on YouTube: how loud should the master be?
A music video is treated much like a Spotify stream in Normal mode, except that nothing is turned up. That argues against a master much quieter than −14 LUFS: at −17 it plays 3 LU below the videos around it. Louder than −14 is fine; the turn-down costs only what the limiter already took.
A master made for Spotify usually works on YouTube as it is. Check two things: true peak at −1 dBTP, because YouTube re-encodes to lossy AAC and Opus, and that your video editor didn't add a limiter or re-bounce the audio louder on export.
Vlogs, tutorials and video podcasts
Speech is where the one-way rule bites. Voice recordings often leave the editor at −20 LUFS or quieter, and YouTube leaves them there. A viewer coming from a music video hears a big drop.
- Aim for −14 to −16 LUFS integrated for talking-head videos. It's a common choice and keeps you level with most of YouTube.
- Level first, then compress, then limit. Even out the voice with clip gain or a leveler, compress gently, and finish with a limiter at −1 dBTP.
- Watch the music bed. Integrated loudness includes the music, so a loud bed pushes the number up while the voice feels quieter.
- Measure the export, not the timeline. Export the audio as WAV or M4A and measure that file.
Check before you upload
Drop the exported audio into the online analyzer. Your integrated value minus −14 predicts the content loudness YouTube will show: a mix at −10.5 LUFS should read about 3.5 dB. If integrated is below −14, YouTube plays it as it is. Choose YouTube under Hear it on streaming to hear the result. True peak and the red overs on the waveform tell you whether the encode is likely to clip.
FAQ
What LUFS does YouTube use?
YouTube turns videos down to a reference of about −14 LUFS integrated. Videos quieter than that play at their own level.
Does YouTube turn quiet videos up?
No. YouTube only turns loud videos down. A video mixed at −20 LUFS plays at −20 LUFS, so it sounds quieter than most.
What does content loudness mean in Stats for nerds?
It's how many dB your video sits above YouTube's reference loudness. A positive value is how much YouTube turns it down; a negative value means it's quieter than the reference and plays unchanged.
How loud should I mix a YouTube video?
Around −14 LUFS integrated for music, and a common −14 to −16 LUFS for speech, with true peak at −1 dBTP or lower.
Does YouTube change my audio?
Normalization only changes the playback volume. YouTube does re-encode your audio to lossy formats, which is why true peak should stay at −1 dBTP or lower.
Keep reading
What Is LUFS?
What LUFS measures, how it differs from dB and RMS, and the LUFS numbers that matter for streaming.
Spotify LUFS
What −14 LUFS means, the Loud, Normal and Quiet settings, and how loud to master for Spotify.
Apple Music LUFS
Sound Check, the −16 LUFS level, AAC and lossless, and what they mean for your master.
SoundCloud LUFS
No normalization, so louder is louder. Why true peak matters more on SoundCloud than anywhere.
True Peak vs Sample Peak
Why a master that peaks at 0 dBFS can still clip, and why −1 dBTP is the number everyone quotes.
What Is LRA?
Loudness range, how it's calculated, typical values, and what it can't tell you.
PLR and PSR
Peak-to-loudness and peak-to-short-term ratio: how hard is your master limited?
Loudness Penalty
How much Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others turn your master down, with a calculator.
Loudmeter vs Other Meters
How Loudmeter compares with plug-ins, online meters and desktop analyzers, and when another meter fits better.
Choosing a Loudness Meter
Plug-in, online tool or app? What each kind of meter does well, and which one fits your work.
Why Meters Show Different LUFS
Same file, different numbers? The four setup mistakes behind almost every mismatch.
Loudness Targets for Every Platform
Streaming, podcast, broadcast and game targets in one table, with what each number means.
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