napynap wrote: ↑24 Jul 2019
One of the reasons why I put that Flower Audio RE after your Selig Gain is that I use your MONO button. I've been wondering if going to mono will change your 'crest factor'. So far, it seems the same loudness either way. Do you see no change using your method with VU+PEAK? What are your thoughts on this? Thank you in advance.
Unless you are exporting in mono, what does it matter? But yes, it's the same unless there are serious problems with polarity or phase.
Extreme example: one channel polarity flipped, which would result in total silence when switched to mono, which will read differently on ANY meter that follows.
Since crest factor is a good indicator of loudness, it should track the same with loudness changes. Knowing the LUFS value is important if you are submitting mixes to a company that is strict about you hitting a very specific value (I would use the same tools as they use if that was the case).
Otherwise, the loudness you choose for your mix is YOUR decision - that is the whole point of streaming services adjusting the playback level. If you mix "loud", they will simply turn your mix down so it sounds the same as other mixes. If you mix "soft", they will turn it up to match. This is like having someone adjusting your volume knob for you, nothing more, so the only thing that matters is how you mix SOUNDS.
Mixing loud vs soft changes the way the mix sounds - you can't adjust loudness without affecting other factors which would include crest factor (average to peak ratio). The only way to make a mix louder that already peaks at 0 dBFS is to reduce the relationship of the peaks to the average. Side affects are loss of transients and distortion (obviously), plus reduction of overall dynamics (with the louder parts sounding different than before, and the softer parts increased in level).
One example to illustrate this point would be to submit 5 mixes and have them streamed from softest to loudest. The "change" you would hear would be more distortion, less transit information, and less dynamics. Theoretically, the mixes won't get louder, they will simply sound different (and at some point) began to sound worse).
Thus, your job will be to find the spot where as you increase loudness, the mix begins to sound worse not better, and don't go past that point!
That's it - like a doctor, your first mandate should be "do no harm"!
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