Measure integrated LUFS, true peak and loudness range — with instant pass/fail checks for podcast, YouTube and broadcast standards.
AI-powered audio review & delivery for voice production teams
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Need to change loudness? Use the free Volume Normalizer. Want the full 6-point check? Run the Voice Quality Analyzer.
Upload audio to measure LUFS, true peak and LRA
LUFS stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. It is the standard way to measure how loud audio actually sounds to a listener, defined by the EBU R128 / ITU-R BS.1770 specifications. One loudness unit (LU) corresponds to one decibel, but unlike a raw dB reading, LUFS is weighted to match human hearing and is measured across the whole program — which is why every podcast platform, streaming service and broadcaster states its delivery spec in LUFS.
A dB (dBFS) meter shows the instantaneous electrical level of the signal — how close a single sample gets to digital full scale. A loudness meter in LUFS answers a different question: how loud does the program sound overall? Two files can peak at exactly the same dBFS yet differ by 10 LU in perceived loudness, because loudness depends on frequency content and density over time, not just peaks. That is why an online decibel meter can't tell you whether your podcast meets spec, but a LUFS meter can.
Integrated loudness is the single LUFS number for the entire file — the value platforms normalize against and the headline figure in this meter's report. Short-term loudness (3-second window) and momentary loudness (400 ms) describe how loudness moves moment to moment; the spread of that movement is the loudness range (LRA), also included in your report. A high LRA means large swings between quiet and loud passages — fine for cinema, risky for podcasts heard in cars and on earbuds.
Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts automatically turn every upload toward a house loudness level so listeners don't reach for the volume knob between tracks or episodes. If your file is louder than the target, it simply gets turned down — any loudness you "won" in mastering is thrown away, and you keep the distortion. If it is much quieter, some platforms turn it up and may limit the peaks. Delivering at the target keeps you in control of how your audio sounds after normalization.
Aim for −16 LUFS integrated with a true peak no higher than −1 dBTP — the standard Apple Podcasts and Spotify both work to for stereo shows. Upload your episode above and the report will tell you exactly how far off you are, in loudness units.
True peak (measured in dBTP) estimates the highest level the analog waveform reaches between digital samples. Lossy encoders like MP3 and AAC can overshoot those inter-sample peaks and clip on playback even when the file never touches 0 dBFS — which is why platforms set ceilings of −1 or −2 dBTP.
dB measures signal level at an instant; LUFS measures perceived loudness over time, weighted the way human ears hear. A sound meter or decibel meter tells you about peaks and headroom — a LUFS loudness meter tells you whether the whole program is as loud as the platform expects. You need both numbers, and this report gives you both.
Spotify normalizes playback to roughly −14 LUFS so every track and episode sounds equally loud. Masters hotter than −14 LUFS are turned down; quieter ones can be turned up with a limiter engaged. Measure first, then deliver at the target so the platform doesn't reshape your audio for you.
Yes. Without an account you can measure one file at a time (up to 10MB and 5 minutes). A free account raises that to 10 files per batch, 100MB and 30 minutes each — handy for checking a whole season before delivery.
VoiceDeck adds AI-powered audio & video review and delivery for your whole team — so every file ships in spec, automatically.
