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Choose where to normalize the audio
Loudness normalization belongs in the production chain before the live encoder. The right place depends on whether your playlist is fixed or changes while the stream is running.
Prepare a stable library offline
If the station plays a known set of files, analyze and prepare those files before scheduling them. This gives you time to inspect the results and reduces the amount of processing needed during the broadcast. FFmpeg’s loudnorm filter supports a double-pass workflow for files.
Process a changing playlist live
If tracks enter the playlist dynamically, use a processor that can operate continuously. FFmpeg documents single-pass loudnorm for livestream use. A live processor must remain in the audio path for the entire stream; normalizing only some tracks can leave level changes between processed and unprocessed material.
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Choose a target without mistaking it for a YouTube requirement
There is no verified numeric loudness target for YouTube continuous live streams in the cited material. Do not present −14 LUFS—or any other number—as a confirmed YouTube live-stream rule.
The European Broadcasting Union’s EBU R 128 version 5.0, published on 21 November 2023, recommends average programme loudness of −23 LUFS. That is a broadcast reference, not evidence of YouTube’s internal target. EBU R 128 S2 version 3, also from November 2023, describes a baseline streaming case in which programmes are streamed unchanged at −23 LUFS. It also discusses cases without metadata to manage device gain and content dynamics: when the broadcaster wants to control dynamic treatment before distribution, interim distribution loudness may be higher than −23 LUFS, in the −20 to −16 LUFS range. Those figures describe EBU guidance in its stated contexts; they do not establish a YouTube requirement.
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Pick and document an operating target based on the sound you want, the standard or workflow informing your choice, and the playback context. Avoid blindly accepting a processor default. A target is a measurement goal, not a guarantee that every listener’s device will reproduce the stream at the same perceived volume.
Set loudness, dynamics, and peak headroom
FFmpeg’s loudnorm exposes an integrated loudness target, a loudness-range target, and a maximum true-peak target. Set them deliberately, then audition the result rather than optimizing only for a meter reading.
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- Integrated loudness: guides the overall perceived level across a programme or file. It does not describe the highest peak.
- Loudness range: concerns variation in loudness over time. Avoid compressing or flattening the music more than your format and listening goal require.
- Maximum true peak: helps manage peak headroom, including peaks that may arise between digital samples. The appropriate ceiling depends on the encoding chain and programme dynamics; the cited sources do not establish a YouTube-mandated ceiling.
Listen to representative quiet and loud tracks, stylistically different material, and transitions between tracks. A setting that works for one album may make a quieter recording feel unnaturally loud or cause a transition to sound abrupt.
Configure and verify the live chain
- Place the processor before the encoder. Route the playlist or player through the normalization processor, then send its output to the live encoder. Keep the processor in the path for every track and transition.
- Select the processing mode. Use offline double-pass processing for a stable file library, or a documented live-capable single-pass mode for a changing playlist. FFmpeg’s
loudnormsupports both use cases. - Set the target and peak controls. Record which loudness target and maximum true-peak setting you chose, and why. Do not label an EBU reference as a YouTube requirement.
- Measure with a loudness-aware analyzer. Verify integrated loudness and true peak using a meter or analyzer designed to measure them. The EBU publishes a loudness metering specification; a dedicated hardware meter is optional, not required by the cited guidance.
- Check OBS meters correctly, if OBS is in your chain. OBS documents its mixer display as a sample-peak programme meter. Its VU display is an RMS measure over 300 ms, not an integrated LUFS meter. Use it to watch for level and clipping issues, not to infer integrated LUFS.
- Inspect the encoded output. Check the stream after the final encoder, including representative track changes. Record observed integrated loudness and peaks, then adjust the processor if transitions are uneven or peaks approach clipping.
OBS warns that output above 0 dBFS clips; 0 dBFS is the digital maximum, not an integrated loudness target. Keep the output below clipping and assess loudness separately.
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Troubleshoot uneven or distorted audio
- One track is much louder than the next: confirm both tracks pass through the same processor, check whether the offline preparation covered both, and audition the transition. Revisit the target and dynamics settings if the difference remains distracting.
- The meter looks safe but the stream sounds clipped: check true peaks and inspect the encoded output, not only the meter before the encoder. OBS identifies output above 0 dBFS as clipping; reduce the level or adjust peak management.
- OBS bars do not show a LUFS reading: that is expected. The standard mixer display is a sample-peak meter, and its VU display is short-window RMS—not integrated loudness. Use a loudness-aware analyzer.
- The music sounds unnaturally flat: reduce unnecessary dynamic processing and compare quiet and loud passages. Loudness normalization and dynamic-range control are related but distinct decisions.
- You are unsure whether YouTube will change the level: do not assume a platform-specific normalization behavior or numeric target from the available evidence. Set and verify your own outgoing signal using an explicit, documented target.
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