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What the OBS meter tells you—and what it does not
The moving colored bar in OBS is a peak meter: it shows momentary peaks, not the integrated loudness of an entire music programme. OBS also displays a smaller black VU-style marker based on RMS integrated over 300 ms; it is not a standards-grade integrated LUFS meter. OBS describes its current peak meter as sample-peak measurement, with limitations compared with oversampled true-peak measurement. OBS Audio Mixer Guide Understanding the Mixer
OBS’s visual guidance is a practical starting point, not a guarantee that different tracks will sound equally loud. Background music and alert effects should remain in the green; speech generally sits in the upper yellow range. Red is close to clipping. OBS identifies -9 dBFS as its Permitted Maximum Level marker, intended to leave margin; it is OBS meter guidance, not a YouTube loudness target.
Do not compare the meter’s peak reading directly with LUFS. Peaks describe short-term maximum signal level; integrated LUFS describes programme loudness over time. YouTube’s live encoder guidance specifies audio encoding parameters, but does not publish a live-audio LUFS target. YouTube live encoder settings
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Set and check the music level before streaming
- Play representative music. Use the actual source and include both a quiet passage and one of the loudest sections. Begin with the player or playback-device control, as OBS recommends, then check application and operating-system volume controls where they affect the signal OBS receives.
- Watch the OBS mixer. Keep the music in the green as a starting point and make sure peaks stay clear of red. Because the moving bar measures peaks, do not treat a low average-looking bar as proof that a loud transient cannot clip.
- Monitor the signal OBS receives. Use OBS audio monitoring to listen while the music plays, and compare it with the source as early in the chain as practical. If you hear distortion, harshness, or an imbalance, reduce the source level or OBS fader and listen again. Change one stage at a time so you can tell which adjustment helped.
- Record a representative test and listen back. Check the opening, loudest sections, and transitions for clean, balanced playback before starting the real stream. OBS explicitly recommends recording a session as usual and listening to the file before going live.
- Check channel routing and output settings. OBS defaults to stereo. Confirm that left and right carry the intended signal; a mono source can be sent to both channels, and OBS provides a downmix option. For YouTube stereo live audio, YouTube lists AAC or MP3, 44.1 kHz, and 128 kbps in its encoder guidance. These are transport settings, not a programme-loudness target.
- Keep checking during a long broadcast. OBS peak hold retains the recent maximum for 20 seconds. Use it to notice peaks while you periodically listen to the live output; OBS documentation does not define a special level target for a 24/7 stream.
Should you target a particular LUFS value?
Not as a YouTube Live rule: YouTube’s published live encoder recommendations do not state a LUFS target. EBU R 128 s2 (2023) recommends unchanged streaming at -23.0 LUFS. It also describes -20.0 to -16.0 LUFS as an interim distribution range for a specific case in which a broadcaster manages dynamic treatment. These are broadcast and streaming standards context, not YouTube platform requirements. EBU R 128 s2
For a practical OBS setup, prioritize clean peaks and a balanced listening result across the programme rather than trying to infer integrated loudness from the mixer bar. A universal fader position cannot be prescribed without knowing the source level, gain staging, and listening context.
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Troubleshoot common level problems
- The meter reaches red or playback distorts: Lower the music source or OBS fader, then replay the loudest section and make another recording. A meter that nears red is a warning to leave more headroom; do not rely on a fader number alone.
- The meter looks safe, but the music sounds harsh or uneven: Listen to the monitored signal and recording, not just the display. Recheck the source and application levels, and assess quiet and loud sections separately.
- The left or right channel is missing, or stereo sounds wrong: Check the source’s channel layout and OBS stereo routing. If the source is mono, verify that it is sent to both channels or use the appropriate downmix option.
- The stream sounds different from the local recording: Check the live output by listening to it, and verify the YouTube audio format, sample rate, and bitrate settings against YouTube’s current encoder guidance. Those settings govern ingest encoding, not loudness normalization.
- You want to use LUFS as the meter target: OBS’s mixer indicators are not an integrated LUFS reading. Use a suitable loudness measurement workflow if you need that measurement, and do not treat EBU values as YouTube Live policy.
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