Youlean: Loudness Meter

Youlean’s Julijan Nikolic is part of the FL Studio alpha team, and some of his effects (Patcher presets and ZGameEditor Visualizer) are already part of FL Studio. As winner of KVR Developer Challenge 2016, Youlean Loudness Meter helps to find the true perceived loudness of your audio and prepares it for TV or streaming services release on platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Apple Podcast, Amazon Alexa, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, Netflix, HBO, and Disney+.

Complying with the strict loudness requirements for the Film and TV industry prevents services from processing your audio in an undesirable way. Youlean Loudness Meter helps find which regulations are being used, and by using the ITU-R BS.1770-4, EBU R128, ATSC A/85, OP-59, ARIB TR-B32, AGCOM 219/09/CSP, ASWG-R001 HOME, or ASWG-R001 PORTABLE presets your audio will be presented to comply with the standard, and sound as intended. The plugin is calibrated and tested against ITU-R BS2217 testing materials, and satisfies all requirements defined in ITU-R BS.1770 document.

MEASUREMENTS EXPLAINED

Loudness (LUFS). This measurement is basically like RMS but with a twist. It takes into account how humans perceive loudness and it is currently the most accurate way of measuring loudness. The main difference compared to RMS is that LUFS uses filters to shape the sound before processing in a similar way to how we hear the sound Loudness Range (LRA). This measurement will give you an idea of the difference in volume between the verse, chorus and other sections of your track. If there is a big difference in loudness between the various sections of your track then your loudness range will be a higher number and vice verse

Dynamic Range (DR). Dynamic range metering will show you the levels of the compression in audio. The algorithm is based on a difference between true peak and short term loudness. The current implementation is improved version of the “PSR” algorithm which has problems measuring dynamics in audio that has fast changing quiet and loud sections True Peak (TP). Knowing the true peak value is really important since it indicates the true maximum level of audio after conversion to analog or different digital form such as conversion from WAV to MP3. If your audio goes above 0dB TP you might get clipping in converted audio.

Free Version:

• Film, TV and Gaming presets
• LU, INT, TP, LRA, PLR, DR readouts
• Resizing, scaling GUI
• Mini view
• Custom true peak alert threshold
• True peak and loudness graph
• Loudness distribution graph
• Automatic loudness overdub
• Mono, Stereo, and 5.1 channel
• Low CPU consumption
• Never expires

Paired with this, the Youlean Audio Over Network plugin will send audio to the Youlean Loudness Meter Lite iOS app over the local network. This will enable you to analyse the loudness of your Windows or macOS sessions on your iPhone or iPad device.