3 ms·

TLDR: Ads do follow the limits - precisely. Long answer: most YouTubers are not properly mixing their audio so that it'll hit -14 LKFS (which is the de facto t

TLDR: Ads do follow the limits - precisely. Long answer: most YouTubers are not properly mixing their audio so that it'll hit -14 LKFS (which is the de facto target loudness for online content. Most movies and television shows are de jure targeted to -24 LKFS/-23 LUFS. LKFS and LUFS are perceptual volume measurement scales, LKFS being predominant in America/SMTPE while LUFS are predominant in Europe/EBU.), either due to being intentional (ASMR content) or not knowing how to do it. On the other hand, most advertisers have the backing of professional mixers, and they will hit -14 LKFS constantly, period. Note that Youtube has a loudness normaliser - but only for videos that is significantly louder than -14 LKFS (you wouldn't want ASMR content to be NASMR). This is only done so that poor speakers won't be blown up and not get the ire of EU et al. due to popped ears.

chirau 5y ago
Interesting. But would it not be the onus of Youtube to determine this LKFS for videos and normalize the loudness of whatever ad they are showing in-stream to that loudness? I am not a sound guy, but i'd think if an ad is recorded at higher loudness, it can still be presented at lower loudness, no? I may be wrong, looking to learn.
- zinekeller 5y ago
  Fair point, well unfortunately that question needs to be answered by YouTube.
karmakaze 5y ago
What is LKFS aka LUFS? Seems equivalent to dB. Couldn't find any info on weightings or perceptual models of loudness.
- zinekeller 5y ago
  Sorry that this is a little late, and unfortunately most of these resources are paywalled. However, K-weight basically normalises the volume by frequency so that for a given LKFS (for example) 1,000 Hz tone, 100 Hz tone and 10,000 Hz tone sounds similarly loud perceptually (while if we set them to similar dB instead, 1,000 Hz is perceptually louder than 100 and 10,000 Hz tones). Of course, being perceptual, it's more accurate to say that it's what an average person would perceive so it can be off for some people (but like with colour this is a rabbithole of topic).
  - karmakaze 5y ago
    Ah thanks. There's not much to find about LKFS/LUFS. I find something about dB(A) vs dB(C) vs LUFS[0] saying: > Finally, we come to LUFS measure, which is intended to reflect how we perceive loudness. It also isn’t particularly concerned about frequency response either. It has simply been found that by using a shaping filter ahead of RMS power measurement, with the lowest bass below about 37 Hz eliminated, and sounds above 1.5 kHz boosted by 4 dB, gives a gated RMS measurement about the same ability to predict human loudness perception as real listeners engaged in comparative studies. [0] http://refined-audiometrics.com/wordpress1/2016/12/31/dba-dbc-lufs/ http://refined-audiometrics.com/wordpress1/2016/12/31/dba-db...

chirau 5y ago

Interesting. But would it not be the onus of Youtube to determine this LKFS for videos and normalize the loudness of whatever ad they are showing in-stream to that loudness? I am not a sound guy, but i'd think if an ad is recorded at higher loudness, it can still be presented at lower loudness, no? I may be wrong, looking to learn.

zinekeller 5y ago
Fair point, well unfortunately that question needs to be answered by YouTube.

karmakaze 5y ago

What is LKFS aka LUFS? Seems equivalent to dB. Couldn't find any info on weightings or perceptual models of loudness.

zinekeller 5y ago
Sorry that this is a little late, and unfortunately most of these resources are paywalled. However, K-weight basically normalises the volume by frequency so that for a given LKFS (for example) 1,000 Hz tone, 100 Hz tone and 10,000 Hz tone sounds similarly loud perceptually (while if we set them to similar dB instead, 1,000 Hz is perceptually louder than 100 and 10,000 Hz tones). Of course, being perceptual, it's more accurate to say that it's what an average person would perceive so it can be off for some people (but like with colour this is a rabbithole of topic).
- karmakaze 5y ago
  Ah thanks. There's not much to find about LKFS/LUFS. I find something about dB(A) vs dB(C) vs LUFS[0] saying: > Finally, we come to LUFS measure, which is intended to reflect how we perceive loudness. It also isn’t particularly concerned about frequency response either. It has simply been found that by using a shaping filter ahead of RMS power measurement, with the lowest bass below about 37 Hz eliminated, and sounds above 1.5 kHz boosted by 4 dB, gives a gated RMS measurement about the same ability to predict human loudness perception as real listeners engaged in comparative studies. [0] http://refined-audiometrics.com/wordpress1/2016/12/31/dba-dbc-lufs/ http://refined-audiometrics.com/wordpress1/2016/12/31/dba-db...