ANSWER · LYRICS & VOCALS
Choosing a loudness preset
“Which loudness preset should I pick?”
Pick Club −8 for anything you will play through a DJ mixer, Festival −10 when you want more dynamics in a loud set, Streaming −14 for releases, radio and video, and Club max −6 only when the rest of your set is mastered that hot. The default is Club −8.
The presets
| Preset | Target | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Club max | −6 LUFS | Hard techno, hardstyle, sets where every record is slammed |
| Club | −8 LUFS | Most DJ sets; matches commercial club masters |
| Festival | −10 LUFS | Big systems with headroom; dynamic, punchy sets |
| Streaming | −14 LUFS | Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, radio, podcasts, video |
| Custom | −20 to −4 LUFS | Anything else |
Every preset keeps the true-peak ceiling at −1 dBTP.
Club −8
Commercial dance masters measure around −9 to −6 LUFS. At −8 a Club Ready Music track sits level with the records before and after it, so the transition needs no gain adjustment. If you are unsure, use this.
Festival −10
Two decibels quieter than Club, with correspondingly less limiting. On a large system with its own processing the extra transient detail reads as punch rather than as quiet. Also a good choice if you ride gains anyway and prefer dynamics.
Streaming −14
Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and most other platforms normalise playback to roughly −14 LUFS. A −8 master uploaded there is turned down about six decibels, so its loudness advantage vanishes and the flattened peaks are all that remain. A −14 master arrives at its native level with its transients intact. Radio playout chains do their own processing and also prefer a dynamic source. Use this preset, and download the WAV, for any release or broadcast.
Club max −6
Reserved for genres and rooms where everything is at the ceiling. The limiter works hard at −6 and drums lose some snap. If your tracks sound dull at −6, that is why; go back to −8.
Custom
Type any integer from −20 to −4. Useful for background beds, where −18 to −16 keeps music under speech, or for matching a specific reference you have measured.
Two renders for two purposes
Loudness is applied at render time, so a track exists at one level. If you want a club version and a release version of the same song, render it twice at the two presets. The brief is identical, so both renders share BPM, key, lyrics and arrangement, though as with any two renders the performances will differ. Choose the pair you like.
What the preset does not change
Mono bass, hard start, bass fade, cue points, tags and formats are all independent of loudness. Only the level and the amount of peak limiting move.
Frequently asked
Can I render once and use the track for both club and streaming?
You can, but one level will be a compromise. A second render at the other preset costs one credit and gives you a proper master for each.
Does the preset change the sound?
It changes level and how hard the −1 dBTP limiter works. The louder the target, the more the peaks are held back.