Match Loudness?

[Robert H]

Honestly I get the idea But what exactly is going on?

Ok, I import a LOUD reference track my spectrum is close but my RMS is lower. I hit Match Loudness=Distortion nearly every time. So then I have to bring it down (obviously), Should I be changing the EQ spectrum instead?

Is the match loudness just simply a gain/volume control or is there some fancy esoteric stuff going on in the background. To be honest Im not sure if match loudness is doing my mixes Justice? Does a limiter kick in or something?

or could I simply adjust the gain myself to get the same effect.

Oh, and why is there no undo for match loudness? Not that I need it if bringing the fader back down to 0db resets the volume. This is what Im concerned about

Can I match loudness over and over again?

[HarBal]

Robert,

Match loudness is pretty much as you put it, a volume control, or an adjustment of the volume control whereby the gain is set to the difference in loudness figure of merit between the reference and your track. Because HarBal does not have an internal limiter, if you match to a commercial reference you'll end up with clipping, unless you first apply a gain reduction to the reference. Alternatively you could do what Earle suggests, which is to write down the gain figure and use it to set up your limiter.

By the way, the match ,loudness feature is in no way bomb proof. How well it works will depend on the nature of the music in your track and the reference. My suggestion would be to just use it as an initial guide and use your ears as the final judge. That's the way I do it anyhow.

Point taken on the undo issue.

Regards,


Paavo.

[har-bal]

Honestly I get the idea But what exactly is going on?

Ok, I import a LOUD reference track my spectrum is close but my RMS is lower. I hit Match Loudness=Distortion nearly every time. So then I have to bring it down (obviously), Should I be changing the EQ spectrum instead?

Is the match loudness just simply a gain/volume control or is there some fancy esoteric stuff going on in the background. To be honest Im not sure if match loudness is doing my mixes Justice? Does a limiter kick in or something?

or could I simply adjust the gain myself to get the same effect.

Oh, and why is there no undo for match loudness? Not that I need it if bringing the fader back down to 0db resets the volume. This is what Im concerned about

Can I match loudness over and over again?

Rob

You should use the "match loudness" feature in Har-Bal simply as a reference for your limiter to determine loudness.

When using this feature write down the gain number indicated on the gain fader.

Now pull the fader back to 0.0, or press your "home" key if the fader is still the input of focus. Now record the newly EQ'd file.

When you set your limiter
Set your outceiling to -0.1 and the threshold to the number indicated by Har-Bal. If there was an increase in Har-Bal of 4.3, set the threshold for -4.3.

It works every time and the volume level will be consistent throughout the entire album.

Cheers

Earle

[Robert H]

Thanks gents, I got it now

Somehow I thought the match loudness had to be done Pre EQ - Linmb - L2

regarding the Undo. I wouldnt have thought it would be essential to implement. I was just concerned that match loudness was destructively editing the audio (subtely)----hence undo.