How to get to like -2LUFS???

[Brandon203113]

Before you tell me the loudness wars are over XD (you know who you are)
I'm listening to artists i want to sound like and they are sitting at -2 to about -3lufs and that's what i'm going for.. The tracks don't sound distorted the crap out of.. or horribly mixed for the sake of loudness either... how do i accomplish this???
So far the closest I can get is about -4.9lufs... This is after compressing and saturating and clipping pretty much all my tracks down to a sausage shape.. I also have my sends like parallel and such being clipped too.. I also put a bunch of RMS compression for perceived loudness because i figured that would bump my overall loudness...
Anyone have any input on how else can i get my track louder by like 3 more lufs without distorting the living life out of my tracks when it comes to the final limiter???

[toonertik]

Have you done ANY research/ reading on LUFs?
I am no expert and it is all new to me, I'm an old git and worked BBC/PPM...
BUT, just saying LUFs is not enough... there are standards.. they need to be referenced to something...
ie... I can use say ToneBoosters EBU meter and from same DAW settings and project have LUFs of - some arbitrary reading to +
depending upon which LUFs setting I use in the meter...
as I say, do some research .

[Brandon203113]

[Brandon203113]

Have you done ANY research/ reading on LUFs?
I am no expert and it is all new to me, I'm an old git and worked BBC/PPM...
BUT, just saying LUFs is not enough... there are standards.. they need to be referenced to something...
ie... I can use say ToneBoosters EBU meter and from same DAW settings and project have LUFs of - some arbitrary reading to +
depending upon which LUFs setting I use in the meter...
as I say, do some research .

I'm using WAV files from artists i'm analyzing, if the same settings on an analyzer read a certain amount then i should try to match those amounts right?

[nix808]

push yer limiter like a mad thing.
if it doesn't soft clip properly- kick it around the studio

mmm, in all honesty, push a limiter and see if it doesn't sound distorted?
but yeah, is it all threshold, all ratio and minimal/no envelope?
push the compressor and limiter IMO and study the breakup

[imrae]

Make the whole track with a single square-wave oscillator and you'll be literally unbeatable. All it costs is 95% of your musicianship.

[Brandon203113]

push yer limiter like a mad thing.
if it doesn't soft clip properly- kick it around the studio

mmm, in all honesty, push a limiter and see if it doesn't sound distorted?
but yeah, is it all threshold, all ratio and minimal/no envelope?
push the compressor and limiter IMO and study the breakup

see this is where i get stuck... I can only press it so hard into the limiter before it starts distorting, and the peoples tracks im analyzing dont sound like distorted crap... so im like okay the loudest i can possibly get it is if i make everything practically flat right? and make sure my kick and snare arent peaking way above the rest of my sounds... But even when my kick is only like 1db or less above the rest of the basses and i push it like crazy into a limiter, i get shit distortion before i achieve the loudness im looking for.... and now my kick and snare don't sound that great in the mix... sighhhh

[nix808]

mmm-
I'm not that great at mastering,
but they are the 2 tools-
a compressor and limiter to push it
In my opinion- u could get real good at it if u have patience.
Here is my limiter, it could be one of them you have->
https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/fbtkzq

sometimes I use tape too, and Mackie preamps, but for sure it's fine itb

wishing u success

[Brandon203113]

Make the whole track with a single square-wave oscillator and you'll be literally unbeatable. All it costs is 95% of your musicianship.

Okay i just pushed a square wave into the limiter super hard and i got up to -1lufs without distortion, what kind of black magic is this??? Can you help me foreals tho?

[DJ Warmonger]

Spectral balance is also important. All the tracks are EQed with more or less same spectral profile, which is optimal for human hearing (and also LUFS based on it).
If for instance you cut everything above 2 kHz, you will never get as loud as possible with full spectral range.

As to cutting peaks, use saturator. Unlike compressor, saturator has 0 response time and can kill the peaks completely and absolutely.

[Burillo]

-2LUFS average? that sounds pretty much impossible, considering that broadcast standards are around -14, and won't allow anything going over -1dBFS.

[Brandon203113]

Spectral balance is also important. All the tracks are EQed with more or less same spectral profile, which is optimal for human hearing (and also LUFS based on it).
If for instance you cut everything above 2 kHz, you will never get as loud as possible with full spectral range.

As to cutting peaks, use saturator. Unlike compressor, saturator has 0 response time and can kill the peaks completely and absolutely.

Well i have been eqing out the notches where the ears are most sensetive... Are you talking about making my eq job as a whole look something kind of like the fletcher munson??? cuz i kinda do that
I mean.. I've been clipping lastly on every channel, and my spectrum is pretty damn full, but i dont see how it matters if i can't push into a limiter without it distorting nasty...

[Brandon203113]

-2LUFS average? that sounds pretty much impossible, considering that broadcast standards are around -14, and won't allow anything going over -1dBFS.

I bought the wav files from space laces and excision's albums, they are at around -2.4 short term, they dont translate perfectly either.. it says on my analyzer that it has a true peak of 3.5

[imrae]

I listened to a couple of Space Laces tracks and... while they've done a good job of keeping the mix elements clear and separate (a mixture of smart arrangement, automation and sidechaining) the quality is absolutely compromised in a search for loudness. There is a very fatiguing sizzle throughout and every mix element is obviously distorted. Once the volume has been turned down enough to make the sizzle acceptable the "sausage" becomes very obvious.

[anp27]

As to cutting peaks, use saturator. Unlike compressor, saturator has 0 response time and can kill the peaks completely and absolutely.

Could you please elaborate on how a saturator can be used to "kill peaks completely and absolutely"? I keep hearing people say this but I don't quite understand the mechanics of how all of this works...