Get a quick loudness estimate for an audio file — upload it and see an approximate integrated LUFS reading.
The LUFS Calculator measures how loud an audio file really is, using the ITU-R BS.1770-4 / EBU R128 algorithm that broadcasters and streaming platforms use. You get integrated loudness (LUFS), momentary and short-term maxima, loudness range (LU), true peak (dBTP) and sample peak.
A platform table shows what Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, TIDAL, Amazon Music, podcast apps and broadcast standards will do to your file — turn it down, turn it up, or leave it — and warns if turning up would exceed the true-peak ceiling.
Audio is K-weighted — a high-shelf of about +4 dB above 2 kHz modelling the head, then a 38 Hz high-pass — and its mean-square energy is measured in 400 ms blocks with 75% overlap. Blocks under −70 LUFS are gated out, then blocks more than 10 LU below the mean of the rest; the energy-average of what remains is the integrated loudness, in LUFS = −0.691 + 10·log₁₀(energy). Loudness range uses 3 s short-term values with a −20 LU relative gate and reports the spread between the 10th and 95th percentile. True peak is estimated with 4× oversampling. The filter coefficients are the ITU table values. On our test programs (tones, pink noise, gated speech-like and loud-master material) integrated loudness agrees with ffmpeg’s EBU R128 meter to within 0.05 LU, loudness range matches, and true peak is within about a quarter of a decibel.
Platform references (2026): Spotify −14 LUFS, Apple Music −16, YouTube about −14 (it only turns loud material down), TIDAL −14, Amazon Music −14, Apple Podcasts −16 ±1, EBU R128 −23, ATSC A/85 −24.
Check a master against streaming targets.
Verify −16 LUFS before publishing.
Check EBU R128 compliance.
See which sounds louder, objectively.
| Standard | ITU-R BS.1770-4 · EBU R128 / Tech 3342 LRA |
|---|---|
| Metrics | Integrated, short-term max, momentary max, LRA, true peak, sample peak |
| Cross-check | Integrated loudness within 0.05 LU of ffmpeg ebur128; true peak within ~0.25 dB |
Loudness Units relative to Full Scale; 1 LU = 1 dB.
LUFS weights frequencies like human hearing and ignores silence; RMS does not.
Loudness range: how much loudness varies across the programme.
No — it's a fast RMS-based estimate, useful as a rough reference, not a substitute for a certified ITU-R BS.1770 meter if you need to hit an exact streaming or broadcast loudness target.
Common targets are around -14 LUFS for many music streaming services and around -16 to -19 LUFS for podcasts, but requirements vary by platform — check the specific platform's current guidelines for an exact target.
This tool runs entirely in your browser using the Web Audio API. Nothing is uploaded, stored or shared — there is no server to send your file to, so it works offline once the page has loaded.
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