Loudness targets · Streaming
Tidal loudness target: −14 LUFS
Tidal plays back at about −14 LUFS integrated. It's also known for normalizing by album rather than by track, which keeps the level differences you set between songs. That changes how you should read a single-track measurement.
What Tidal does with your master
Tidal measures loudness and applies playback gain towards about −14 LUFS integrated. A louder release is turned down by the difference; a −10 LUFS master plays about 4 dB quieter than delivered.
Where Tidal has stood out is how it applies that gain. It has been known for using album normalization: one gain for the whole album, based on the album's loudness, instead of pulling every track to −14 on its own.
Track versus album normalization
Say an album has a quiet ballad at −18 LUFS and a single at −12 LUFS, and the album as a whole measures around −13 LUFS.
- Track normalization sets each song to the reference on its own. The ballad is raised (if its peaks allow) and the single lowered, so they end up at similar levels. The 6 dB contrast you built between them is gone.
- Album normalization lowers the whole album by the same amount, about 1 dB here. The ballad is still 6 dB below the single, as mastered.
For albums that were sequenced with deliberate level changes, that's a big deal. It also means a single track's integrated reading doesn't tell you exactly what gain Tidal applies when that track plays as part of its album.
What to aim for
- Master the album as an album. Set the relative levels between songs by ear. Album normalization is designed to preserve them.
- Measure the whole album as well as the single. The album figure tells you the overall turn-down; the single's figure matters when it's played on its own, in a playlist or on another service.
- Keep true peak at or below −1 dBTP. Tidal offers lossless streams, but not every listener or device plays them, and your master is encoded for other services too.
Targets change
Tidal has changed its apps, tiers and playback options over the years. Whether album normalization applies, and in which contexts (album, playlist, shuffle), can change. The −14 LUFS figure here matches the Tidal target built into MixOutpost. Check Tidal's current guidance before a critical release.
Checking Tidal loudness with MixOutpost
MixOutpost meters on your iPhone from exactly what your Mac sends, while the session or the album plays.
- 01
Stream your master bus
Insert the MixOutpost plugin last on the master and press Start Sharing. For a sequenced album in another app, the Mac app can send all Mac audio instead. Pair your iPhone once with a QR code.
- 02
Open Loudness and pick Tidal
You'll see momentary, short-term and integrated LUFS, LRA, true peak and maxima. With Tidal selected, the app shows how many dB Tidal would turn the audio down.
- 03
Reset once, play the album
Integrated loudness keeps accumulating until you reset, so one pass through the album gives an album figure. Readings are taken before Listen as, Dim, Mute or phone volume.
Tidal compared with other services
| Service | Integrated | True peak |
|---|---|---|
| Spotify | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| Apple Music | −16 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| YouTube | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| Amazon Music | −14 LUFS | −2 dBTP |
| Tidal | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| Deezer | −15 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
See every target, including TV, film and podcasts, on the loudness targets page.
Questions
What LUFS does Tidal normalize to?
About −14 LUFS integrated, the same reference as Spotify and YouTube. That's the figure MixOutpost uses for Tidal. Louder masters are turned down by the difference.
What is album normalization?
Instead of setting each track to the reference on its own, the service applies one gain to the whole album, based on the album's overall loudness. A quiet intro stays quieter than the single, as the mastering engineer intended. Tidal has been known for using album normalization, but check its current behavior.
Does Tidal's lossless streaming mean I can ignore true peak?
No. Lossless playback doesn't add codec overshoot, but not every listener or device plays the lossless stream, and a master may be encoded elsewhere too. Keeping true peak at or below −1 dBTP covers those cases.
How do I check an album's loudness?
Reset MixOutpost's meter and play the album in order without resetting. The integrated reading then covers the whole album, which is closer to what album normalization measures than any single track.
Hear your mix on your phone
Free Mac plugin (AU, VST3) and iPhone app. Lossless, bit-exact and encrypted.