If you have done a bit of audio editing in Premiere Pro (or other video/audio editing software) and I mean if you have done a bit more audio editing, beyond the basics, you may have across something called LUFS. So what is that?

LUFS stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. It is a synonym to LKFS (Loudness, K-weighted, relative to full scale). It descibes loudness level differences.

In October 2015, it was recommended to switch from using LKFS to using LUFS, as LKFS doesn’t comply with scientific naming conventions and ISO standards. I got you lost already, haven’t I? 😉

Don’t worry. Let’s talk about LUFS standards now that you know what LUFS are.

Standard levels of LUFS:

• -24 LUFS – standard for US broadcast
• -23 LUFS – standard for EU broadcast
• -16 LUFS – standard for stereo online (before Spotify/Amazon)
• -14 LUFS – standard for stereo online for Spotify/Amazon