Normalize Audio for YouTube
YouTube targets -14 LUFS. Here's how to make sure your audio hits that mark before you upload.
How YouTube Handles Loudness
YouTube measures the loudness of every uploaded video and turns down anything louder than -14 LUFS. But it does not boost quiet content — if your audio is at -20 LUFS, it stays at -20 LUFS and sounds noticeably quieter than other videos. This means: • If your audio is too loud → YouTube turns it down (and can squash your dynamics) • If your audio is too quiet → it stays quiet and sounds weak next to other videos • If your audio is at -14 LUFS → it plays exactly as intended
How to Normalize for YouTube
1. Export your video's audio track (or use the audio file before muxing) 2. Open cut.audio's Volume Normalizer 3. Drop the audio file 4. Select -14 LUFS (the YouTube target) 5. Normalize and download 6. Replace the audio in your video editor and export the final video If you're working with a final video file, you can also extract just the audio, normalize it, and remux.
What About Music vs. Speech?
Music and speech behave differently at the same LUFS level. Music at -14 LUFS sounds natural. Speech at -14 LUFS can sound a bit hot — some YouTubers prefer -16 LUFS for talking-head content. For mixed content (speech + background music + sound effects), normalize the final mix to -14 LUFS. The music and speech should already be balanced relative to each other in your editor.
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Open Volume NormalizerFrequently Asked Questions
Yes. The normalizer shows you the measured LUFS of your file as soon as it processes. You can see whether you need to normalize at all.
YouTube Shorts follow the same loudness normalization as regular videos. -14 LUFS is the target for both.