In the recent years, one of the most frequently asked questions from artists, labels and managers has been the playback levels in the various streaming services. As this has been a somewhat moving target since the beginning, it's hard to give an exact answer what the future will bring in terms of a common ground, but I'll try to shed some light on the current state on the most popular platform; Spotify and my overall philosophy about loudness.

When Spotify introduced their "Replay Volume Normalisation" in 2009, they put it at -12 LUFS. In 2017 they chose to change it to -14 LUFS (now 2 LUFS louder than the AES recommended -16 LUFS/-1dBTP) In 2018 Spotify introduced a new Volume Level feature that enables the listener to set the playback level based on their surroundings. Quiet - Normal - Loud. In addition to Off, that gives the listener the option of 4 different playback levels. Spotify determine the loudness level of the track as ReplayGain and is not a LUFS measurement, but measurements of a selection of tracks shows that the Quiet level is now approximately -22LUFS, Normal -14 LUFS and Loud -11 LUFS. To bring up the level of quiet masters (-12 LUFS and down), Spotify currently use a built in limiter.

My approach has always been to try to find the sweet spot for the level and amount of dynamics for any given track and aim for perceived dynamics and energy rather than measurements. I do try to keep up with the current playback levels of the different streaming platforms, but since it's a constantly moving target, I try to focus on making the track sound as good as possible within a dynamic range that's optimal for their target audience.

Photo by littlehenrabi/iStock / Getty Images

During the last decade, there has been a rebirth of vinyl for almost all genres. An increasing amount of artists choose vinyl as their physical product and skip the CD entirely. While the production of CDs is hard to mess up (sound wise), vinyl is a much more fragile process. After sending hundreds of albums to cutting, I've come up with a couple of guidelines that will hopefully help you avoid too many headaches along the way.

1. Find a proper factory or broker. If you go with a broker, use one with close connection to the cutting studio and factory.
Certain brokers have adapted to the high demand by resorting to solutions that prioritize quantity over quality. I’ll try to keep my current suggested “quality focused” plant updated at the bottom of this page.

2. Be sure to keep the length pr. side below 20 minutes if you want to maintain a full sound for 33RPM. For even better resolution, I suggest going 45 RPM and keep it below 14 minutes.
Go above 20-22 minutes will give you less space for the grooves resulting in heavier filtering and the added risk of distortion.

3. Either send the master files from mastering directly to the cutting engineer or supply them with the mastering engineer's contact info so they know who to contact if they run into any problems.
Also triple double check that the master WAV files are correctly labeled for side A and B and that the accompanying TOC and checksums are there.

3. For most genres, I highly recommend lacquer cutting. Even though DMM results in a lower noise floor and less chance of error by skipping the metal plating process, it does not sound the same as a beautifully cut lacquer.

4. 180 gram vinyl doesn't sound better (the grooves are being pressed by the exact same stamper), but it will make the record less prone to being bent out of shape/warp.

5. Always get a test pressing and check it on a playback system you know so you can pick up any errors. First and foremost - check that it's your record (yes, it has happened that someone in the chain has mixed up masters and productions) and that side A and B is correct. The side designation should be engraved in the dead wax (area between last track and label). Next; sound: Often slight distortion on the loud parts and surface noise on the quiet parts is unavoidable, but excessive distortion, noise, groove echo or ugly sibilance distortion can and should be avoided. Mechanical faults from the metal plating or production of the stampers resulting in clicks and pops should also be picked up during the QC process by checking multiple test pressing. If you don’t have a proper setup yourself, contact your mastering engineer and ask if she/he provides the service of QC of test pressings.

Some final words: A great sounding vinyl is dependent on a great sounding recording, mix and master. Vinyl is not a magic format making everything automatically sound amazing, but when it’s done right, it sure sounds great! Before Doug Sax passed away, I was lucky to discuss the vinyl cutting process in detail with him as well as getting a selection of records cut by him and Eric Boulanger at The Mastering Lab. It was an amazing eye/ear opener how much better it sounded than what I was used to and how that helped shape the masters I now deliver to cutting.

My recommended plant as of 2024:

T-Time Vinyl Plant.
Website
Contact: sigve@t-timevinylplant.com