Match Clip Loudness VS Match Loudness

[mrgrey]

Hi there,

I'm trying to edit my voiceovers in the multitrack view, but the problem is before I get a mixdown of my track I can't get to know how load my track is. So I have to use "match clip loudness" to make sure that my track will not cause distortion after effects in the effect racks and other audio level changes are applied. But the thing is when I use "match clip loudness" and then get a mixdown of my track and send it to "match loudness" window, the results are not the same! For instance, if I set the match clip volume to -16 db and send the mixdown to "match loudness" window, it's not showing the same number in that window. Why is it like that?

And one more important question, My understating is that "match clip loudness" should have the final say above all the other effects, am I wrong?

I'd really appreciate it if you could shed some light on this.

Thanks a lot

[ryclark · Accepted solution]

mrgrey  wrote

but the problem is before I get a mixdown of my track I can't get to know how load my track is.

That's why Audition and all other similar software have meters. The main meter display shows you the overall level of your mix whilst you are playing the track including all effects and adjustments that you have made. If the meters read too high just adjust the Multitrack Master fader to bring the whole mix down to appropriate levels.

As far as I understand it Match Clip Loudness and the Match Loudness window have two completely different functions. Match Clip Loudness is meant to take all the selected clips and adjust them accordingly so that they all sound the same loudness. One is used as a reference and the others adjusted to match it. The Match Loudness window feature allows you to take various mixed/finalised audio files and compare to one of the broadcast/recording standards and make the files fit that standard suitable for broadcasting or streaming.

[mrgrey]

Thank you very much ryclark for your reply.

One is used as a reference and the others adjusted to match it.

Could you please explain how it is done? On the Match Clip Loudness dialogue box there are only three items (broadcast standard/ target loudness/ tolerance) which are the same items you find under Match Loudness window. I don't how we should use one clip as a reference. So you're saying that it doesn't make any sense to use Match Clip Loudness for only one clip? Is that right?

And I would also like to know why Match Clip Loudness doesn't override other gain effects? When you set Target Loudness, Shouldn't it adjust the final volume  accordingly? For example, applying Match Clip loudness with the same settings to two identical clips that only differ in amplitude will produce different results and this is confusing for me.

Thanks

[ryclark]

match Clip loudness is, I believe, really meant for when you are putting together a compilation of already mastered tracks from different sources, for instance if you have downloaded several music tracks and you want to make a compilation Cd from them. You want all the tracks to end up sounding the same loudness (not same level) so that you don't have to keep turning the playback volume up and down as each track plays. putting any effects onto the individual clips will be fighting with the Match Clip Loudness effect.

[mrgrey]

Many thanks for your answer, ryclark.

That's right, I tried Match Clip Loudness on two mastered tracks and it worked as expected. But I need to match the loudness of clips. Assume you need to rerecord part of a voiceover and you want to make sure the new clip sounds the same loudness as the main part. How can this be achieved?

Thanks a lot

[_durin_]

Match Clip Loudness analyzes each selected clip for it's current loudness level, then applies a Clip Gain adjustment to compensate so each individual clip will sound similarly loud relative to each other.  Clip Gain comes near the beginning of the processing chain, so any additional effects you apply will be happen post-fader by default.  You can switch this to pre-fader, applying effects before the rest of the processing chain, by clicking the toggle button in the Effects Rack or Effects Track Panel view.

Even without applying other effects, you might find your mixdown is around -3dB quieter than the Match Clip Loudness setting.  This is likely due to Pan Law (check out the wikipedia page for more details) which essentially dips any content in the center of a stereo field by 3dB.  Otherwise, if the same signal level was output through both speakers equally, it would sound much louder than if it were panned hard left or right.  You can change this for an existing session under the Properties panel under Mixing, or globally for new sessions under Preferences > Multitrack.