Audio meter vs Loudness meter

[Kintaro-kun]

Hi,

I can't find a clear answer to my problem, maybe I missed it.

I have 2 projects I've mixed inside Premiere Pro. Although my 2 edits have more or less the same level on the loudness meter, they show totally different peaks on the Audio meter. Around -8 dB for the first one, and around -4 dB for the second one.

Should I worry?

[R Neil Haugen]

They aren't the same thing.

"Loudness" uses an algorithmic process to determince probable apparent "loudness".

Audio meters show simply the physical signal strength. 

And yes at times they are notably different.

[Kintaro-kun]

Thank you for your answer.

I know, more or less, the difference between the Loudness meter ans the Audio meter.
But I stil can't figure out why my 2 projects have the same loudness but not the same peaks, and therefore one is louder than the other when I listen to them.
Because if I try to increase the volume or the dynamics on the less louder one, it will affect both the volume on the Audio meter and the loudness.

[R Neil Haugen]

Loudness is a what is the general level kind of thing, the perception of 'normal loudness". That is not necessarily saying anything about momentary, transient spikes. Spikes are not really a major thing for a "loudness" meter.

[Kintaro-kun]

Well... The spikes are not really momentary as this is more or less the area where the voice of my subject is. The meter oscilates around -8 dB for one edit and -4 dB for the other one.
My main concern is if I should worry?

And I stil don't understand how they both have the same loudness and not the same levels on the Audio meter.
I'm talking about short edits, less than 1 minute, with only music and an interview. I mean, there's no huge peak, everything is around the same level on the Audio meter.

[R Neil Haugen]

This is confusing for most of us, no question on that. But again, loudness is an overall averaged thing, in a rather complicated bit of math. 

For those delivering for broadcast work, they have to both make sure there are absolutely no peaks above X dB, depending on the local or national laws and regulations. AND they have to comply with a separate loudness setting, again to comply with local practices.

But they are separate things to check.

Maybe @PaulMurphy can pop in. He's quite an audio wiz.

[PaulMurphy · Accepted solution]

If there's a difference between peak levels and loudness units (LU) between two edits, it simply means one has more dynamic range and likely less compression.

LU is based on perceived loudness over time. Because human hearing perceives some frequencies as louder than others, LUFS doesn’t just average levels—it weighs them based on how we hear. This makes it normal to see similar LU readings with different peak levels.

It’s also important to understand that visually seeing meters “hovering” around a certain range doesn’t equal the actual average loudness. For example, two recordings might both peak between -9 and -12 dBFS, but if one spends more time closer to -12, it will result in a lower LUFS value, even though the range appears similar

[Kintaro-kun]

Thank you!