Podcast loudness and mastering
Listeners should never reach for the volume knob between shows. Mastering sets the final loudness and tone, and it is part of every package at this podcast mastering studio.
The common targets
Most platforms recommend around minus 16 LUFS for stereo and minus 19 LUFS for mono, with true peaks below minus 1 dB. Hitting these numbers avoids automatic volume changes by the apps.
What mastering involves
Gentle equalization, compression and limiting are applied to the full mix. The aim is consistent speech that stays clear on earbuds, car speakers and laptops.
Checking your file
Measure integrated loudness over the whole episode, not just a loud section. If you speed up playback when reviewing, the playback speed calculator shows how long a listen will take.