How Loud Should YouTube Videos Be? (And how to get your videos louder)

How loud should you make your KZbin videos? It's a simple step, but one that makes a huge difference. We'll cover how loud your videos should be, how to check any video on KZbin, and how to get your videos right every time using a limiter.
Watch more audio tutorials here! • Audio Tutorials
- Premiere Pro -
Once you've finished your mix, head over to the master track on the mixer. Add a compressor (optional), a limiter, and the "Loudness Radar" (from the "Special" category).
The Loudness Radar will give you a readout in LUFS (or LKFS). You can play back your video, and see what reading you get. Then adjust your limiter to compensate, just like I showed in the video!
- Final Cut Pro -
FCP doesn't have a conventional mixer, so this is the best way I've found to "master" you videos. If you have a better way, use that and let me know in the comments!
Once you've completed everything in your mix, select all of your audio clips and create a compound clip. This should preserve your mix, but create one clip you can add FX to.
Add a compressor (optional), a limiter, and the "MultiMeter" to that compound clip.
The MultiMeter gives you a few different readouts, but LUFS is one of them. You want to particularly pay attention to "LU-I", this is what KZbin will be using.
As in my video, adjust your limiter until your "LU-I" is as close to -14 as possible!
- My Gear -
My camera (newer version): amzn.to/3iDRTcC
Canon 50mm f1.8: amzn.to/2TsOkuV
Sigma 17-50mm f2.8: amzn.to/35hBGBY
My microphone: amzn.to/3cG5iwW
My headphones: amzn.to/3gjy5JH
My portable recorder: amzn.to/2TsOz9j
My voiceover mic: amzn.to/3vkunnA
My interface: amzn.to/2Smi9xn
- Timestamps -
00:00 - Why does loudness matter?
00:52 - How to measure loudness
01:26 - How loud can a KZbin video be?
01:52 - How to test any video on KZbin
02:56 - How to make your videos louder
Disclaimer: I'm not sponsored by any of these companies, but some of the links above are affiliate links. They won't cost you any extra, but I get a small commission if you use them.

[@RyanGreen]

Have your videos been too loud or too quiet?

[@Orthodoxuk]

Too quiet when compared to comparable videos with the same content.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

My most recent video has a content loudness of -2.7. This presumably explains why it's fine as a local file, but far too quiet on KZbin!

[@StrengthIsHere]

Too quiet

[@JPFXCM]

Too quiet. Wich is really annoying when you make music,

[@shashiekunthikumar7980]

I watched a few videos on lufs to understand how to set my volume and this was the most simple to the point and helpful video on the topic. keep up the great work

[@DigIntoGaming]

Just a friendly tip for computer users out there, if your video is ear bleedingly loud in your editing software then there is a good chance that you need to turn your playback audio device properties volume down. So for example my video was 12 decibles too quiet but for my headphones it was super loud, so what I did was adjust the audio of my video to the standard of around -14 db and then adjusted my headphones properties volume down to a comfortable level. For me I was at around 40 in the volume slider and now it is down to 28 and all the audio is now comfortable and I do not have to turn down youtube to 15% volume anymore. Sometimes you may want to turn up your playback audio device properties volume to where it is a little bit too loud or uncomfortable so that you can turn down the audio for a loud video, song or video game but when its a quiet video etc you can still turn the volume slider to 100% and it will be at a comfortable level. I hope this helps someone as I wish I knew this sooner!

[@TheFinalCutBro]

Droppin' straight fire! Loved this tutorial my dude!

[@RyanGreen]

Thanks man! Always appreciate you checking out my videos!

[@FAQTheMadness]

Great information. Was top on my list for the question I asked. Glad I clicked!

[@RyanGreen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@davidharveyvideo]

Thanks for the tips Ryan. I've always been told to hit a little higher for digital than broadcast for audio levels and it sounds like this may be true.

[@chusssMusic]

Thanks, very helpful.

[@LegendaryMaoMao20]

This is really helpful!!!👍✨✨ I've watched a couple of videos about music level distribution for different music sources and services, but now I'm trying to search for some help for KZbin videos, this really helped me a lot quickly, especially when I know about music production, thanks so much man!!! 👍✨✨

[@RyanGreen]

Allgood! Glad to hear that it helped!

[@gavinkaufmanworld]

Really helpful video - thanks so much 😁

[@Agent_Schrader]

The limiter thing is what I was missing with my audio, now I can edit my voice and make it louder without the fear of rupturing unsuspecting ear drums. Thanks a lot :D

[@RyanGreen]

Yep, they’re a helpful tool as long as we don’t abuse them haha

[@shorol-poth]

Liked and subbed. Good suggestions mate :)

[@MatthewBluefox]

I am streaming on -16 in OBS, but it's funny how every single video or stream I watch on KZbin and Twitch is only normally audible when I turn my speakers all the way up. When I'm in a game, I have to turn the speakers down to less than half again. This includes your video, Ryan, I had to turn my speakers up to full, just to have a normal loudness.

[@danielshaffer3454]

I had no idea about the stats for nerds. I come back to this video often just to remember what all the stats mean. Thank you so much.

[@RyanGreen]

No problem! Glad it's been helpful!

[@kaffeinekeiser9091]

Thanks!

[@RyanGreen]

Thank you! Glad the video was helpful!

[@ClintonWaller]

Great tips here.. I've often wondered how loud my video audio should be. Never knew about the "Stats for Nerds" popup menu! Thx for describing what + vs - dB actually means in that context. I made what I thought was a very loud video today, but apparently I'm at -5.3 dB which means I'm too quiet! That surprised me, but at least now I have a solid metric to tune towards. Thanks for sharing this great tutorial video, Ryan!

[@RyanGreen]

No problem, really glad it helped out! Yeah if you can get at least another 2 or 3 dB out of your videos you’ll be away! I don’t know how comfortable you are with compressors, but using them in combination with a limiter is the way to go if you can

[@ClintonWaller]

@@RyanGreen my deepest, darkest secret: i've been afraid of compressors and limiters.. looks like it's time for me to roll up my sleeves and learn!

[@RyanGreen]

@@ClintonWaller haha, they’re a little terrifying at first but worth the investment in time!

[@ClintonWaller]

@@RyanGreen i made another video today using Final Cut Pro where i'm talking as i walk through some gardens: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXuQl5ygjK6loZY used your advice, first i used the EQ to cut out some low end, and brighten up the high end. next i added limiter and multimeter and played around until i was close to -19 LU-I, with gain cranked to 10 (max). the compressor just made it sound like garbage so i left that out for this one. interesting thing is, this video does sound nice, but it's too loud for KZbin now, lol. stats for geeks says 100/68, 3.3 dB too hot. guess i'll need to keep playing with this, but thx again for your helpful tips on how to make my voice sound richer with less low end noise from my mic, and how to make the video loud enough that KZbin finally resorted to normalizing it for me -- i think it's progress!

[@RyanGreen]

Nice work! Dialogue is sounding good! That's weird on the loudness though! I've never experienced KZbin giving a different reading from my editor. Did you by any chance have the order around the wrong way, the Multimeter and then the limiter? The order matters, because if you have the multimeter first it's giving you a reading before the limiter, which would be different from your final mix.

[@grahameosheadrums]

Fantastic video! Very helpful. When making videos I would adjust the master volume as high as possible before going red (thinking any louder is too loud) but when uploading they seem quiet. Wish I watched this first haha!

[@Matt-ji2sy]

Great content! I'll be sure to thank Dylan Bates! Question though, in FCPX, are you adjusting audio in individual video clips using the "Volume" control in the inspector? I was doing that, but I found it getting really time consuming, due to lots of really noisy audio (wind noise, traffic noise, or me banging metal objects around). I was told I should be using a compressor and/limiter on each individual clip, instead of the Volume control, since the Volume control is something that is applied AFTER all the other audio effects, like compressors and limiters. After a bit of a learning curve, I might be getting a little better sound, especially the huge spikes from banging metal objects around (automotive video content), but it's still taking A LOT of time? Any suggestions for correcting this type of audio before a master compressor or limiter is used? Thanks for any thoughts you have!

[@BunnyMuffins]

Should we adjust our recording volume so we don't have to do it during editing? Would that be a simple as turning mic gain up? If so, how do we avoid clipping

[@mrr5835]

A slight insight I have on this. The human voice is very inconsistent. Day to day, hour to hour. It's hard to record everything, especially edits, to the same volume. If you COULD do this it will be ideal but almost impossible. Just some thoughts.😊🎉

[@RyanGreen]

You'll definitely want to be recording a bit more quietly, and turning it up in editing. As you noted you'd likely end up clipping if you were recording loud enough to go straight out on KZbin. If you're thinking of a streaming setup or something similar, you'd most want to process the audio in the streaming software, to get it loud enough

[@TheRealNewBlackMusic]

Yes but what difference does it make if youtube will not let you go back and adjust the audio of your old videos. some older louder videos now sound awful with youtube automatic gain control. they put in these new rules then don't allow you to conform your old videos. it's so ridiculous ad frustrating. 😖

[@lancechapman7492]

Great tip about "stats for nerds." Thanks :)

[@Orthodoxuk]

Well. I did exactly what you said and still my videos are lower than the pro ones, The stats say 46%/46% -1.8db and no matter what I di, they will not go to 100% when either louder or softer?

[@GameOfMicrophones]

Is there a max dB that your videos should hit for YT?

[@TheOneMoreSongCast]

What does it mean when it says 100%/ DRC

[@raworshipkeys]

Hi. Thanks for this. But I have a wave LA 2A compressor. How should I set it? What is the proper setting if il use it for da vinci resolve?

[@RyanGreen]

I’d put it straight on your voice track, and turn up the gain reduction dial until you’re getting 3-4dB of reduction. That’s a good starting place, if you want heavier compression then you can go up closer to 7dB, you’ll definitely be hearing it then! Then I’d just reduce the gain until the volume is roughly equivalent to before you applied the compressor. Then you can turn it on and off to hear the difference it’s actually making

[@B3D5X]

-12dB has been standard in broadcast for decades and should be stuck to. There's nothing worse than having perfect dialog bits with ear splitting music.

[@przemekkulesza3242]

Good but where can I find Master Track?

[@MistrBlistr]

How do you do this with Filmora?

[@jackiesoto906]

It would be great if someone did a vid on how to adjust KZbin volume on old androids. Most vids r on laptops. Totally different format so useless to me.

[@llpreiss]

Thanks, Ryan, but I'm somewhat confused. As others mentioned, I have listened to YT videos describing how to adjust LUFS for YT's target. I just now went looking for others on YT to see how they were doing. Almost without exception, they all came in as 55%/55%. In fact, your video here was listed as: "Volume / Normalized 55% / DRC (content loudness -0.9dB)". One of mine that I know met YT's target using Davinci Resolve LUFS monitoring came in as: " Volume / Normalized 55% / 55% (content loudness -7.1dB)". So, my question is, what am I missing, or has YT changed its algorithm? BTW, I noticed several videos, like yours, had the "Normalized" as "DRC". Again, thanks for putting this out there and can you help me? Les.

[@RyanGreen]

Ah this is a helpful question! I wish I'd clarified it. That percentage will go down if you lower the volume in the KZbin player, do you have your volume at around half? If so, turn it up to full and you should see 100%/100% Since both of our videos are reading 55%/55% that means that KZbin isn't turning them down at all. Mine should sound a bit louder than the one you're describing? Basically you could afford to go 7dB louder on your video before KZbin turn it down. If I went 1dB louder then KZbin would turn it down

[@llpreiss]

@@RyanGreen Spot-on!!! Yes, it reflects my system audio "on my end". Interesting, it must be the -7.1db that I should be looking at. Hmmmm, not very helpful information from YT. I'll still use the LUFS in Resolve to shoot for in YT audio levels. Again, thanks Ryan.

[@RyanGreen]

@llpreiss glad that’s making sense!

[@GameOfMicrophones]

Haha Spinal Tap rules! "What's wrong with being sexy?!"

[@notmyfirstnamenotmysecondn2219]

My Video was -26db too quiet... Thank you very much!

[@RyanGreen]

Good catch! You’re welcome :)

[@karenserafin4744]

this might have been useful, but I couldn't hear a word.

[@J31259]

Nice joke lol

[@theAAAgamertheframe]

I feel like my videos were quieter before I uploaded them once they were uploaded I became loud unless it's because the processing is not complete

[@RyanGreen]

As in when you listen to the local file on your own device it’s quiet, but then it’s louder on KZbin?

[@theAAAgamertheframe]

@@RyanGreen yes

[@RyanGreen]

As far as I can find out, KZbin still don’t turn up quiet videos. They’re just turning down loud ones. My best guess would be that the volume is being turned down somewhere in your computer software, maybe whatever media player you’re using has a volume output control?

[@theAAAgamertheframe]

@@RyanGreen thank you for your response do you think it has anything to do with the video still in processing on KZbin in which case if you were to watch it in the lower resolutions while it's being processed wood sound have anything to do with that so basically what you're saying is if I'm too loud KZbin will automatically turn me down but if they haven't turned me down yet because it's still being processed

[@RyanGreen]

@theAAAgamertheframe that’s an interesting question, KZbin say that the audio quality isn’t directly tied to the video resolution selected, but I don’t know how that applies to the processing phase. Either way, I wouldn’t expect a large volume difference

[@Outcastic]

I was looking at my videos, most my videos are like -8db, but then my oldest videos are actually like 0.9db. But they sound the exact same, the only reason I think the old videos have a better score would be occasional earrape or something.

[@Bran.man24]

Why do my videos sound ok on computer and phones but sounds so bad on a TV. The audio quality on a TV is so bad and its very very low...

[@ChrisCaaa]

Find a KZbinr you watch that you think sounds good on your TV, then take their Tabmix.

[@Bran.man24]

@@ChrisCaaa Tabmix? Do I get that through stats for nerds

[@ChrisCaaa]

@@Bran.man24 No I just mean like have the tab open of the KZbin video, then go backwards and forwards between your audio until the levels and bass balance is exactly the same. Then you know when you upload it to KZbin there's no chance your audio will be turned down.

[@Bran.man24]

@@ChrisCaaa thanks

[@ChrisCaaa]

@@Bran.man24 I know it sounds kinda unscientific but trust me, if you match your audio level to an existing KZbin video, it just works.

[@soerensanimetalk]

Bruh I got -0,00db on content loudness

[@Armis71]

What does 32% / 32% mean ?

[@RyanGreen]

I'm thinking it probably means you have the volume setting in the KZbin player turned down to 32%, is that right? If you turn it up to full it should say 100%/100%

[@Armis71]

@RyanGreen You're right. I found out mins later after posting but didn't follow up. Thx.

[@KnewTheology]

-33

[@MomentMal_]

How ironic that the volume of the background music is way too high in this video.

[@RyanGreen]

Yeah you’re not wrong lol

[@mentalbreak]

damn so i just need to pump the volume before i upload every video

[@SigmaSowers]

Way to complicated. I tried but its giving me a headache trying to understand

[@LarryTouchet]

Has no sounds

[@RyanGreen]

What are you meaning sorry?

[@bluetooth4916]

Man I really need help.. I really wish I understood what this guy is say

[@johnlaman4873]

I can't hear him!!!!!

[@captivesojourner]

yours is too LOUD