The term codec is an acronym for coder/decoder. Music streaming services such as Apple Music® and Spotify use codecs to reduce the data bandwidth required to stream audio to the consumer. Codecs affect audio quality, so it is important to be able to audition them in realtime in a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) in order to mitigate side effects caused by intersample clipping and bit depth reduction.
Rescue from this sorry situation is always at hand, however, thanks to NUGEN Audio’s award-winning MasterCheck Pro, perfectly positioned as an essential mix optimisation toolset for mixing and mastering for streaming services.
Watch GRAMMY® Award-winning mastering engineer Howie Weinberg wax lyrical
about mastering for the internet age with MasterCheck Pro:
Delving deeper, by way of brief background, NUGEN Audio joined a panel of experts, together with the AES (Audio Engineering Society), to write an engineering brief — AES Engineering Brief 373 (Measuring Micro-Dynamics — A First Step: Standardizing PSR, the Peak to Short-Term Loudness Ratio) — on PSR, pushing to encourage consistency and adoption amongst manufacturers and engineers, and harmonise usage. Usefully, Version 1.5 of MasterCheck Pro updates its PSR measurement in line with the resulting AES panel recommendations contained within that brief — available for download in the AES E-Library, where the following excerpt from its introduction makes for fascinating reading: “The ‘loudness war’ still rages, but with major digital streaming services switching to loudness normalization by default, its end is near. Since absolute loudness is no longer effective at making music ‘stand out,’ engineers are finding it much more effective to optimize micro-dynamics instead. The overall PLR (Peak to Loudness Ratio) of an audio track is widely recognized as a useful metric to assess the overall micro-dynamics of a section of audio and the likely results of normalization. However, short-term variations are also important, especially when judging the results of compression and limiting on audio quality, and these can be usefully assessed by a real-time property known as PSR (Peak to Short-Term Loudness Ratio). PSR is found to be straightforward and intuitive to use…”
Updating MasterCheck Pro to Version 1.5, NUGEN Audio are advancing this essential mix optimisation toolset for mixing and mastering in accordance with today's increasingly streaming serviced-society so that the likes of GRAMMY® Award-winning mix engineer Dave Pensado can continue to deliver music mixes safe in the knowledge that their work will work… wherever it is being streamed.
Straightforward and intuitive to use, Version 1.5 of MasterCheck Pro will be showcased by NUGEN Audio on booth #14005 at The 2018 NAMM Show, January 25-28 in Anaheim, California. Come check it out!
MasterCheck Pro is available to purchase as a 32- and 64-bit-supporting AAX-, AU-, VST-, and VST3-compatible plug-in for Mac (OS X 10.7 and above) and Windows (Vista and above) directly from NUGEN Audio for £126.00 GBP (ex. VAT)/$199.00 USD/€155.00 Euro (ex. VAT).
For more in-depth information, please visit the dedicated MasterCheck Pro webpage here: https://www.nugenaudio.com/mastercheckpro-playout-loudness-dynamics-codec-metering-aax-au-vst_60
NUGEN Audio creates innovative, intuitive professional audio tools for high-end music producers, post-production engineers, and broadcasters. Reflecting the real-world production experience of the design team, the company’s products make it easier to deliver better quality, save time, and reduce costs. NUGEN Audio’s tools for audio analysis, loudness metering, mixing/mastering, and tracking are used by the world’s top names in broadcast, music, and audio production. NUGEN Audio is pleased to support the goal of fairtrade and donates a minimum of 3% net profit to the Fairtrade Foundation’s work.
© 2018 NUGEN Audio Ltd
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