Company: Signum Audio
Product: Bute Loudness Analyser
Price: Stereo - £69 Surround - £89
Our Rating: 4.9/5
Every sound professional understands the role of audio in a project, but how it's mixed is crucial. The execution of loudness standards play an important role in the success of a project no matter who you are delivering it to. In order to maintain a dynamic mix that meets industry standards, Scotland-based Signum Audio have developed tools such as the Bute Loudness Analyser and Bute Loudness Normaliser to ensure compliance for streaming and broadcasting standards. The plugins are available separately or in a bundle called Bute Loudness Suite.
Making it Easy
One obvious advantage to this plugin is it's excellent price point. For less than £100 it includes loudness standards for YouTube, TIDAL and others from across the globe, including your traditional EBUR128 / EBUR128s1. The interface provides an overview of the loudness graph of your session. Best of all, it uses an automatic re-metering after adjusting small sections of your mix, down to the sample accurate level. You can even set alerts for particular audio events such as true peak levels, or thresholds of short term loudness. Personal Preference
While easy to navigate, the Bute Loudness Analyser might be intimidating for newcomers to loudness compliance, as it has quite a comprehensive feature set. However, the ability to use presets for different specifications is excellent, and the following plugin in the bundle helps account for the more novice user.
Company: Signum Audio
Product: Loudness Normaliser
Price: Stereo - £99 Surround - £149
Our Rating: 4.9/5
Raising the Bar
The Loudness Normaliser Includes a wide range of specifications, a very welcome addition being the Netflix compliance specification. It allows for automatic processing of your laybacks to adhere to the chosen standard. In addition, a simple to use, and very well designed interface will have you rendering compliant audio files in no time! The Normaliser comes as an Audiosuite plugin and a standalone software. Both plugins include metering in formats up to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2.
No Quick Fix
Loudness normalisation is never a substitute for meeting compliance at the mixing stage, but it is a great way to give you piece of mind, and to double check your mixes when delivering to a new spec. You should always measure your mix with two loudness meters or audiosuite plugins as readings can vary. Pro Tools Ultimate comes bundled with Pro Limiter Loudness Analyser which can act as your second option.
The Bottom Line
These two plugins provide a much more comprehensive loudness compliance solution than you will find in others at this price point. The ability to customise your workflow and interface is second to none and the price tag is the icing on the cake for today’s post production professionals. There is also a Bute Limiter coming in February as part of the Suite. This is a must buy for 2019.
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