- Publisher: APU Software
- Product: Loudness Series
- Release: R2R
- Version: 4.1.6
In the age of streaming, the rules of loudness have changed. The old “louder is better” approach of the CD era now results in tracks that sound crushed, distorted, and lifeless on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. Today, it’s all about precision, dynamics, and hitting specific LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) targets. Navigating this new landscape can feel like trying to hit a moving target in the dark. How do you make your music loud and impactful without being penalized by streaming algorithms?
You need a new kind of toolkit—one built from the ground up for modern loudness standards.
Introducing the APU Loudness Series, a complete suite of professional audio plugins designed to give you absolute control over your dynamics and loudness. Developed by the passionate audio engineers at APU Software, this series provides everything you need to measure, control, and optimize your audio for any platform with unparalleled transparency and precision. It’s time to stop guessing and deliver masters that translate perfectly, every single time.
The APU Loudness Series: Your Complete Toolkit
This isn’t just one plugin; it’s a cohesive ecosystem of five specialized tools, each designed to handle a critical stage of the loudness management process.
1. APU Loudness Meter
The foundation of any professional workflow is accurate measurement. The APU Loudness Meter isn’t just a free tool; it’s one of the most comprehensive meters on the market.
- Measure Everything: Get simultaneous, real-time feedback on all critical loudness standards: Momentary, Short-Term, and Integrated LUFS, as well as True Peak and RMS.
- Visualize Your Dynamics: A beautiful, responsive interface with configurable history and histogram views shows you the complete story of your audio’s loudness over time.
- The Perfect Start: This indispensable tool is completely free, providing professional-grade metering to everyone, from bedroom producers to seasoned mastering engineers.
2. APU Loudness Compressor
This is not your average compressor. By using LUFS as its detection source, the APU Loudness Compressor achieves a level of transparency that is simply unattainable with traditional RMS or Peak designs.
- Perceptually Perfect Compression: Because it reacts to perceived loudness (LUFS), the compression is incredibly smooth and musical, making it ideal for mastering, mix bus processing, and post-production.
- Innovative “Source › Target” Mode: Simply define the dynamic range of your source and the desired target range. The plugin automatically handles both compression and expansion to get you there, taking the guesswork out of complex gain riding.
- Creative Flexibility: Switch to traditional RMS/Peak modes or use advanced weighting curves like ITU-R 468 to creatively tame harshness in cymbals or vocals.
3. APU Dynamics Optimizer
A revolutionary offline tool for ultimate precision. The Optimizer analyzes your entire audio file before processing, allowing it to create a meticulously optimized gain envelope that would be impossible to achieve in real-time.
- Target LUFS and Dynamic Range Perfectly: Dial in a precise Integrated LUFS value and a target Loudness Range (LRA). The Optimizer surgically adjusts your file’s dynamics to hit these targets with maximum transparency.
- Reshape Your Dynamic Contour: Go beyond simple compression. Choose between Uniform or Normal dynamic distributions to completely reshape the character of your audio’s dynamics, adding punch or ensuring consistency throughout a track.
4. APU Loudness Limiter
The final stage of your mastering chain, built for the demands of multi-platform delivery. This intelligent limiter allows you to conform to multiple loudness standards at once.
- Multi-Target Limiting: Set independent ceilings for LUFS and True Peak simultaneously. You can ensure your track hits its target loudness for streaming while guaranteeing it never clips, all in one elegant process.
- Transparent and Powerful: The limiter’s ballistics intelligently adapt to the active loudness targets, providing clean, powerful limiting that respects your audio’s integrity.
5. APU Loudness Contour
The newest addition to the series, this is a unique and powerful tool for both corrective and creative work, based on the science of equal-loudness contours.
- Mix with Confidence at Any Volume: By applying perceptual curves like ISO 226 or the classic Fletcher-Munson, you can compensate for how our ears perceive frequency differently at low volumes, helping you make better mixing decisions.
- Creative Sidechaining & Tonal Shaping: Use a loudness contour to shape the frequency response of a compressor’s sidechain, leading to more musical and transparent gain reduction on complex material.
Master for Streaming with Unshakable Confidence
The APU Loudness Series is more than a set of plugins; it’s a modern workflow designed to solve today’s biggest audio challenges.
Deliver Perfect Masters for Spotify, YouTube, and Beyond
Stop letting streaming services turn your music down. Use the Loudness Meter to diagnose your levels, the Compressor and Optimizer to control them transparently, and the Limiter to hit your final LUFS and True Peak targets with surgical precision.
Achieve Unmatched Transparency in Your Dynamics Processing
By basing its processing on how humans actually perceive loudness, the APU series offers a smoother, more musical approach to dynamic control. Tame a dynamic vocal or master a full mix without the artifacts and pumping associated with traditional processors.
A Professional Toolkit Within Reach
We believe powerful tools should be accessible. The Loudness Series begins with the 100% free APU Loudness Meter and expands into a suite of incredibly affordable, professional-grade processors. It’s an investment in your sound that pays for itself with the first master you deliver.
Take Control of Your Loudness Today
Stop fighting with your tools and start working with them. The APU Loudness Series provides the clarity, precision, and control you need to produce world-class audio that sounds incredible everywhere.