Melda MLoudness Analyzer

In audio mastering, the possibility to accurately check the output level is crucial. Having a good meter allows to verify the following aspects:

• Loudness of the initial mix. Loudness is definable as the perceived output level
• Loudness of the final master. This check is crucial in the mastering stage. The loudness of the final master should be expressed in LUFS. The tracks that compose an album should be set around the same loudness level. The higher is the loudness, the higher will be the dynamic compression of the track
• Loudness before the analog chain. If the mastering engineer uses an analog chain, it is important to check which is the output level of the signal sent to the analog chain. This level will depend on the artistic intentions of the mastering engineer and on the analog gear in use. The higher will be the input level of the signal feeding the analog chain, the higher will be the analog saturation that will occur
• Level of the peaks of the final master. This check is very important, to ensure that there are no digital "overs". In theory, the digital signal should never reach the maximum value of the digital scale (0 db), or there shouldn't be two or more consecutive samples placed at 0 db. This theoretical rule is often not respected when the tracks are mastered at very high loudness levels
• Level of the final inter sample peaks. This check allows to verify if there will be "overs" after the conversion from digital to analog. The meter, in this case, "simulates" which will be the analog signal after the DA conversion, and then indicates if overs above 0 db occur

As we can see, it's very important to have at disposal a very precise loudness meter in the mastering stage, to check all these variables. 

A very good, totally free meter, is Melda Mloudness.

This meter can measure with precision the following parameters:

• Peaks
• Inter sample peaks
• Momentary, short term an integrated loudness

It is really a wonderful meter, and it is very light on the CPU too! I suggest to use it along with many other free plugins which I have reviewed here.