AES Launches Audio Loudness Web Portal

The Audio Engineering Society launched a new AES Loudness Project website. Because consistent loudness should be a goal of audio engineers for digital content delivery, the new portal provides tutorials developed by the AES Technical Committee for Broadcast and Online Delivery (TCBOD) on audio loudness, with guidelines for content production and distribution consistent with AES Recommended Practices from its Technical Council, and Standards committees. Frantically fumbling for the volume control when changing television channels or having to adjust volume at song transitions when listening to music should have long become a thing of the past. Unfortunately, no matter how much research, recommendations, standards practice and regulation, it seems that loudness is a never ending topic for the audio industry. Even worse, there continues to be a misunderstanding about what loudness monitoring and management actually is and does.

The loudness framework that we all benefit today is due in no small part to the efforts of numerous members of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) in the development of standards and guidelines, and even in influencing and refining regulations by governments, to unify the best practices that have already improved the consumer listening experience dramatically. But those efforts need to continue and a lot of work is required, including to inform and educate not only those who work with audio but also those who are passioned for audio and apparently continue to ignore all the positive work already accomplished in this domain.

Many of the same AES members and individuals that originally contributed to the existing loudness recommendations and standards joined a working group of the AES Technical Council's Broadcast and Online Delivery (TCBOD) Committee to develop an informational web portal devoted to education on the fundamental concepts of audio loudness, its measurement and management. The AES Loudness Project website is now open to the world.
 
"This destination web portal was developed over the span of two years with content and input from many of the world’s leading experts in audio loudness," says David Bialik, chair of the TCBOD Loudness Website working group. "It builds from the basics in an easily accessible format to deliver the core knowledge that all audio engineers should possess about loudness in order to maintain consistency in perceived loudness across content and source changes."
 
At launch, the Loudness Project web portal has three components: illustrated text sections covering Loudness Basics and Loudness Normalization, and an extensive list of References and Resources, with additional content to follow.
 
"Audio loudness is an essential concept and loudness measurement an essential part of today’s media production and distribution," says Bialik. "For audio engineers from students to seasoned veterans, this website is a resource for learning about loudness as we work together for the common goal of delivering the artistic intent of content creators and a predictable, consistently satisfying listener experience."
 
The AES Loudness Project is now online here.
www.aes.org