Loudness is what we perceive/experience as humans - amplitude is a physical (or digital) dimension to the waveform. This is a quicker workflow if we need to very quickly analyse a new genre or artist. iZotope Tonal Balance allows you to create target EQ ranges by importing a folder of ‘perfect’ tracks you want to aim at. We use iZotope Ozone 5 because you can save and import EQ snapshots (the tonal balance measurements) - somewhat strangely they removed the ability to save snapshots in the more recent versions of Ozone. There’s a bit of nuance and experience in determining where in a genre’s ‘acceptable tonal balance range’ is best (is it better to err on the side of brighter or darker, does it need to be perfectly flat or just nearly flat, etc.), but you can get 95% of the way there very quickly and easily - simply, analyse and measure. Measuring is easy and takes all the guesswork out of it. You can use tools like iZotope Ozone and iZotope Tonal Balance (other software exists) to measure the EQ/tonal balance of successful tracks in your genre, to determine the perfect balance, and then adjust your track accordingly. With the right tools, and some time, 2) is pretty easy.

Luckily, solving 2) achieves 1), as genres trend towards what works best in the highest number of relevant playback situations. The need for 2) is simple - it will sound jarring and incorrect if your track is balanced differently to most other tracks in that genre.

There’s no perfect balance of frequencies (called ‘tonal balance’) that sounds perfect everywhere - it will always be a compromise. Or maybe you mixed the track with headphones, and then realised it sounds too bright and harsh in the club. You’ll have seen the need for 1) after creating a track in the studio, and then listening in the car - maybe it was perfect in the studio, but sounds too bass heavy in the car. Mastering EQ does two things: 1) it balances the frequencies such that the track sounds as good as possible on as many speakers as possible, and 2) it balances the frequencies such that the track sounds similar to other tracks in that genre.

Izotope insight makes track louder