# LUFS for SoundCloud > SoundCloud normalises playback, but not the way Spotify does. The target that works, what happens to your file on upload, and the one setting that changes the answer. [All guides](/blog) # LUFS for SoundCloud Published 21 August 2026, 15:00 UTC · updated 12 August 2026, 21:30 UTC · by Loopin SoundCloud applies loudness normalisation on playback, which means the loudest upload no longer wins. Here is the target that survives it and what the encoder does on the way in. ## The target: −9 to −14 LUFS SoundCloud normalises playback to roughly −14 LUFS integrated, in line with the other streaming services. Mastering louder than that does not make you louder in a listener's feed; it makes you quieter relative to your own dynamics after the platform turns you down. Pick a figure inside −9 to −14 by genre — electronic and hip-hop at the loud end, acoustic and ambient at the quiet end. [Mastering the track](/mastering) at a chosen target rather than at maximum is the entire decision here. ## Upload a WAV, not an MP3 SoundCloud transcodes everything it receives. Handing it an MP3 means it re-encodes an already-lossy file, and the artefacts of the first encode get baked into the second — most audibly on cymbals, reverb tails and anything with a lot of high-frequency detail. Upload a 16 or 24-bit WAV at whatever sample rate you mixed at. It is a bigger file and it costs you nothing else; the transcode happens either way and you may as well give it a clean source. ## Ceiling at −1 dBTP, because the stream is lossy Whatever you upload is delivered as a lossy stream, and lossy encoding does not preserve peaks exactly. A file sitting at 0 dBFS routinely comes back from the encoder above full scale and clips on playback, on devices you will never test on. One decibel of headroom prevents it and costs nothing perceptually, because the playback level is being set by normalisation anyway. This is the same reason [true peak matters more than sample peak](/blog/what-is-dbtp) everywhere else. ## The setting that changes the answer SoundCloud listeners can be on the web player, the mobile app, or embedded players on other sites, and normalisation is not applied identically everywhere — embeds in particular have historically been less consistent. Do not master around the exception. Build the record for the normalised case, which is where the overwhelming majority of plays happen, and accept that an embed on someone's blog may sit a little differently. The alternative is compromising every play to optimise a minority. ## Check it after upload, not before Play the uploaded version back on a phone and compare it against two tracks in your genre already on the platform, at the same volume. That comparison tells you more than any meter, because it includes the transcode you cannot hear on your own file. If yours sounds smaller at matched level, the problem is almost never loudness — it is usually low-mid balance or a mix that was already limited before mastering. [Re-master from the unlimited mix](/mastering) rather than pushing the finished file harder. ## Frequently asked questions ### What LUFS should I use for SoundCloud? Between -9 and -14 LUFS integrated, chosen by genre. SoundCloud normalises playback to around -14, so mastering louder simply gets turned down while the extra limiting damage stays. ### Should I upload WAV or MP3 to SoundCloud? WAV. SoundCloud transcodes everything it receives, so an MP3 upload is a lossy file being re-encoded, and the first encode's artefacts get baked in — most audibly on cymbals and reverb tails. ### What true peak should I use for SoundCloud? -1 dBTP. The stream is lossy, and lossy encoding can push peaks above where your file measured. That headroom costs nothing because normalisation sets the playback level anyway. ## Related reads - [Master your track free](/mastering) - [LUFS for Apple Music](/blog/lufs-for-apple-music) - [What is loudness normalization?](/blog/what-is-loudness-normalization) --- Source: https://onloopin.com/blog/lufs-for-soundcloud