New Wave · 1980s

New Wave loudness in the 1980s

-16.9 Median integrated LUFS
-23.8 to -12.8 Range
161 Tracks

Loudness distribution

-24 to -23 LUFS: 1 track-23 to -22 LUFS: 2 tracks-22 to -21 LUFS: 2 tracks-21 to -20 LUFS: 7 tracks-20 to -19 LUFS: 12 tracks-19 to -18 LUFS: 15 tracks-18 to -17 LUFS: 38 tracks-17 to -16 LUFS: 32 tracks-16 to -15 LUFS: 23 tracks-15 to -14 LUFS: 19 tracks-14 to -13 LUFS: 9 tracks-13 to -12 LUFS: 1 track -24 LUFS -18 LUFS -12 LUFS

Dynamic range distribution

14 to 15 DR: 3 tracks15 to 16 DR: 9 tracks16 to 17 DR: 36 tracks17 to 18 DR: 50 tracks18 to 19 DR: 24 tracks19 to 20 DR: 26 tracks20 to 21 DR: 8 tracks21 to 22 DR: 5 tracks 14 DR 18 DR 22 DR

Loudest and quietest

Loudest: The Sun and the Rainfall
Depeche Mode
-12.8 LUFS
Quietest: Everything Counts (Reprise)
Depeche Mode
-23.8 LUFS

Most-represented engineers

Tim Young
n=14 · median -18.2 LUFS

Other decades

New Wave in the 1990s →

This database is hand-curated and not exhaustive — treat this cohort as a sample of 161 measured tracks, not a survey of every New Wave release from the 1980s.