3. Master Panel
A complete studio-grade mastering console — monitoring, metering, reference, export.
The Expanded Master Console is Omni's full-sized mastering desk, launched via the expand button on the standard narrow Master strip (≈ 80 px). Once expanded, the panel takes over the entire right side of the window — the Return Bus and Browser zones are temporarily hidden, their previous state remembered and auto-restored when collapsed. The Return buses don't disappear, however — they appear side-by-side with session channels and the Master channel in the internal strip row.
The panel is designed so that every critical piece of mastering information is visible simultaneously: LUFS, True Peak, phase correlation, headroom, LRA, spectrum, loudness history, goniometer, and oscilloscope — all in one place, with no tab switching. Measurements are sample-accurate, updated engine-side in real time, and published to the UI via wait-free atomic channels.
Panel Structure (top to bottom)
1. Top Meter Bridge (≈ 56 px)
A dense horizontal strip featuring all critical meters — LUFS, True Peak, correlation, latched clip LEDs, loudness target tile, K-System scale, and a collapse button.
2. Master Tools (≈ 200 px)
Three equal-height cards: Spectrum Analyzer · LUFS Timeline · Stereo Field (goniometer + oscilloscope).
3. Console Strips (flexible)
A horizontally scrollable channel row: session tracks → Return buses → Master channel. Every channel has a full FX chain, fader, VU, and expanded mix options.
4. Control Deck (≈ 160 px)
Four control cards: Monitor · Loudness Target · Reference · Export.
Feature Details
1. Top Meter Bridge
LUFS — perceptual loudness (ITU-R BS.1770-4)
LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) is a normalized measure of loudness as perceived by the human ear. A simple peak-meter measures sample amplitude but says nothing about how loud a song sounds.
- M (Momentary) — 400 ms window. Reacts instantly to dynamic changes.
- S (Short-term) — 3 s window. More stable, used for monitoring song sections.
- I (Integrated) — The canonical song loudness value for streaming standard comparisons.
TP — True Peak (inter-sample peak)
The most treacherous trap in a digital mix. True Peak is the maximum signal level after analog reconstruction in the DAC — not the sample value itself, but the wave peak that occurs between samples. Measurement adheres to ITU-R BS.1770-4 (4× oversampling).
Phase Correlation (Pearson r)
A measure of phase alignment between L and R channels, calculated as a true Pearson coefficient.
- +1.0 — Perfectly mono signal. Safe.
- 0.0 — Completely decorrelated channels (wide stereo).
- −1.0 — Signal out of phase. Catastrophic — disappears in mono.
Target Tile / Delta & K-System
Displays the currently selected target loudness preset (e.g., Spotify −14 LUFS / −1 dBTP) and the Δ difference. The K-System scale (K-20, K-14, K-12) provides visualization per Bob Katz.
2. Master Tools — analytical tools
Spectrum Analyzer: High-res FFT spectrum analyzer, band markers, ISO 226:2003 curve overlay.
LUFS Timeline: Song loudness history (M, S, I) with window selection (10s, 60s, 5min). Also shows LRA (Loudness Range).
Stereo Field: Sample-accurate goniometer (M/S scatter plot) and oscilloscope with a 192 frame window and L-trigger.
3. Console Strips — channel strip
4. Control Deck
Monitor — listening modes
Post-metering transformations — meters always display the true mix.
- Stereo / Mono / L only / R only
- Mid / Side — isolation of the center or stereo information.
- DIM −20 dB / MUTE / Polarity Ø L / Ø R
Loudness Target & Reference
Supported targets: Spotify (−14), YouTube (−14), Apple Music (−16), Tidal (−14), Amazon (−14), EBU R128 (−23), Club (−9).
The reference track lets you load a commercial file with automatic Loudness match (LUFS alignment) for objective A/B comparison featuring a 5 ms crossfade.
Export
Fast export (WAV 16/24/32-bit Float, FLAC). Resampling via rubato. Dither: TPDF, Pow-r 1/2/3 for CD masters. 'Normalize to target' automatically measures LUFS and scales the bounce to the selected target (e.g., Spotify).
Mastering Workflow in Omni
- Load a reference (Control Deck → Reference). Enable Loudness match.
- Select a target (e.g., Spotify −14 LUFS). The Δ tile will show the shortfall.
- Compression / EQ / Saturation on the Master channel. Monitor the LUFS Timeline and Spectrum.
- Phase test — Monitor → Mono, check volume Δ. Monitor → Side, check stereo.
- Stereo check — The goniometer should spread symmetrically.
- A/B with reference — comparison without the "louder = better" illusion.
- Limiter — goal: I close to target, TP ≤ target_TP.
- Export — WAV 24-bit + TPDF or Pow-r 3 for a CD master.