Feel & analysis
Loudness
Loudness is a track’s average level in decibels below full scale, so every value is negative and closer to zero is louder. It decides how far you move the gain, not how hard the record hits.
Measured in our catalog
Eight tracks in ten sit between -13.32 dB and -8.45 dB — a band 4.9 dB wide around a median of -10.68 — while the catalog as a whole runs from -85.23 to -2.80.
That five-decibel band is the useful number: it is how much gain correction the middle of the catalog asks for. The tails are a different matter. 27,674 tracks — 6.2% — are mastered hotter than −8 dB, and the quietest reading in the catalog is -85.23 dB, which is not a quiet record but a near-silent file. Read the range before trusting any single track’s number.
-10.68 dB
Catalog median
4.9 dB
Middle 80% span
27,674
Louder than −8 dB
443,242
Analysed tracks
Measured on 11 August 2026 across public tracks carrying an analysed loudness value, in dBFS.
Why it matters
Loudness and energy are different things and the mixer only knows about one of them. A quiet, tense record can carry more weight on a floor than a loud, flat one, and gain-matching them still requires moving one channel several decibels — that is a level correction, not an energy decision.
It is the difference between a mix that arrives and one that lands as a jump in volume. Two records at the same perceived intensity can be mastered several decibels apart, and the gain knob is what closes that gap before the crossfader does anything.
Frequently asked
Is a louder track a higher-energy track?+
No. Loudness is a mastering decision and energy is a property of the arrangement. A restrained record mastered hot reads loud and still empties a floor.
How loud should a DJ track be?+
Most of the catalog sits between -13.32 dB and -8.45 dB, so anything in that band will gain-match against the records around it without much correction.
Why do some tracks jump in volume when mixed?+
Because their masters differ by more than their intensity does. 27,674 tracks in the catalog are mastered hotter than −8 dB, and dropping one of those against a −13 dB record is a five-decibel jump the crossfader cannot fix.
Related terms
Energy
Energy is a 0–100 reading of how hard a track hits, taken from loudness, spectral drive and percussive weight. It is the dimension that decides where in a set a track belongs rather than what it mixes with.
Texture
Texture is the tone of a track rather than its rhythm — how bright, how warm, how bass-heavy, how percussive. Two tracks can agree on key and tempo and still clash on texture.
Chemistry
Chemistry is Mixgraph’s score for how well two tracks mix, from six weighted dimensions: harmonic key, tempo, energy, groove, mood and vocals. It rates the pair, not either track on its own.
Explore: Energy arc tool · How the analysis works · Browse the catalog · All DJ terms