I realize this is a very old thread about Volume Leveling, but the answers it contains appear to be wrong, so I am posting anyway.
As confirmed in the following thread:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=103933.0this is the formula for calculating the Volume Level (R128):
[Volume Level (R128)] = -23 - {R128 Average Loudness}
Example: if a track is 6 dB louder than the R128 target of -23, it has an R128 Average Loudness of -17. Therefore
[Volume Level (R128)] = -23 - (-17) = -23 + 17 = -6.
Hence the volume level of a track that is too loud is negative. Hence the OP was right that a track with VL -6 sounds louder than one with a VL of 6, and the answers that followed are confusing or simply wrong.
This is also confirmed by the fact that peak levels of tracks with negative VL are always higher than peak levels of tracks with negative VL.
Unless I have misundersood something of course, so please correct me if I am wrong.
P S Reposted in the MC28 section.