Here is an old thread in de MC23 section about Volume Leveling:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,113606.0.htmlThe OP there noticed that tracks with a negative Volume Level (R128) are louder than tracks with a positive value.
Looking back, I think that the answers he got there are not correct:
As confirmed in this (another) thread:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=103933.0the formula for calculating the Volume Level (R128) is:
[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.