How to make audio louder
- Choose how much louder: Normalise is safest; +3 dB, +6 dB or +10 dB for more.
- For MP3 results, choose the quality.
- Choose your audio files or drop them on the box above, then download the louder versions.
How much is a decibel?
| Boost | What you’ll hear |
|---|---|
| +3 dB | Slightly louder |
| +6 dB | Clearly louder: the signal is twice as strong |
| +10 dB | About twice as loud to the ear |
Volume is measured on a logarithmic scale, so +10 dB sounds roughly twice as loud, not ten times.
Normalise or boost?
- Normalise when you want maximum volume with no change to the sound. It works well for recordings that are evenly quiet, such as a voice memo recorded from a distance.
- Boost when normalising isn’t enough because of a few loud moments. The limiter keeps those moments under control while everything else gets louder.
Tips
- Trim noisy sections first: a slammed door at the start stops normalising from doing much.
- Boosting also raises background hiss. If a recording is very quiet and noisy, a moderate +6 dB often sounds better than +10 dB.
- For a batch of recordings that should sound equally loud, normalise all of them.
Why recordings come out quiet
The usual causes are a microphone too far from the speaker, a phone’s automatic level control being cautious, or a recording app set to a low input level. Making the file louder fixes the volume, but it can’t remove the room echo or background noise that distance adds, so for future recordings, moving closer to the microphone helps most.
Privacy
Your files are processed in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, so private recordings stay on your device.
Questions
What does normalise mean?
Normalising raises the volume until the loudest moment in the file reaches just under the maximum (−1 dB), without changing the balance between loud and quiet parts. It's the safest way to make a recording louder because it can't cause distortion.
Why does normalise say my file is already loud enough?
Its loudest peak already reaches the maximum, even if most of it sounds quiet, often because of one loud bang or cough. Choose a fixed boost instead; the loudest peaks are then softened so the rest can get louder.
Won't boosting by 10 dB distort the sound?
Peaks that would go past the maximum are bent smoothly by a limiter instead of being cut off, which avoids the harsh crackle of clipping. Large boosts on music can still sound a little flattened. For speech, they usually just sound louder.
Which format is the result?
WAV files stay WAV. Everything else is saved as MP3 at the quality you choose.
Last reviewed 7 November 2026