Audio Editor · Windows 10 and 11
Make an MP3 louder
A recording that is too quiet on a phone, in the car or under a video can be turned up for good. Set Volume as high as 200% in the Audio Editor, listen, and save a new file that plays louder everywhere, with a limiter catching the peaks.
How to increase the volume of an MP3
- 1
Bring in the MP3
Open the Audio Editor and drop the file onto it, or press Add files. WAV, M4A and other formats work the same way.
- 2
Turn up Volume
Click the sound on Track 1 and drag Volume on the right. 100% is the level it was recorded at, 200% is double. The waveform grows as you go.
- 3
Check the loudest part
Play the loudest passage with Space. If it starts to sound harsh or flattened, come back down a little: the slider moves in 5% steps.
- 4
Save the louder copy
Press Export, choose MP3 or another format, and save it under a new name.
How much louder is 200%?
Volume multiplies the sound wave. At 200% every part of it is twice as high, a boost of about 6 decibels. Ears do not work in straight lines, though: most people hear 6 dB as clearly louder, but it takes around 10 dB before something sounds twice as loud. So 200% rescues a recording that is a bit too quiet, while a whisper caught from across the room may still need more.
The other limit is headroom. Sound in a file has a ceiling, and a modern song is usually mastered right up against it already. Turn that up and there is nowhere to go: the limiter has to hold back every peak, and the result sounds flatter rather than louder. Boosting pays off on:
- voice memos and interviews recorded far from the microphone,
- lectures, sermons and meetings captured on a phone,
- old transfers from tape or vinyl that were saved at a low level.
The waveform tells you which kind you have. If its peaks already touch the top and bottom of the track at 100%, the file is about as loud as it can get.
Volume or Even out loudness?
The Audio Editor has two ways to make a sound louder, and they suit different jobs.
| Volume | Even out loudness | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Multiplies the sound by the amount you set | Measures how loud it sounds and brings it to −16 LUFS |
| You choose | Anything from 0 to 200% | On or off |
| Peaks | Held under clipping by the limiter | Kept under −1.5 dBTP |
| Good for | Fine-tuning by ear | Making several recordings match |
They also work together. Switch on Even out loudness to reach a sensible level, then nudge Volume if a sound still feels off next to the others. Quiet recordings come with quiet noise, and a boost lifts both, so for hiss or fan noise switch on Reduce background noise as well.
A louder file, not just louder speakers
Windows can make playback louder on your own PC, and on many computers the speaker settings include a loudness option. Browser extensions boost whatever a tab plays. None of that changes the file: send it to a phone, a car stereo or a friend and it is just as quiet as before. Exporting from the Audio Editor writes the boost into the sound itself, so it plays louder on every device.
Often only part of a recording is the problem, such as one person sitting far from the microphone in an interview. Click the sound, move the playhead to where that part starts, press S, split again where it ends, and raise Volume on that piece alone.
For a quiet video, the Video Editor gives every clip the same 200% Volume slider, so you can fix the sound with the picture still attached.
Starting points for common problems
| The problem | Try this first |
|---|---|
| A voice memo recorded across the room | Even out loudness and Reduce background noise |
| An old cassette or vinyl transfer | Volume at 150%, then 200% if it still sounds quiet |
| One quiet speaker in an interview | Split around their parts and raise only those |
| A song too soft for a ringtone | Even out loudness, then export Ringtone or MP3 |
| Music that drowns out a voice-over | Volume on the music turned down to 20 to 40% |
The slider works both ways: anything under 100% makes a sound quieter, which is just as useful when two sounds share the timeline. Settings are only applied when you export, so you can try several and compare by ear before anything is saved.
Octoolo or an online tool?
| Detail | Octoolo | A typical online tool |
|---|---|---|
| Your files | Stay on your computer | Usually uploaded to the site's server |
| Without internet | Works | Does not work |
| File size | No limit | Often capped on free use |
| Watermarks and ads | None | Common on free plans |
| Cost | $4.99 a month, all 17 apps | Free with limits, or a plan per site |
Questions, answered
Will boosting the volume distort the sound?
The limiter stops the file from clipping, the harsh crackle of sound pushed past its ceiling. A song that was already loud can still sound squashed at 200%, so trust your ears and back off if it does.
Can I make it louder than 200%?
Not in one pass. You can export the boosted file, add it again and turn it up once more, but each pass lifts the background hiss along with the voice.
Does it make background noise louder too?
Yes, Volume raises everything in the recording equally. Turn on Reduce background noise first if hiss or hum gets in the way.
Can I boost only the quiet parts?
Split the sound around them and raise Volume on those pieces alone. For a more even level across a whole recording without splitting, Even out loudness does it automatically.
Can I boost a batch of MP3s at once?
Not in one go. The Audio Editor exports one file at a time, though each sound in it has its own Volume, so a handful of files can be fixed one after another quickly.
Which formats can I save the louder file as?
MP3 at 192 kbps, M4A (AAC, 192 kbps), 16-bit WAV, FLAC, or Opus at 128 kbps, all at 48 kHz stereo.
MP3 volume booster, and 16 more apps.
Download for Windows7 days free, then from $3.99 a month for all 17 apps. Windows 10 and 11.