The interview is recorded but you can barely hear it. Or the opposite: a clip is so loud it distorts on your phone. Volume problems are among the most common audio complaints, and most are a quick fix once you know whether to reach for plain gain or for normalize.
The short version: load the file, raise or lower the level, and export. The change volume tool does it on your device, with the waveform updating so you can see the change before you commit.
How do I make a quiet recording louder?
Drag the gain slider up to boost the level, or switch on Normalize to push the file to the loudest it can safely go. Watch the waveform: as you raise the level, the wave grows taller, which is your visual cue for how much louder it is getting and when the peaks are nearing the top.
- Add a file. Drop in an MP3, WAV, OGG or M4A to see its waveform.
- Set the level. Drag the gain slider to raise or lower the volume, or turn on Normalize to maximise it without clipping.
- Export. Preview the change, then save the adjusted file as MP3 or WAV.
Gain or normalize: which one?
This is the only real decision, and it comes down to whether you know the exact amount you want or just want it “as loud as it safely gets.”
- Gain applies a fixed boost or cut that you choose, measured in decibels. Use it when you know you want, say, the track 6 dB louder, or when you want to lower a clip that is too hot by a set amount.
- Normalize finds the loudest peak in the file and scales the whole thing so that peak just reaches the maximum safe level. Use it when a recording is simply too quiet and you want it as loud as possible without guessing a number or risking distortion.
For most “I can’t hear this” problems, normalize is the right answer. It does the math for you and cannot push past the safe ceiling.
The distortion ceiling
There is a hard limit to how loud digital audio can go, the point where the waveform hits the top of its range. Push past it with gain and the peaks flatten off, which you hear as harsh, crackly distortion called clipping. Once it is clipped on export, it cannot be undone.
Two things keep you safe:
- Watch the waveform. As peaks approach the top edge, you are near the ceiling. If they look like they are about to touch it, ease the gain back.
- Prefer normalize for big boosts. Because normalize scales to the loudest peak by design, it raises the level as far as it can without ever clipping, which is exactly what you want for a too-quiet file.
Evening out an uneven recording
A recording where some parts are loud and others are faint is a different problem. Normalize raises everything by the same amount, so it lifts the quiet parts but the loud parts still tower over them. Truly evening that out is compression, a heavier process than a single volume change. For most uses, normalize gets you close enough: the quiet bits become audible, and you can then trim or re-record the worst offenders. The full editor lets you amplify a single quiet section on its own if one stretch needs more help than the rest.
A note on quality
Changing the level itself does not harm the audio. The only quality question is the export format: WAV stays lossless, while MP3 re-encodes at a high bitrate with a change that is minimal and usually inaudible. If the file is heading into another project for more editing, export to WAV; otherwise MP3 is fine for listening and sharing.
Why it stays on your device
The level is changed on your own machine. Your file is read locally, adjusted in the browser, and saved back to your computer, with nothing uploaded. That keeps confidential recordings private and removes any upload-size limit, so a long, quiet lecture boosts the same as a short clip, with no watermark and no paywall.
When the level looks right and the peaks are clear of the ceiling, open the change volume tool and export. If several clips need to sit at a matching loudness before you join them, normalize each one, then merge them into a single, even track.