Donaldson R F Change Audio Volume
Make a recording louder or quieter, or normalise its peak level, and hear the result before you save. Everything happens in your browser.
Decibels, percentages and normalising
Volume is measured in decibels (dB). +6 dB roughly doubles the amplitude and −6 dB halves it; 0 dB changes nothing. A percentage is the same idea: 200% is +6 dB and 50% is −6 dB. Normalise raises or lowers the whole file so that its loudest peak lands exactly at the level you choose (−1 dBFS leaves a little headroom), which is a safe way to make a quiet recording as loud as it can be without distortion.
A digital file cannot go above 0 dBFS. If the change would push peaks over that, the sound is clipped and distorts; the prevent clipping option softly limits those peaks instead. Making a recording much louder also raises its background noise. To smooth the start and end use fade in / fade out, and to trim it first, the MP3 cutter.
Frequently asked questions
Will it distort if I boost it a lot?
The peak level shown after the change warns you. With “prevent clipping” ticked, peaks are limited smoothly; without it they are clipped hard.
What is dBFS?
Decibels relative to full scale: 0 dBFS is the loudest a digital file can be, and quieter levels are negative numbers.
Is my file uploaded?
No. It is processed in your browser.