Booster Volume

How to Make Music Louder

If some tracks in your library are much quieter than others, the fix is normalization rather than a boost. If everything is quiet, the fix is gain. Getting this the right way round saves a lot of unnecessary processing.

Start with your player

  1. Set Spotify to the loud volume level

    Settings › Playback › volume level › Loud. This raises the normalization target and is the largest single improvement available in Spotify. Details on the Spotify page.

  2. Enable Sound Check on Apple platforms

    Settings › Music › Sound Check on iOS, or Music › Settings › Playback on macOS. It evens out levels across your library.

  3. Use your player's equalizer

    A modest lift at both ends increases perceived loudness on small speakers without touching the volume control.

Boost a music file

Music boosterShelving filters and a music-tuned limiter.

Drop an audio or video file here, or choose one. It is processed on your device and never uploaded.

Processed on your device — nothing is uploaded. Loud audio can damage hearing: lower your system volume before boosting, then raise it gradually.

Why older recordings sound quieter

Mastering conventions have changed considerably. A record mastered in the 1970s preserved wide dynamic range, so its average level sits well below a modern release even though both peak at the same maximum.

Streaming platforms now normalize on playback, which removed the incentive to master ever louder. If your library still sounds inconsistent, check whether normalization is enabled in your player before processing anything.

Frequently asked questions

Does making music louder reduce quality?

Gain within available headroom does not. Compression and limiting do change the audio by reducing dynamic range — sometimes desirable in noisy environments, usually not for attentive listening.

Why is one album much quieter than another?

Different mastering targets. Playback normalization in your streaming app is designed to fix exactly this.

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