Blog · Audio tools · 28 October 2026

How to make a quiet audio file louder without distortion

A quiet recording is easy to fix, but there is a limit. Make a file too loud and the peaks go past the top and distort. Here is how to get a louder file that still sounds clean.

Boost the volume

Open the Volume and bass booster and choose your file. Move the Volume slider up. Every six decibels doubles the level of the waveform. The page tells you the loudest peak of your file, so you know how much room you have.

Let soft clip catch the peaks

Soft clip is on by default. It rounds off peaks that would go past full scale, so a big boost sounds fuller instead of harsh. It works well for a few decibels. If you push very far, any method will start to sound squashed.

Normalize

Tick Normalize the peak to minus one decibel and the page scales the whole file so its loudest point sits just under the top. That makes it as loud as it can be without clipping, and it is the safest option for a recording that is simply too quiet.

Add bass or tame the highs

The Bass slider lifts the low end below about 110 hertz. Treble works above 8 kilohertz. Small moves of two to four decibels are usually enough. Listen with the Hear the original button to compare.

When you need more than this

For release loudness targets, such as those used by streaming services, use the Mastering tool, which measures loudness in LUFS and true peak.

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