About This MP3 Volume Booster
Guitar Tool Hub's free MP3 volume booster (an MP3 volume enhancer and loudness normalizer in one) makes a quiet song, recording or backing track louder, entirely in your browser. Load an MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG or FLAC file and either boost it by the number of decibels you choose (up to +30 dB) or normalize it: to a loudness target in LUFS, such as the −14 LUFS Spotify and YouTube play at, or to a −1 dB peak. Loudness is measured with the ITU-R BS.1770 method streaming services use, before and after. Turning a file up pushes its loudest peaks past full volume, which a plain booster lets crackle; this one runs a look-ahead limiter that holds them at −1 dBFS, and tells you how much of the track it touched. The original and boosted waveforms are drawn on the same scale, and you can switch between the two while the track plays. Guitarists use it to bring a quiet phone or DI recording of their playing up to the level of a finished song, or to make a backing track loud enough to hear over an amp. Download the result as a 192 kbps MP3 or a lossless WAV. Nothing is uploaded.
- 01Boost the volume of any MP3 or audio file by up to +30 dB (or turn it down by up to 12 dB)
- 02Normalize loudness to a LUFS target: −14 (Spotify, YouTube), −16 (Apple Music, podcasts), −11 (loud), −23 (broadcast)
- 03Peak normalize to −1 dB: as loud as possible with no limiting
- 04Clipping protection: a look-ahead limiter holds peaks at −1 dBFS so a big boost does not distort
- 05Measures loudness in LUFS (ITU-R BS.1770) and peak level, before and after
- 06Original and boosted waveforms side by side on the same scale
- 07Switch between the original and the boosted version while it plays
- 08Download as MP3 (192 kbps) or lossless WAV
- 09Runs entirely in your browser — the file is never uploaded
Frequently Asked Questions
Load the MP3 into the volume booster, drag the Boost slider up (or tap +6 dB, +10 dB and so on), and press play to hear it, switching between Original and Boosted to compare. Leave Prevent clipping on so the loudest peaks are held under the ceiling instead of distorting, then choose MP3 or WAV and press Boost & download. Everything runs in your browser, so the file is never uploaded.
The Boost slider goes from −12 dB (quieter) to +30 dB (louder). +6 dB doubles the signal level and +10 dB sounds roughly twice as loud. Normalize can apply up to +40 dB to reach its target on a very quiet file. Past about +10 dB on a file that already has loud peaks, the limiter has to work hard, so let your ears and the Limiter readout guide you.
Not with Prevent clipping on. A digital file cannot go above 0 dBFS, so a plain boost cuts the tops off the loudest peaks and they crackle. The booster runs a look-ahead limiter instead: it turns the gain down smoothly for just those peaks, holding them at −1 dBFS, and the readout tells you how much of the track it touched. Heavy limiting (more than about 6 dB) can flatten the punch of drums or picked notes, so if it warns you, try less boost. With Prevent clipping off, the waveform marks in red every spot that will clip.
LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) measures how loud a track sounds over its whole length, not just its highest peak. It is the unit streaming services normalize to. Spotify and YouTube play music at about −14 LUFS, Apple Music and most podcast guidelines use −16 LUFS, and broadcast (EBU R128) uses −23 LUFS. The booster measures your file with the ITU-R BS.1770 method those services use, and Normalize brings it to the target you pick.
Boost adds the number of decibels you choose, whatever the file is. Normalize measures the file first and works out the gain for you: Loudness targets bring it to a set LUFS level, so several files end up equally loud, and Peak −1 dB raises it until its loudest peak reaches −1 dBFS, which is as loud as it can go without any limiting.
Recordings from a phone, an audio interface or a DI box usually leave plenty of headroom, so the loudest peaks sit around −12 to −18 dBFS and the take sounds quiet next to a finished song. Load it here and use Normalize at −14 LUFS to bring it up to streaming loudness, or Peak −1 dB to raise it with no limiting at all. The same goes for a backing track or lesson recording that is too quiet to hear over your amp.
Saving as MP3 re-encodes the audio once at 192 kbps, which is transparent for most listening but is one more generation of lossy compression. The MP3 is checked after encoding, and if the encoder pushed a peak back toward full scale it is re-encoded slightly quieter, so the download does not clip. If you will edit the file further, download WAV instead; it is lossless. The boost itself adds no noise beyond what is already in the recording, though turning a quiet recording up also turns up its hiss and room noise.
No. This tool makes a louder copy of an audio file that you load and download. To make everything your browser plays louder, you need a browser extension or your device's sound settings. To make one song or recording louder for good, so it plays louder everywhere, this is the tool.
No. Decoding, measuring, boosting and exporting all run locally in your browser using the Web Audio API. Your file is never sent anywhere, and the original is not changed. You download a new, louder copy.
Yes, completely free. No account, no software to install, no watermark and no file-size paywall.