Playback Volume Is Too Low

I hope I’m participating in the forum correctly. I did look through some of the posts re: playback volume, but I didn’t see anything that matched my problem.

I am a novice when it comes to editing audio. Nevertheless, I’ve used Audacity successfully to edit audio from my audio recorder so that it can be shared on our church website.

Today I began editing this morning’s recording (as usual), and I had to maximize the volume on my computer’s speakers to listen to the recording comfortably. That can’t be normal.

Is there a way (a setting perhaps?) to increase the playback volume on a recording that you’re editing - so that the exported mp3 will play back a little louder?

Thanks!

Try the Amplify or Normalize effect with their default settings.

if that doesn’t go loud enough you may need to use the Limiter or Compressor effect. The Limiter is easier to use. With either one, you’ll need to use make-up gain, or you can run the Amplify or Normalize effect after limiting or compression to bring-up the overall volume.

Virtually all commercial recordings use limiting and compression to bring-up the loudness without clipping/distortion. So your recordings likely won’t be as loud. … It’s often over-done making everything constantly-loud which can make music boring.

Thanks! I appreciate the suggestions. I tried Amplify and it helped a little. I may try the other effects to see if they make a difference.

Hi everyone! :waving_hand:

I hope I’m posting this in the right place — I did look through some earlier threads about playback volume but didn’t find anything that matched my issue exactly.

I’m fairly new to audio editing, but I’ve been using Audacity successfully to edit recordings from my audio recorder so they can be shared on our church website and YouTube channel.

Today, while editing this morning’s recording, I noticed I had to maximize my computer’s speaker volume just to hear it comfortably. That doesn’t seem normal, and I’m wondering if there’s a setting or effect in Audacity that can help me raise theplayback volume — so that the exported MP3 will also sound louder and clearer on YouTube Premium or other streaming platforms.

Any advice or step-by-step tips would be really appreciated. :folded_hands:

Thanks so much!