Why is YouTube so quiet, even at full volume?
YouTube evens out loudness by turning loud videos down, but it never turns quiet ones up, so a video uploaded quiet stays quiet. With the player, Chrome and your computer all at maximum, the only way left is to boost the tab itself. Loudness turns any YouTube tab up to 600%, with a limiter that keeps the extra volume clean.
Set this page’s volume to 250%
Press play, then drag past 100%.
The music starts as quiet as a badly mixed upload. Everything past 100% is what Loudness adds.
Best with headphones. Drag the fader, or use the arrow keys.
Why some videos stay quiet
YouTube measures how loud each video is and turns the loud ones down so they don’t blast you between videos. It doesn’t do the opposite: a lecture recorded on a laptop microphone, or a video mixed for big speakers, plays as quiet as it was uploaded.
You can see this yourself. Right-click the video and choose Stats for nerds. The Volume / Normalized line shows how much YouTube is turning the video down, and the content loudness figure shows how loud the upload is.
Chrome can’t help either. The player’s volume slider and Chrome both stop at 100%, which means the video’s own level, unchanged.
How to make a YouTube video louder
- Add Loudness to Chrome. It’s free and needs no account.
- On the YouTube tab, click the Loudness icon in the toolbar.
- Drag the fader past 100% until the video is loud enough, or press Alt+Shift+Up (⌥⇧↑ on a Mac).
- For talks and lectures, turn on Voice to bring the speaker forward.
Enhance
Playing now 2
- N Lecture 7: Room Acousticslearn.northvale.edu 250%
- S The Slow Hours, Ep. 41slowhours.fm 80%
Worth checking first
- The player’s own volume: hover the speaker icon at the bottom left of the video.
- Whether the tab is muted: right-click the tab and look for Unmute site.
- Your computer’s output: the sound may be going to a different speaker or headset.