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How Can I Increase The Sound Volume of a File?
- Thread starter nickm11
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I looked at Quicktime Player, and it doesn't seem to have the option to change volume (perhaps I missed it).
How I would handle this:
a. Start up my audio editing app (I use Cubase)
b. Create a new project
c. Create a new track within the project
d. Import the m4a file into the track
e. Select the range of audio in which I want to modify the volume (or the entire track)
f. Use the "audio->process->gain" panel to increase the volume
g. Check the results to see if they were acceptable (if necessary, adjust gain again).
h. When done, EXPORT the track as an audio file (might not be m4a, but WAV or AIFF instead).
There are free audio editing apps out there (like Audacity) that may do this, too.
Or, download the trial version of something like Cubase, Reaper, etc.
There may be Mac apps out there that can modify the gain of the m4a file "directly", but others will have to step in and point them out.
How I would handle this:
a. Start up my audio editing app (I use Cubase)
b. Create a new project
c. Create a new track within the project
d. Import the m4a file into the track
e. Select the range of audio in which I want to modify the volume (or the entire track)
f. Use the "audio->process->gain" panel to increase the volume
g. Check the results to see if they were acceptable (if necessary, adjust gain again).
h. When done, EXPORT the track as an audio file (might not be m4a, but WAV or AIFF instead).
There are free audio editing apps out there (like Audacity) that may do this, too.
Or, download the trial version of something like Cubase, Reaper, etc.
There may be Mac apps out there that can modify the gain of the m4a file "directly", but others will have to step in and point them out.
If you have iMovie installed, you can “Click the Auto button” or drag the volume slider up to 400%
https://support.apple.com/guide/imovie/mov86277afbd/
I already had that installed, but it was asking for something else. I didn’t have time to get to the bottom of it.
There was a free app from some years ago that would increase the sound of any MP3 file--of course you had to handle with care because it could add distortion. I did a quick google search and found some other free online converters, but I cannot vouch for any of them--google at your own risk.
If you have any comfort at all with GarageBand, you could just dump the file into a new project and add a limiter and/or compression to max as well as increase the track volume. Doing those three things will increase the volume of the file itself.
If you have any comfort at all with GarageBand, you could just dump the file into a new project and add a limiter and/or compression to max as well as increase the track volume. Doing those three things will increase the volume of the file itself.
I had a little more time and I understood what Audacity wanted.
After installing Audacity Universal dmg https://www.audacityteam.org/download/mac/ download and install the FFmpeg import/export library from https://lame.buanzo.org/ffmpeg.php
At the moment FFmpeg_5.0.0_for_Audacity_on_macOS.pkg https://lame.buanzo.org/FFmpeg_5.0.0_for_Audacity_on_macOS.pkg
The files from the pkg are installed in /Library/Application Support/audacity/libs
With those installed, Audacity can import m4a files and the volume of the file can be turned up from the left slider - Gain
After installing Audacity Universal dmg https://www.audacityteam.org/download/mac/ download and install the FFmpeg import/export library from https://lame.buanzo.org/ffmpeg.php
At the moment FFmpeg_5.0.0_for_Audacity_on_macOS.pkg https://lame.buanzo.org/FFmpeg_5.0.0_for_Audacity_on_macOS.pkg
The files from the pkg are installed in /Library/Application Support/audacity/libs
With those installed, Audacity can import m4a files and the volume of the file can be turned up from the left slider - Gain
You could literally just drag it into GarageBand rather than pi**ing around with third-party apps which require installing this-and-that plugin to read M4A.
I really don't know why that wasn't the absolute first suggestion.
GarageBand is SUCH an under-rated and under-appreciated app that people presumably think is just for ten year old primary-school kids to play with.
I really don't know why that wasn't the absolute first suggestion.
GarageBand is SUCH an under-rated and under-appreciated app that people presumably think is just for ten year old primary-school kids to play with.
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Because it's an 1.3 GB app, that downloads an additional 2.2GB data, that not many people have installed on their Macs
The gain is only 6dB.
Nope, use the gain plugin or pop a compressor plugin on it and the gain will make a flea-fart blow your speakers out.
Again, most people just don't know the power of it, for a free app.
Mostly I'm a Logic user, but I can't imagine owning a Mac without GarageBand installed.
It's like having one of its legs cut off.
Again, most people just don't know the power of it, for a free app.
Mostly I'm a Logic user, but I can't imagine owning a Mac without GarageBand installed.
It's like having one of its legs cut off.
...actually, I just remembered, GarageBand auto-normalises audio to 0dB on export. So technically all you would need to do is drop the M4A file onto a track, immediately do an export, and the resulting WAV or MP3 file will be auto-normalised to 0dB for you. No tweaks or plugins required.
If you didn’t have GarageBand installed, would you download 3GB to “make a flea-fart blow your speakers out” once?
Audacity is free and only 70MB in total.
GarageBand is great, if you need it.
GarageBand User Guide https://support.apple.com/guide/garageband/welcome/mac
It is not fair to tell people NOT to use 3rd party software on macOS:
My iMac is 9 years old, running BigSur and I won't get any updates for the OS or Garageband EVER!
But Audacity just let me download version 3.4.2 with various new options for INTEL.
Remember: we are customers and we may choose!!!
;JOOP!
Feel free to point out where I actually said that, but you won't be able to, because I didn't say it. I'm an Audacity user too, though not often. Not least because on certainly Apple Silicon Macs, Audacity is slow, laggy, buggy, and if I actually used it as a multi-track DAW as intended, overall my user experience would be like dragging a dead horse through wet concrete.
The point I was making is, most people don't think of using Apple's 'standard' software. And it's not even as if Audacity in this instance offers a completely seemless experience: there's more stuff to download and install before it can do what OP requires. Whereas GarageBand does it right out of the box.
One of the main reasons I bought a Mac to start with is because the software you get for free* is great, such as GarageBand, iMovie and all the Pages/Numbers/Keynote trio. Had I only wanted to use third-party software I could have saved a bunch and built a PC.
*Your privilege to download it for free is factored into the hardware's purchase price.
"You could literally just drag it into GarageBand rather than pi**ing around with third-party apps which require installing this-and-that plugin to read M4A."
Maybe you did not intend to give that impression ...
;JOOP!
Yeah maybe it's a language-barrier thing but my saying "Use XYZ-app because it does the job simpler than ABC-app" (which is what I said) is not the same as my saying "do not use ABC-app" (which is not what I said).