Volume Normalizer - How to Normalize Audio to Play at the Same Volume Level

Most of us encounter a similar problem when we play a playlist of favorite music songs. Some are too loud, others are barely audible. So we have to adjust the volume level from time to time, which is really an annoying problem. Usually, because our music collection is always acquired from different sources, such as purchasing, ripping from CD, sharing of others, downloading from the Internet, etc., it is impossible to be in the same volume level. For solving the annoying problem, this article summarizes four simple and effective methods.

Audacity is a free and multi-platform audio editor that you can normalize audio volume with it. The steps are as follows:

1. Open Audacity, click “Open” under File table, and then hold Ctrl to select the audio files you want to import, or simply drag and drop all the audio files to the main interface.

2. Press “Ctrl + A” to select all imported audio files, click “Effect” on the menu bar, and then select “Normalize”.

3. Check Normalize maximum amplitude to, type the desired volume level into the “dB” box. Click OK to start to normalize audio.

4. After done, click “File” again and select “Export Multiple”. Finally, set export format and location, and hit Export button to start saving.

MP3Gain is a free and good MP3 volume normalizer to analyze and adjust MP3 files to be in the same volume. As its name suggests, only MP3 format is supported. It has two kinds of analysis modes: Track Analysis and Album Analysis for individual MP3s or a whole MP3 album. The steps are as follows:

1. Open MP3Gain, click Add File (s) or Add Folder to add MP3 files, or directly drag them to the main interface.

2. Click the Track Analysis or Album Analysis button to be able to display volume levels, calculated gain, and highlight the files in red that are too loud and have clipping.

3. Decide the Target Volume level (optional). The default is 89dB, but you can increase or decrease the level based on your preferences.

4. Click Track Gain or Album Gain button to normalize MP3 audio files.

iTunes is a great way to help you normalize audio volume if you just want to play music on your computer.

1. Open iTunes, click “Edit” on the menu bar, and select “Preferences”.

2. Click “Playback Tab” and check “Sound Check”.

3. Click “OK” to save the settings.

So all of the music volumes get warmer when iTunes plays music, but it does not actually change the file's preferences. It keeps original audio volume when you play the music outside iTunes.