3 Ways To Increase Maximum Volume In Windows

3 Ways To Increase Maximum Volume In Windows3 Ways To Increase Maximum Volume In Windows

A user of itechtics asks the following question: “Just wondering if I can increase the volume of Windows beyond the maximum limit?”

The question can be divided into two parts, whether you want to increase the sound of the multimedia playback on your system or increase the maximum volume of the overall system. I will discuss three methods to boost sound in Windows beyond 100% default.

Using Audio Enhancements

This method will enhance the maximum volume of the overall system. In Windows, there is a loudness equalization option supported by most sound cards which needs to be configured in order to make audio louder. Let’s go through the process step by step:

  1. Click on the Volume icon in the system tray
  2. Click on the speaker icon on the sound mixer popup
    Sound Mixer
  3. Select Enhancements from the opened window
    Enabling loudness equalization
  4. Check Loudness Equalization from the list and click OK

This should increase the overall system sound effect to be more louder. But for any reason, your sound card does not support equalization, then you’ll need to go with the other options mentioned in this article.

Using Sound Booster Plugins

Second method is to use sound booster plugins. This is the most reliable and exciting option. But the problem is that there are not many free sound booster plugins available which have many options available for free. But we will list down a few plugins which can be used for boosting the overall volume of the system.

Restore missing audio Enhancements ...
Restore missing audio Enhancements tab in Sound options in Windows

Audio Enhancer Bongiovi DPS Plugin

DPS Enhancer

This is a commercial plugin but you can test it out using the trial version. It supports a lot of sound enhancement and equalization options. Bongiovi DPS plugin is available for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. It also support Max OSX.

DFX Audio Enhancer Plugin

DFX Audio Enhancer

DFX Audio Enhancer is my favorite tool for enhancing the system volume on my system. DFX Audio Enhancer boosts the sound quality of audio playback of the overall system which includes your music, videos, Internet audio, games and other programs. This plugin comes with a free edition which has most of the configuration options disabled but it will be enough for a basic sound boost on your system.

SoundPimp

SoundPimp audio enhancer with High Definition Stereo enhances the overall listening experience of computer audio. I have not used SoundPimp but it seems good because it is available for all platforms including Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

Using VLC Player

VLC Player with 125 volume increase

If you only want to make your multimedia audio and video louder then you can use multimedia players which let you go beyond the 100% volume limit. One option is VLC Player which lets you increase the volume up to 125%.

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Usman Khurshid
Usman Khurshid is a seasoned IT Pro with over 15 years of experience in the IT industry. He has experience in everything from IT support, helpdesk, sysadmin, network admin, and cloud computing. He is also certified in Microsoft Technologies (MCTS and MCSA) and also Cisco Certified Professional in Routing and Switching.

38 comments

  • Tony

    According to my test, Avdshare Video Converter also works great to increase volume of mp3, aac, wav, flac, mp4, avi, mov etc.
    Step 1: Click Add File button to add the media file,
    Step 2: Simply click “Setting…” -> “Advanced” tab, then go to “Audio” column, click 100% tab on the right side of volume to select volume ratio from the drop-down list.
    Step 3: Click the “Profile” drop down button to select desired output format.
    Step 4: Click Convert button to start and finishe increase the video or audio volume.
    It has both Mac and Windows version.

  • Name

    For those who don’t have Enhancements tab in Speaker properties, and other programs didn’t work try FREE program that works – DeskFX

  • Sriharsha
    Sriharsha

    Equalizer APO. The UI looks weird but it works out of the box by simply increasing the per-amplification gain. It served my purpose though.

  • isherwooddavidi
    isherwooddavidi

    I use iDealshare VideoGo to increase the volume of the video or audio files.

  • jaxon

    Letasoft Sound Booster is the droid you’re looking for

  • Some Bloke
    Some Bloke

    Apparently Microsoft got rid of the “Enhancements” tab after you posted this article because they don’t want you to hear anything. How can I force it back in?

  • Riverside
    Riverside

    DFX Enhancer free version actually does help a little if you shut off all the stupid enhancements and ONLY use the equalizer. The equalizer is the only good part of it anyway. The rest is all weird enhancements there is no way to know exactly what they are doing and all they really do is corrupt the natural fidelity of the sound anyway, so if all you want to do is HEAR BETTER from, say, laptop speakers, get the free version of it, turn off everything but the equalizer and play with that until you can hear well.

    A word of caution though. It will hijack your default sound device. If you try to switch back, it won’t let you unless you disable it.

  • Jesper Hellstén
    Jesper Hellstén

    The first tip fixed my problem. Thank you so-so-so much!

  • Crashmind
    Crashmind

    thanks man i appreciate your efforts

  • Luke

    Use scroll wheel to get VLC to 200%!

  • Daniel

    Thanks so much. The first tip did the trick for me.

  • roego

    The first 2 would be line ball. Both are good
    Sound pimp seems to just enhance the sterep spread not the volume. Thanks.

  • connor

    you now gom player let you increase the volume up to 200% rigth :)

  • jkq

    Checking the loudness option DOES NOT make overall louder, it EQUALIZES sound – get rid of peaks! Overall effect is softer. Idiot!

    • skittleJuice
      skittleJuice

      THANK YOU!!! Finally someone else with some sense!

      • Jose

        then how did i raise my volume like about 50% if not almost double?

  • Chris Hayes
    Chris Hayes

    In VLC you can use your scroll wheel to bring volume up to 200%

    • nonya

      you da real mvp

    • Usman Khurshid
      A
      Usman Khurshid

      Yup confirmed, the mouse scroll brings the volume to 200%. Thanks for the tip Chris :)

  • Jake

    Don’t download DFX, its garbage. You litterally can’t do anything with it on the free version. I hope someone puts it on TPB for being so shitty.

    • Usman Khurshid
      A
      Usman Khurshid

      Agreed. The free version of DFX is not good but if you’re using the paid version, it certainly has some very good options and functionality.

  • minhajsk
    minhajsk

    i dont have this ENHANCEMENT option,now what will i do??

  • Sean Devlin
    Sean Devlin

    The advice you gave to adjust the sound with the setting included in Windows seems to have done what I was hoping for. Thanks.

  • david

    The problem with using the Loudness Equalization setting is it goes mad taking CPU resources. The Micro$oft forums are full of audiodg issues that are cured by disabling enhancements.

    It starts off OK but then randomly starts hogging CPU

    I do not want my PC to spend all it’s CPU resources simply increasing volume.

    It is a joke that there is nothing for the hard of hearing in accessibilty options

    • Tyler

      How weird, for me after downloading DFX Audio Enhancement there is absolutely no CPU resources being taken…. While and right after it was installed it did spike up to 60% for a few minutes as I was still using Firefox and a few other things but it quickly went down to 0% as of now. It’s working like a charm…

  • alfredbobes
    alfredbobes

    You may try iDealshare VideoGo to Increase volume for audio and video files

    Working as an Audio Volume Booster, iDealshare VideoGo can easily boost sound volume for almost all kinds of audio file like increase MP3 volume, increase WAV volume, increase FLAC volume, increase AAC volume, increase AC3 volume, M4A, WMA, AU, DTS, AIFF, OGG, MP2, APE, OPUS, CAF, VOC, etc.

    Working as a Video Volume Booster, iDealshare VideoGo helps you raise audio volume for all video files like increase MP4 volume, increase MOV volume, increase AVI volume, WMV, FLV, AVCHD, MKV, MXF, WebM, SWF, OGV, 3GP, ASF, RMVB, etc.

    iDealshare VideoGo also has a feature of increase sound volume as well as change the source file format like convert the source audio or video files to other more compatible audio or video formats.

  • shahno

    brother my window 8.1 not showing enhance so what to do

  • damian

    VLC will boost up to 400% using the scroll wheel :P

    • Usman Khurshid
      A
      Usman Khurshid

      I tried it and the volume increased to 200% :D. Perfect tip!

  • StarrShine
    StarrShine

    That would be “audio.”

  • StarrShine
    StarrShine

    Audi Enhancement instructions were great! It worked. Thank you so much!

  • Win8Geek
    Win8Geek

    I really don’t like to ‘overclock’ my PC sound card or the speakers. This usually results in a broken headphone or the sound card itself.

    • Usman Khurshid
      A
      Usman Khurshid

      I also keep my stuff simple. But there are times when you need to ‘overclock’ your hardware to get the most out of it.

  • Usman Khurshid
    A
    Usman Khurshid

    A Facebook fan has specified another wonderful utility to control the volume of Windows beyond its default control limits and that utility is MatrixMixer. The best thing about it is that it is not only free but open source.
    http://matrix-mixer.sourceforge.net/

  • DANKMEMES
    DANKMEMES

    BEST COMMENT AWARD GOES TO YOU. ARE YOU FEELING IT NOW MR KRABS!?!?!?!

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