How to make your Mac louder than its maximum volume

Your Mac is at full volume and a video or call is still too quiet. Start with the free checks below: often something other than the Mac is turned down. If it is still too quiet, the last step boosts the sound past 100%.

The short version

Check the volume inside the app itself, like the YouTube player or the Zoom slider.
Check that the right output is selected and the balance is centred.
Still too quiet? A volume booster can raise one app, or everything, past 100%.

1. Check the volume inside the app

Many apps have their own volume slider on top of the Mac's: the YouTube player, Spotify, Zoom, Discord, Music. If the Mac is at 100% but the app is at 50%, you hear 50%. Turn the app's own slider all the way up first.

2. Check the output and the balance

Open System Settings → Sound → Output. Make sure the device you are listening on is selected, and that the balance slider sits in the middle. A balance pushed to one side makes the other side quieter.

For a USB audio interface or external speakers, also open Audio MIDI Setup (in Applications → Utilities). Some devices show their own output level there, and it is not always at full.

3. In Apple Music, check Sound Check

Sound Check (Music → Settings → Playback) evens out the loudness of songs. It does that mostly by turning loud songs down, so with it on, music can sound quieter overall. Turn it off to hear each song at its own level.

4. Boost the sound past 100%

macOS stops at 100%. To go further you need an app that raises the sound before it reaches the speakers. calmdoo does this per app: drag an app's slider past the middle mark and it goes up to 400%, about +12 dB. "Boost everything" raises all apps at once.

Two things to know about boosting:

A limiter matters. Raising loud parts past the maximum makes them crackle. calmdoo runs a limiter on boosted sound, so peaks are held down instead of clipping.
Small speakers have limits. A boost cannot make laptop speakers bigger. If they rattle at a high boost, turn it down a little. Quiet recordings, like a soft voice in a video, gain the most.

calmdoo also puts boosts back to 100% when the output changes, for example when you plug in headphones, so a boost meant for quiet speakers never lands in your ears.

Other apps can boost too. See volume apps for Mac compared for an honest side by side.

calmdoo does this from your menu bar

A slider for every app that plays sound, boost up to 400% with a limiter, and an EQ and compressor per app. Open source, no driver, no account. macOS 15 or later.

Get calmdoo