Bring a quiet recording up to a usable level

The job

Peak normalization finds the loudest sample and scales the whole file so that peak hits your target — −1 dBFS leaves headroom, −3 dB is safer for messaging apps that re-encode. Everything else gets louder proportionally, noise floor included.

Normalize

Drop the audio file (it decodes with the browser's decoder — WAV, MP3, M4A, OGG all work), set the target peak in dBFS, and download the result as a WAV. The tool reports the original peak and the gain it applied.

• Target −1.0 dB for mastering-like headroom, −3 to −6 dB if a downstream app will compress or re-encode.
• If the file is silent (peak 0), gain is meaningless — the tool says so instead of amplifying nothing.

Worked example

A 45-second voice memo peaking at −18.4 dBFS normalized to −1 dBFS: +17.4 dB gain applied, output is a 16-bit stereo WAV ready for editing or sharing.

Where it stops

Peak normalization, not loudness — it doesn't measure LUFS or perceived loudness, so a file with one loud click stays quiet elsewhere. Output is always WAV (uncompressed — files get big: about 10 MB/min stereo). Input up to 10 minutes; clipping is prevented by the peak target itself.