How to increase and set VLC’s volume to max?


👤 Diwas Poudel    🕒 12 Sep 2023    📁 TECH

Introduction

Imagine you are watching a movie. You cannot hear the artists' voices, even when you have maxed up the system’s volume. This gets quite nerve-wracking when you are watching a movie, you have been waiting for ages. Isn’t there any other way to max up the volume? If you are using the VLC media player, then the answer to your question is ‘YES’.

How to increase the VLC’s volume to the max?

In the latest version of the VLC media player (version 3.0.18), by default, the maximum volume control that can be set is 125%. This isn’t the maximum volume you can get when using the VLC media player. The max can be set up to 300%. To get maximum speaker output, first, make sure that the speaker volume is set to max.

You can follow these steps to set max the volume in the VLC media player:

Summary

  1. Open VLC media player.
  2. Press Ctrl+P.
  3. In show settings, check All.
  4. Click on Interface> Main Interfaces> Qt.
  5. Set the Maximum Volume displayed to 300%.
  6. Click on Save.
Also read: VLC does not play the video; only audio works 

Let's go for the detailed steps:

1 Open VLC media player

Firstly, you need to open the VLC media player. Either through the application directly or by launching a video using VLC.

Open VLC Media Player
fig. Open VLC Media Player

2 Click on Tools and then Preferences

On the Menu bar, click on the ‘Tools’ option. Then, click on the option ‘Preferences’. A new window will open after this step.

Or, simply you can press Ctrl+P

Click on Preferences
fig. Click on Preferences

3 Check the box "All"

On the bottom left corner, check the box ‘All’ (within Show settings).

Fig.: Check the box All
Fig: Check the box All

4 Click on Qt

On the left sidebar, you can find multiple drop-down options. Go to ‘Interface’. Then click on ‘Main interfaces’ to select the option ‘Qt’.

Fig.: Select the option Qt

Fig.: Select the option Qt

5 Set the maximum volume to 300%

In the Qt interface, scroll down to find the option ‘Maximum Volume displayed’. Change the value in the corresponding box from 125 to 300.

Set Max Volume to 300

Fig.: Increase the Maximum Volume displayed to 300

6 Save the settings 

Finally, you will have to Save the changes and restart the VLC media player to see the changes.

Save the changed settings

Fig.: Save the changed settings

Now, you can see the change in the Volume control once you restart the application. You are now able to go from 0% to 300%, which before was from 0% to 125%. This might just seem like a change in numbers, but actually, the maximum volume is now increased.

Finally 300% set successfully
fig. Finally, 300% was successfully set.

Testing and Results

Does this change the loudness of the output or is it just tweaking of numbers? Truly, this method changes the loudness of the output. To check whether things are working as desired, a test was performed using the Sound Meter app. The output volume of the device was set to max. A video clip was played on the same time frame and interval to validate the changes, before and after changing the preferences. The results are as follows:

Before:

Before changing the settings

Fig.: Before changing the settings

After:

After changing the settings
Fig.: After changing the settings

It should be noted that a volume change of 10 dB makes the output sound 10 times louder.

Increase VLC volume using Dynamic Compressor Options

You can try raising the volume with VLC's dynamic compressor options. This approach compresses the louder sections of the audio signals while enhancing the silence regions.

You can go to the following steps  Tools > Effects and Filters [ CTRL + E]> Audio Effects > Compressor

Audio effects adjustment
fig. Audio effects adjustment

What happens if you increase the VLC volume above 100%?

VLC includes an audio decoder that can change the digital audio data stream to increase the final audio output. VLC's final recommendation is 100%. However, while amplifying the signals beyond 100%, many high-frequency components of the audio are chopped out, resulting in distorted audio. If you notice any loss of audio sound, do not exceed 100%.

Also read: Where is the location of VLC log Files?

How to set the volume of a specific video channel in VLC?

The steps for these are as follows:

  1. Open VLC Player
  2. Open the video in VLC.
  3. Right-click on the video and select "Audio track properties".
  4. In the "Audio track properties" dialog, click on the "Channel" tab.
  5. Select the channel that you want to adjust the volume for.
  6. Use the "Volume" slider to adjust the volume.
  7. Click on "Close" to save your changes.

How to increase the volume of a specific audio channel in VLC?

Ans: In VLC, you are able to increase the volume of a specific audio channel by right-clicking on it and selecting "Audio channel properties." The "Volume" slider in the "Audio channel properties" window allows you to change the volume of the channel.

Conclusion

VLC media player allows its users to increase the max volume control to 300%. Yet, most of the time 80-100% is preferable. Although you can increase the volume up to 300%, it is not recommended to get a loud volume for your ears. Loudness enough to hear properly should be set so as to enjoy what you are watching.