Music leveler free, in your browser
Bring the quiet verse up and the loud chorus down, so the whole song sits at one listening level. It moves slowly, over whole sections rather than single drum hits, keeps a quiet intro quiet, and runs on your device before you save a WAV or MP3.
Processing runs on your device. Up to 200 MB and 60 minutes. Nothing is uploaded.
What to expect
- Cost and privacy
- Free, with no account. Processing runs on your device; your audio is never uploaded.
- Use it for
- Even out a song, live recording or rehearsal where whole sections jump in volume: a quiet verse under a loud chorus, a soft solo, or a bridge that drops away.
- Inputs and output
- WAV, MP3, M4A and other files your browser can decode. Saves a 16-bit WAV or a 192 kbps MP3 at about its original loudness, with peaks under -1 dBTP.
- Limits
- Up to 200 MB and 60 minutes, subject to available browser memory.
- Keep in mind
- It moves whole sections over seconds, never single notes, and never further than the gain range you pick. It does not master, EQ or set a streaming loudness.
How to even out a song's volume, in four steps
- STEP 01
Choose the song
Drop a WAV, MP3 or M4A of the song, live set or rehearsal. It decodes and levels on your device; nothing is uploaded.
- STEP 02
Read the finding
The top line says how far the quiet parts sit under the loud ones. Below it are the loudness range, the quietest and loudest 3 seconds before and after, the most gain applied and any limiting.
- STEP 03
Adjust if you need to
Lower Amount or pick a smaller gain range if the chorus loses its lift; raise them if the verse still drops away. Untick Keep a quiet intro and ending quiet to bring those up too. Each change levels the original again.
- STEP 04
Compare and download
Play Before and After from the same spot, then save a 16-bit WAV or a 192 kbps MP3 with peaks under -1 dBTP.
What a music leveler does
A music leveler is a slow hand on the volume fader. It listens to the song 3 seconds at a time, with the same K-weighted loudness measurement streaming services use, and compares each stretch with the loudness of the whole track. Sections under it are turned up and sections over it are turned down, never more than 6 dB either way unless you pick a wider range. Amount sets how far toward even each section moves.
The gain moves slowly on purpose. It eases down over about a second, starting just before a loud chorus because it has read the whole song first, and comes back up over about three seconds after. A kick drum or a cymbal crash is over long before that, so single hits are never turned down and the song never pumps. Swells smaller than about 3 dB are mostly left alone, so the song keeps its shape.
Plenty of songs start or end quietly on purpose: a soft piano intro, a fade, a last ringing chord. With Keep a quiet intro and ending quiet on, a start or end that sits more than 12 dB under the rest of the song is left exactly as it was. When a song is already even, with a loudness range under about 4 LU, the leveler says so and changes nothing.
A true-peak limiter holds the result under -1 dBTP, and the screen says how many dB it took off the highest peak. The song stays at about the loudness it had. Everything runs in a Worker on your device, so the track is never uploaded.
When the music leveler is the wrong tool
- Speech, a podcast or a voice-over. Use the audio leveler, which follows speech phrase by phrase and keeps the pauses between sentences quiet.
- Setting the whole song to a streaming level. Use the music loudness normalizer. It moves the whole track by one amount for Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube, so the balance between sections stays as you mixed it.
- A mix that needs mastering. If the song sounds thin, harsh or boomy, or the loud parts are already crushed, a leveler cannot fix that. It changes volume over time, not tone, and cannot bring back punch a limiter took away. That needs EQ and mastering in your editor, or a mastering engineer.
Questions
Will this squash my dynamics?
Not the way a hard compressor does. It moves whole sections over seconds, never single notes or drum hits, so the punch inside each section stays. What it does shrink is the jump between sections, which is the point. If the chorus should still lift, lower Amount or pick 3 dB either way; the screen shows the most gain it applied.
Is this a compressor?
It works like a very slow, gentle compressor with an automatic fader on top. A normal compressor reacts to peaks within milliseconds; this one reacts to 3 seconds of loudness, turns down over about a second and back up over about three. In Audacity, the Compressor under Effect > Volume and Compression, with a low ratio and long attack and release, followed by the Limiter, comes closest.
What about the quiet intro?
With Keep a quiet intro and ending quiet on, which is the default, a start or end more than 12 dB under the rest of the song is left exactly as it was, so a soft intro or a fade stays soft. Untick it to bring them up with everything else, as far as the gain range allows.
Can I use this before uploading to Spotify?
Yes, but it does a different job from Spotify's own loudness matching. Spotify turns the whole track up or down by one amount, so a verse that is quiet in your file stays quiet on Spotify. Level the song here first, then set its overall loudness for Spotify's -14 LUFS or Apple Music's -16. Set the song to Spotify or Apple Music loudness
Will it change how loud my song is overall?
Only a little. Sections move toward the song's own loudness, so the quiet parts come up and the loud parts come down around the middle, and the integrated loudness usually stays within a dB or two. To land on an exact level, use the music loudness normalizer afterward.
Does it upload my song?
No. Decoding, measuring, leveling and the export all run in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server.