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It’s not a secret that MacBook doesn’t have the best sound system among laptops. Very often the sound of some YouTube videos is so low, so I have to put the MacBook on my chest to hear when I am in a noisy environment. I researched various ways to amplify sound on MacBook and here is what I found.

When your computer overheats, your MacBook's fan kicks into action. But when it runs too long or too loud, there may be another cause to consider. If your Mac is clean and grime-free and you are keeping your apps and tabs in check and the fan is still spinning frequently and loudly, then try resetting the System Management Controller (SMC). Peter Mac - Waste No Time. Unlike Pluto - Mindless Bliss. Djane Housekat - Paint The Night. I3vax & Miaa - The Quiet One.

• Subreddit for the singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco & friends.
• A list of Loud and Quiet's best music of 2014. Music reviews, ratings, news and more. See which albums are sitting at the top of this year's charts.

So, how to make Mac volume louder than maximum?

There are multiple ways to make Mac volume louder, ranging from DIY equalizers to paid tools such as Boom 3D and its alternatives. There also browser plug-ins to which amplify sound when watching YouTube or Netflix in Chrome. However, those tools can might damage MacBook speakers.

Is this an OS problem?

I read in some forums that the problem with the low sound level on Macs is because Apple intentionally limits the max volume to protect the speakers. To test this hypothesis I used the MacBook with both macOS and Windows (Bootcamp) installed.

I used NIOSH Sound Level Meter to measure the sound output. I also used the same video on YouTube and the same browser (same version) with all sound controls set to maximum. While I understand that this is not the perfect setting it’s as close I could get.

During the test, I found that macOS was louder than Windows by 10.3 dB. Another myth debunked!

macOS settings

Before trying to use non-traditional methods make sure that the settings on the MacBook are properly set. If they are not then simply settings them properly may be enough at this point.

Go to System Preferences (link) and click on the Sound panel. In the dialog box click on Sound tab

First, make sure that the Balance is set in the middle. If you move the Balance all the way to the left then right speakers will be muted.

Next, make sure that the Mute box is unchecked. If it is checked then obviously will be no sound at all.

If you check the box “Show volume in the menu bar” then you will be able to control the volume level from the menu bar. Moving the volume slider in this dialog or from the menu bar has the same effect as using F11/F12 keys on the keyboard or volume control on the Touch Bar.

Tip

If you are using F11/F12 keys the volume level changes in big increments, so it is hard to set the exact sound level you need. In this case, use hold Shift and Option (Alt) keys with F11 and F12. You will be able to change the volume in quarter increments and get the precise volume level.

MacBook volume suddenly low

Sometimes the sound volume gets low all of a sudden.

While there are multiple reasons for this the two most common fixes when MacBook volume suddenly drops are:

1. Force Quit all applications or restart the computer.
   Some applications take control of the speakers and do not properly release them. It happens with Safari a lot. Another application that has this problem is Team Viewer.
   With TV you can either force quit after the session or uncheck the “Computer sound” option. Restarting the computer is another way of quitting all applications.
2. Reset NVRAM/PRAM and SMC.
   NVRAM and PRAM keep a lot of settings in the memory including some information about speakers. When those settings got corrupted they may prevent changing the sound volume on MacBooks.

If you need instructions on resetting them check my other article: 18 Ways to Fix MacBook Black Screen

How to increase volume in iTunes

If iTunes is your main app to listen to the music and podcasts or watch movies there is a way to boost its volume.

Start iTunes. And then either go to Equalizer item from Window menu or use Command+Option(Alt)+E key combination.

This will bring up an Equalizer window where you can either choose a preset (the default is Flat) or boost all frequencies manually. I decided to do the latter and compare volume before and after with the same music file.

When I only increase Preamp to the max the volume did increase by about 4dB according to my app. The sound was noticeably higher and at times painfully so for my ears.

When I maxed out all frequency bands the sound got distorted, but the volume got higher by an additional dB (5dB total).

Note: I am not a sound expert so I used the sound test I found from the internet which was already recorded on a very high level. It is possible that if I had the sound file with a lower level I would get even better results.

But the point of the exercise does not accurately measure the sound but rather find out ways to boost the sound on the Mac beyond the max.

Other media players

If you watching downloaded movies or DVD I recommend trying another very popular app – VLC media player. You can download a DMG file (installation package) from here.

Right off the bat VLC is louder then iTunes by about 2.5dB (in my test) if you just set the volume of the player to the maximum.

Then if you go to VLC Preferences and click on Audio tab, there will be an “Always reset audio start level to” setting which by default is set to 100%. I moved it up all the way to 200% and tested the sound again. This time the gain over base iTunes level was 5.5dB.

Then I found VLC Equalizer.

To get to it go to Window menu and then click on Audio Effects or simply use Shift+Command+E key combination. I enabled Preamp and set it to the max. This time the level was higher by 6.5dB over base iTunes measurement. I had to use headphones for testing to avoid damaging my ears.

Raising Youtube and Netflix volumes

While we found out the way to boost volumes for music and movies played by iTunes and other media players it doesn’t help with YouTube clips or Netflix movies because they require internet browsers to watch.

Fortunately, if there is a need to do something in Chrome there is almost always a plug-in for it. One of the best Chrome extensions for this purpose is “Ears: Bass Boost, EQ Any Audio!”.

After installing it in Chrome click on the new icon in the extension bar. The configuration menu can also be opened in the full window.

The basic version of the extension is free, but if needed one can upgrade to Pro version for $0.99 per month.

Again, I compared the sound volume of YouTube clip before and after volume boost in Ears plug-in.

And yes, the plug-in has delivered. The boost from the free version was about 5.3dB.

So, if you looking to increase volume on anything you watch or listen on Chrome browser then Ears extension is exactly what you need.

So far we explored some options to boost sound in specific applications on Mac: iTunes, VLC, browsers. But I don’t want to have multiple ways to do the same, I want to have one way to boost audio system-wide.

Is this possible? The answer is yes. First, let’s review some paid tools and then see if we can find some free alternatives.

Commercial apps to boost audio system wide

Audio Hijack from Rogue Amoeba

Audio Hijack was on the market for many years. It has lots of functions including capturing audio from any app and device on Mac, podcast recording, etc.

I am only interested in the volume pumping functionality the app provides. The app is very expensive: $59 for a single license, but they allow me to download a trial version which I used for testing.

After download click on New session, choose Increase volume from the Templates. I tested 2x and 4x override options. Again, I used iTunes clip, but first I turned off equalizer settings.

At 2x boost the sound level increase by 3.6dB (almost the same as iTines with Preamp), at 4x it was even higher by 5.6dB (a little less than VLC media player maximum).

Boom 3D

Another paid app is Boom 3D from Global Delight. They used to have quite popular Boom 2 app which was discontinued.

The new app costs less than Audio Hijack: $39.99. I don’t know how often they do promotions, but at the time of writing they were selling their app for $19.99 ($20 discount).

Similar to Audio Hijack Boom 3D can be downloaded as a 30-day trial version. But unlike the app from Rogue Amoeba Boom 3D requires installation.

After the installation, you need to restart your Mac (very annoying) because Boom replaces the built-in output with its own driver.

After restarting the Mac they ask to sign up on the logon screen. You can skip sign up part by clicking on the button in the top right corner, which I did to avoid giving them a bogus email.

But boy, it was worth all the hassle. I move the boost level to the max and ran the same iTunes test and Boom 3D came out as a winner. The increase was highest with 7.3dB total improvement.

Another cool thing about Boom: they provide application level audio control. It’s very handy when you want to have iTunes play back on the background, but need incoming messages from Slack be loud so they don’t get lost.

To uninstall Boom click on hamburger icon in the top right corner, select About and at the bottom of About screen click on “Uninstall Boom 3D” button.

Boom 3D alternatives

Some users recommended EqMaq2 as an alternative to Boom 3D.

Installation process is even more demanding than Boom’s. First, it required a driver update, then permissions to change the system. Fortunately, it didn’t require restart this time.

First, I thought it increases the volume too, but it only works as an equalizer. So if you need a system wide equalizer (for instance, when you run Spotify) then EqMaq2 could be a perfect tool for the purpose.

What’s good about EqMaq2 is that it’s free because it’s an open source software. Obviously, donations are welcome because even open source developers need money.

Another thing I liked about EqMaq2: it was easy to uninstall by clicking on Uninstall button on the main screen.

DIY booster (free)

Since EqMaq2 did not do what I needed, and I didn’t want to pay for commercial apps I decided to try a DIY option.

The steps are following:

• Install Soundflower
• Install AU Lab. AU Lab was an application that comes with macOS in Applications/Utilities, but in Mojave it was removed. Now you can download it from iTunes page.
• Just unzip the file and start it.
• AU Lab will ask access to Microphone, so you have to give the access in Preferences -> Security and Privacy panel, Microphone section.
• Now in Sound panel in Preferences change the Output from Built-in to Soundflower 2ch.
• Back in AU Lab in Stereo In/Stereo Out factory configuration set Audio Input Device to Soundflower (2ch).
• In Output Settings change Audio Output Device to Built-in Output.
• Click on Create Document button.

Well, the results were more than underwhelming. The sound thru AU Lab was in fact 9dB lower than with iTunes baseline!

Word of caution

I must say that some of the boosters are very effective, so I need to warn readers about two things:

When I was researching this topic I found several users complaining that Boom and other apps damaged their MacBook speakers. I believe they were trying to use MacBook as DJ equipment.

If you need super loud music I suggest to buy good external speakers instead using volume booster apps. The good reason to use latter is to raise the volume of audio files which were recorded on a low level.

Any sound over 85dBA can cause hearing damage. If you are in the environment where the noise is over 85dBA for 8 hours the damage to the hearing can be permanent. The level of 100dBA can cause permanent damage after 15 minutes!

Conclusion

If you need to boost the volume level in iTunes you can do it inside the app. The boost you get is comparable to the most commercial apps.

If you need to improve the audio of YouTube or Netflix videos install Ears Chrome extension and watch the movies in the Chrome browser.

If you need system wide volume booster go with Boom 3D. It’s cheaper than Audio Hijack and provides the most powerful boost from all solutions we covered in this post.

Off topic, but....kept your 'Girfriends Mother awake' !!?? Please say your Mac was in a guest room ;)

Yes she was in the guest room, but the Powermac is in the adjacent room. It was so loud you could hear it humming & sometimes roaring from the other end of the house.

I was introduced to a couple of MDDs that had a thick layer of dust in between the outer plastic and the inner metal casing on the lower front. Removing that dust helped the fans to be more quiet.

I'll second the notion on the dust trapped between the outer plastic casing and the inner metal chassis -- this also affects models such as my G4 Gigabit Ethernet (the case style previous to the MDD). My power supply fan began failing intermittently, causing the computer to shut off abruptly when the CPU temperature reached 80 degrees Celsius. I began monitoring the temperature while waiting for a replacement power supply to arrive, and it was normally operating at around 70 degrees. (I kludged up an external fan as a backup.) I discovered all the trapped dust when I disassembled the computer to replace the power supply, and now it operates in the upper 50s. I wish I'd thought to take a picture of all the dust!
You can probably get rid of (most) of it without disassembling the computer by using canned compressed air, inserting the plastic straw between the outer plastic and the inner metal chassis. Do it in the garage or somewhere because it'll blow out a lot of dust!
I recall reading somewhere that the speed of the main fan on the MDD models is thermostatically controlled, so eliminating the dust makes the fans run slower and thus quieter.

---
'... and if I close my mind in fear, please pry it open... '

Yeah I was amazed at the amount of dust in there. I cleaned it out darefully with a small nozzle attachment on my plastic handled vacume cleaner, then blew the rest out with compressed air. I too saw a 5 - 10 degrees change. After this & the fan swaps, my Powermac now runs at around 41 - 51 degrees celcius... and very quiet!

300% quieter? I'd settle for 100%, but 300 would mean it was generating anti-sound!
Seriously, though. Apple offered a free fan replacement program, which I used. It's still quite loud. I did get to a point where it was absolutely ridiculous - until I discovered an air inlet at the base of the front panel. Cleaning the dust plug out of there made a huge difference. Now I keep the machine off the floor, and it doesn't gather so much dust.
Great tip, though. I might just look for one of those fans.
---
Ian Eiloart

Yes this machine was part of that power supply replacement, but still too noisy. I was amazed at the amount of dust near those vent holes too... clearing it cooled it down by 5 -10 degrees, but the noise factor was the problem, so I changed the fans.

Has anyone come up with a masterful fan replacement for the annoying cooling system in the rev. A iMac G5? The rev. B fixed it, but I believe they went with an entirely new power supply and internal configuration that makes it incompatible with the rev. A.

I'm afraid I cant help you there mate. The iMac is a pretty quiet machine anyway, my mate has a 1.8G5 iMac & it's very quiet. You would have to be very keen & skilled to tinker with that sort of modification to an imac.

Thanks - you might just have given my MDD G4 a new lease of life as a (home) server when I upgrade it in (probably) a couple of months... I've long suspected the main fan, but just never got around to researching it. Now I'll not have any excuse! :-)

Loud Or Quiet Mac Os Catalina

No worries, I was seriously considering getting rid of the Powermac & getting a iMac 24 inch until I did this quieting stuff to it as it was driving me crazy. Instead I picked up a 23 inch cinema display on ebay for a third of the price of an iMac 24 inch & ive got a much more upgradable & expandable machine which is still easily fast enough for me.

Apple issued an official noise fix for the MDD CPUs a long time ago. About a year or so after the machine was released, so many owners were griping about the noise that Apple set up a parts swap program. They shipped a replacement power supply (with quieter fans) and a replacement CPU cooling fan, all for the amazing cost of $25 shipping. You could install the kit yourself or take it to an Apple servicing dealer and they'd put it in for free. I installed it myself in my MDD and it was immediately quieter.
I doubt those kits are available any more, but it wouldn't hurt to check with Apple.

Yes I was told by the previous owner of my MDD Powermac ( a graphic design firm) that they did this apple fan swap & that it had made a big difference. I hate to think how loud it was beforehand. I was seriously thinking of selling it, but now it's whisper quiet so I think I'll keep it for a couple more years.

try putting a bit of padding under the main 120 mm fan too, this might stop some vibrations.

90CFM to 18dBa ratio is awesome. I picked up a sub-20dBa fan that was supposed to be in the 75CFM range, but it wasn't cooling the CPU enough.
Nap mode has been know to be problematic on MDD towers - never worked on mine.
The fans in the powersupply are the worst offenders. They were rated around 55dBa to 45CFM, with stepping. It was actually difficult to find a worse ratio.
Replacing the fan within the power supply is a big undertaking, b/c you have to pull the whole computer apart, then dismantle the power supply, but it's worth it for a cheap solution.
---
'I want my two dollars!'

Is the SilenX fan controlled by the thermostat like the original? I bought a replacement fan a while back which was supposed to be quieter than the original, but it ran at full speed all the time and ended up being noisier. BTW, I agree with richardjenkins - I got the verax kit for the PSU and it made a huge difference in the noise level. Pricey, but in my opinion well worth it. If the SilenX fan actually cycles up and down, then I need to get one ASAP!

Yes the silenx fan seems to cycle up and down, just like the original, and like another generic fan I tried which didnt put out enough air to keep it cool enough.
It's basicly silent mostly, then you can hear it spin up a bit more( still quiet) when doing any intensive tasks. I highly recommend it as it's a 5 minute job.

Further, it's important that you connect the Silenx fan to the 2 pin motherboard connector & not the 4 pin Molex connector. This way it cycles up & down in speed. With the molex connector it just remains on full speed, which is a bit too noisy.

I just bought the Silenx fan, but it has a 3-wire tail on it. How do I connect it to the 2-pin connector on the G4 MDD motherboard?

I did case and power supply fan replacements, insertion of a few bits of dense foam for isolating mechanical vibrations, and some simple airflow mods (to improve cooling efficiency with the lower rpm fans) with strategically placed cardboard years ago. It made my dual 1.25 much quieter, but by no means turned it into a 'silent PC.'
This past summer I was doing some recording using the MDD as my DAW platform, and the previous mods were not going to cut it.
I went back in and removed the perforated plastic panel on the rear, completely disconnected the small fan in the door that blows into the optical bays, and revamped the plenum completely using more cardboard and aluminum duct tape to seal all gaps and holes that interfered with smooth airflow through the case. Then I covered every surface -- sides, bottom, top and interior parts like the optical bays and sides of the psu -- with some dynamat (a very dense, self-adhesive vibration-damping material commonly used in car audio) that I had lying around. After reassembling it, I lined the corner where it sits with acoustical foam to further absorb any remaining high-frequency noise.
You can no longer tell it is running at all unless you are sitting right next to it, *censored* your ear and concentrate hard on listening for it. From 4 feet away you can not hear it at all. I can record spoken-word with a hot condenser mic ~10 feet away and have no problems. And all of that is in a completely silent room. With the heat or AC running, or normal house noise, you don't even know it is there when you are right on top of it.
lyd

I should add to the above the clarification that all the dynamat is on the inside surfaces of the case. The outside appears stock, except in the rear where I removed the useless plastic grating (leaving just the metal) to reduce flow restriction and noise from air turbulence.
lyd

Interesting... what does 'revamped the plenum completely 'actually mean? what is the Plenum?
Do you think you could take some pics of what you did & upload them somewhere for us to look at?

Loud Or Quiet Mac Os X

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