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I have a 2012 13" MacBook Pro. However the volume at its highest setting is still not loud enough in many scenarios.

I set the volume to highest in System Preferences. VLC gives me a way to increase the volume over 100% but I want to make the change across the system.

Can someone tell me how to make this change?

slhck
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Kiran
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    If you notice with VLC, it's similar to "overdrive" in which it typically causes distortion of audio and a significant degradation of audio quality. One that could, over time, overwhelm and wear your speakers. It may not be wise to proceed down that route, instead it would be better to buy some spare speakers or headphones (+splitter if watching with others). – nerdwaller Nov 13 '12 at 15:05
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    It only distorts the sound noticeably if the sound is above a certain level of loudness under a normal volume setting. But if the sound is coming from a quiet source (e.g., someone whispering in a movie), then there needn't be anything wrong with amplifying it. – Jess Riedel Aug 23 '18 at 19:52

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http://froyosoft.com/soundbooster.php. Soundbooster comes as lite free version and paid version in App Store (currently around 7 EUR). Does what it say. You set boost once (system-wide), then your volume control works normally, but louder. It is nice to the processor, uses only 2% on my 2011 MBP You have also EQ there and selective volume, but works simple enough to just enable boost and forget. No noticeable quality loss screenshot

tutejszy
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    This app has really bad ratings and reviews. – Asclepius Jun 04 '17 at 20:18
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    I don't know the paid version with bad opinions. I recommend Lite, free version which works flawlessly on my computer since 2 months. Besides, if paid version somehow resembles lite version I don't agree with any of this opinion. – tutejszy Jun 05 '17 at 09:10
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    Lite version does the job – luis19mx Mar 26 '18 at 19:57
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    I investigated this option. The paid version is legit and works, it's been rated poorly because people didn't know that there is a separate driver (presumably a kext or two) that needs to be installed outside of the Mac App Store for SoundBooster to work as intended. – adamlogan May 10 '18 at 14:04
  • Strongly suggest DO NOT INSTALL THIS PROGRAM. Installed, made my usb microphone disappear in zoom. Now I have to spend the time to figure out how to uninstall, and hope that the microphone comes back. – iamacomputer Jun 22 '21 at 15:05
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There is no way to increase the maximum volume on a mac OS. Like you said, however, there are tweaks that can manipulate the sound to "distort" it and allow for louder sound. One such tweak exists called Boom that does this very thing. Not sure of any free tweaks.

Andrew Robinson
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  • Are you sure the Decibels doesn't actually go up with Boom? I'm quite curious about this. – adamlogan May 10 '18 at 14:10
  • Back when I answered this, dB wasn't higher with Boom or other software I was aware of. I haven't looked into any of these since 2012'ish, so it _could_ be different now, but I would be skeptical. – Andrew Robinson Jul 20 '18 at 18:10
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    I decided to get to the bottom of this. I used the SPLnFFT app on my iPhone 6s with 10 second measurements using a [youtube stereo test](https://youtu.be/hTvJoYnpeRQ?t=10s) of the built-in speakers of my late 2012 MBP. 1st round was sans Boom 3D. Max DB was 80.5. The second round was Boom 3D enabled and overdriven to the max with flat eq settings. Max DB was 79.2. Did a repeat with earphones plugged in. 1st round sans boom 3d, max DB 65.3, 2nd round Boom 3d enabled and overdriven to the max, max DB was 64.6. Tested as of July 31st, 2018. Disappointing results for this hard of hearing fellow. – adamlogan Jul 31 '18 at 09:08
  • @adamlogan But what about the RMS? If it works like a limiter, it will be making the quiet parts louder, hence a greater RMS, which would sound "louder". – shadowmoses Dec 12 '20 at 23:52
  • I get what you mean @shadowmoses, that would probably be fine for a hearing person, but as a functionally deaf person without the benefit of hearing aids (when using earphones/headphones), I need a minimum of 1.5 x gain, 2x is more common, and for very quiet audio sources 4x - 8x original gain. – adamlogan Jan 12 '21 at 23:58
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Audio Hijack by Rogue Amoeba can legitimately overdrive your audio, among other things. It's a digital recorder with a real-time audio effects engine. You don't have to record if you don't want to.

To achieve your goal, Add your sound input(s) (Input Device, or Application) and then add an Overdrive function. Options are: Off (no overdrive/100% volume), 2x, 3x, or 4x. I suggest starting with 2x. Select your Output Device (speakers, earphones, etc), and then start the session. This has been the only thing I've found that actually makes the volume louder using software rather than just distorting the audio. Be warned, I have blown out a pair of earphones using this. I suggest using 3x or 4x with great care turning system audio very low and then bringing it back up to a comfortable level after starting the session and selecting 3x or 4x to avoid blowing out the drivers on your earphone/speakers etc. Below is an animated demonstration to show the essentail blocks you'll need to add to overdrive your audio and start a session. Your input or output device or application names may vary.

Animated demonstration of how to set up a session in Audio Hijack to overdrive audio adding Input Device, Volume Overdrive and Output Device blocks and starting a session

Not necessary but I use Audio Hijack in conjunction with Loopback to easily select audio sources I want/don't want as my input audio.

Sound Source can supposedly overdrive audio for applications as well, but I have not noticed an increase in volume when I've tried it, I still use it though as it is a really convenient input/output selector than the Mac OS, and it has the advantage that you can control volume for each application independently.

Update Dec 7 2022 SoundSource overdrive is working for me now on an 2021 M1 MBP, for master output level and per-app as well. I'd go with SoundSource over Audio Hijack by far.

adamlogan
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Replying to my own answer from years ago about Sondbooster, there is even better and free app: Eqmac. https://eqmac.app/ Integrates with system, basic and advanced 10 band equalizer is free, some more advanced features are paid. I'm using it (free version) for year or two since beta version, works beautiful

eqmac interface

tutejszy
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  • Checked this out. I think it's a great option, as a limited free option solely for overdrive. The Auto EQ feature with presets for headphones to neutralize the sound for headsets and earphones is neat, albeit not of use to me personally. – adamlogan Dec 07 '22 at 14:29
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A DAC/ Headphone Amp should do the trick so long as you output to something other than the built-in speakers. That includes headphones, earphones, in-ear headphones, speakers, and all the Bluetooth equivalents.

There are highly portable ones that are powered completely by the USB port.

The HRT microStreamer is compatible with Mac, Windows & Linux, but not mobile devices.

The AudioQuest DragonFly Red works with Mac/Windows (unfortunately not Linux) but does work with mobile devices such as iOS and Android phones/tablets with adaptors. Note that the red one outputs higher voltage than the black one according to this comparison sheet. This means more gain, and/or that headphones that require more power for the same Decibel can be used compared to the black one.

There are others out there to explore too at varying price points. These are just a couple of popular examples.

adamlogan
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