How To Turn Audio Up Past the Volume Limit on a Windows PC

It’s no secret that Windows PCs have quite conservative sound settings. Even at 100%, things might sound too quiet. This can be frustrating if you want to use your PC to listen to music or watch movies with loud, high-quality sound.

Luckily, you can use a few tricks to turn up your PC’s sound past the limit. In this article, we’ll show you how to do it.

Turning the Volume Up Past the Limit

There are several reasons you might want to increase the volume on your Windows PC beyond the maximum level.

In some situations, you may need to make a video call or participate in a conference call, and you’ll want to be sure that your audio is clear and audible. Additionally, if you’re working in a loud environment, you may need to increase the volume to hear your audio over the background noise.

Some audio files may be recorded at a lower volume than others, so increasing it can help even out the sound. And finally, if you’re simply trying to enjoy some music or other audio content, you may find that the maximum volume isn’t quite loud enough to suit your preferences.

Whatever the situation, you’ll be pleased to learn that there are several ways to boost your PC’s audio past the default limit.

Let’s see how each method works.

The Loudness Equalizer

Windows 10 includes several audio enhancements that can be used to improve the sound quality of your speakers. By enabling Loudness Equalization, you can increase the overall volume of your speakers and add more depth to the sound.

Here’s how to go about it:

1. Right-click on the speaker icon on the right side of the taskbar.
   
2. Select “Open sound settings” from the popup menu.
   
3. Under “Related Settings,” click on “Sound Control Panel.”
   
4. Right-click on the speaker icon and select” Properties” from the context menu.
   
5. Click on the “Enhancements” tab and check the box next to “Loudness Equalizer.”
   
6. Hit the “Apply” and “OK” buttons to save the changes.
   

In addition, the graphic equalizer on the enhancements menu can be used to adjust the levels of specific frequencies, allowing you to fine-tune the audio to your liking.

If you’re not happy with the default speaker settings, experiment with the audio enhancements in Windows to find a configuration that sounds best to you.

The Volume Mixer

The volume mixer in Windows 10 is a feature that allows you to control the sound volume of individual applications. This can be useful if you want to, for example, keep the music volume low while elevating the sound from some other application such as Chrome or Skype.

To access the volume mixer:

1. Right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar and select “Volume Mixer.” The volume mixer will then open, showing separate slider controls for each application that is currently playing sound.
   
2. Adjust the slider for the desired application to change its sound volume. You can also mute an application by clicking on the “Mute” button next to its slider.
   
3. Close the volume mixer window when you’re finished.
   

Equalizer APO

Equalizer APO is a free and open-source parametric equalizer for Windows. It is implemented as an Audio Processing Object (APO) for the system effect infrastructure introduced with Windows Vista. Equalizer APO was designed to help improve the quality of audio output on personal computers.

By default, the Windows audio stack employs a simple, single-band equalizer that does not provide adequate control over the audio output. Equalizer APO addresses this problem by providing a much more flexible equalizer that allows users to fine-tune the audio output to their liking.

Here’s how you can boost your computer’s volume past the default limit using this tool:

1. Download Equalizer APO. The files downloaded are sent to your downloads folder in zipped format, so you’ll need a zip extractor to extract individual files, including the installer.
   
2. Once you’ve extracted the files, click on the installer to begin the installation.
   
3. In the configurator window of the installer, choose the devices you intend to use with Equalizer APO from the list provided and then click “OK.”
   
4. Reboot your machine as requested.
   
5. Open the “Equalizer APO” install directory and select the “Config” folder.
   
6. Right-click on the “Config” file, click “Open with,” and select Notepad from the dropdown list.
   
7. Increase the “the preamp” number to something like +15 dB (Ideally, you shouldn’t go above +20 dB).
   
8. Delete all the text in the file so that the only remaining piece of text is “preamp: +15dB”
   
9. Save the file and restart your computer.
   

You may now go ahead and play any audio file of your choosing.

While Equalizer APO is primarily designed for use with headphones, it can also be used to improve the sound quality of speakers and other audio output devices.

Crank Up the Volume

Whether you’re trying to watch a movie or listen to music, sometimes the sound from your computer isn’t loud enough. Using any of the tools discussed in this article, you’ll be able to crank up that sound and enjoy your audio without worrying about being unable to hear them properly.

What tricks do you use to turn your Windows audio past the limit?