Microphone volume meter
Set your microphone level before you record. The meter responds in real time as you speak, so you can find the gain setting that captures your voice cleanly without ever hitting the top.
Ready. Press Record and allow microphone access when your browser asks.
The level you are aiming for
Speak at your normal recording volume and adjust your system's input gain until the meter mostly sits in the blue and just touches amber on your loudest words. That leaves headroom for the moments you get emphatic without ever reaching the top of the scale.
| Meter behaviour | Diagnosis | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Barely leaves the bottom | Under-recorded | Raise input gain, or move closer to the microphone |
| Sits in the blue, amber on peaks | Correct | None needed |
| Frequently red at the top | Clipping | Lower gain, or back off from the microphone |
| Active when you are silent | Noise floor too high | Lower gain and get closer; see reducing noise |
Why clipping cannot be fixed later
Digital audio has a hard ceiling. When the signal exceeds it, the samples above the limit are not recorded loud — they are recorded as the maximum value, and the waveform's peaks are flattened off. That information is destroyed at capture. Turning the volume down afterwards makes a quiet distorted recording rather than a clean one.
Under-recording is the recoverable error. A quiet recording can be amplified, and the only cost is that you amplify the noise floor along with the signal. Given a choice, err quiet.
Where to change your gain
- Windows — Settings, System, Sound, then your input device, then Input volume. Some drivers add a separate Microphone Boost that is best left off.
- macOS — System Settings, Sound, Input, then the Input volume slider.
- USB microphones — many have a physical gain knob. Use that first and leave the operating system slider near maximum.
- Audio interfaces — always set gain on the hardware preamp. It is a better-quality gain stage than any software slider.
The browser cannot change your gain; it can only report what arrives. So make the adjustment in the operating system or on the hardware, and use this meter to see the result.
This meter shows the raw signal
Automatic gain control is disabled on this page. With it enabled the meter would show a level the browser had already adjusted, which would make it useless for setting gain — you would be measuring the correction rather than the source.
- Microphone testRecord a sample and hear yourself back.
- Best mic settingsDistance, gain and placement.
- Reduce background noiseLower the noise floor at the source.
- Voice recorderOnce your level is set, record.
Questions
Is anything recorded while the meter is running?
No. The meter reads the live signal to draw the display and keeps nothing. Audio is only captured if you press Record, and even then it stays in this tab.
What level should I aim for?
Mostly blue, touching amber on your loudest words, never sustained at the top. That leaves enough headroom for unexpected peaks without under-recording.
Can I fix a recording that clipped?
Not really. Clipping destroys the peaks at the moment of capture, so the information is not in the file to recover. Declipping tools reconstruct a guess and the result is audibly worse than a clean take. Re-record if you can.
The meter shows nothing at all. What now?
Either permission was denied or the wrong input is selected. Check the Input dropdown, then click the padlock in the address bar to confirm Microphone is set to Allow. The troubleshooting guide covers the rest.
Why does my level look different here than in Zoom?
Zoom applies automatic gain control, which continuously adjusts your level. This page disables it so you see the true signal. The unprocessed level is the one to set your gain against.
Does the meter show decibels?
It is a relative peak meter rather than a calibrated dB scale. Calibrated metering requires a known reference level that a browser cannot establish, so the display is deliberately shown as a range rather than false precision.