Normalize audio loudness on your Mac, without uploading
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
To even out loudness on a Mac, select your audio in Finder, such as a podcast episode, interview or voice memo, hold the right Option (⌥) key and choose Edit › Normalize loudness. To hit a specific target, choose Edit › Loudness for podcasts (−16 LUFS), streaming (−14 LUFS) or broadcast (−23 LUFS). FileDial works on your Mac, with no upload.
How to do it with FileDial
- Select the audio files, such as podcast episodes or interviews, in Finder.
- Hold right ⌥ to open the dial.
- Choose Edit › Normalize loudness for a general level, or a preset: Edit › Loudness for podcasts (−16 LUFS), Edit › Loudness for streaming (−14 LUFS) or Edit › Loudness for broadcast (−23 LUFS).
- Find the new file beside each original, and use Undo on the result card if you want to go back.
Your original file stays untouched. The result is saved beside it, and every result has Undo.
Which option to pick
| Tool | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Normalize loudnessEdit | You want consistent loudness without a specific target. Saves a new copy beside the original. |
| Loudness for podcasts (−16 LUFS)Edit | A podcast episode or spoken recording needs −16 LUFS, true peak −1 dBTP, measured in two passes. |
| Loudness for streaming (−14 LUFS)Edit | Music or audio is going to a streaming platform. −14 LUFS, true peak −1 dBTP, two-pass. |
| Loudness for broadcast (−23 LUFS)Edit | Audio must meet a −23 LUFS broadcast target, with a −1 dBTP true peak, two-pass. |
What LUFS means and why the targets differ
Peak normalization only looks at the single loudest sample, so a quiet interview with one sharp cough still ends up quiet. Loudness normalization measures how loud the whole programme sounds to a listener, using a unit called LUFS (loudness units relative to full scale). Because it is weighted towards how people actually hear, two files at the same LUFS value sound roughly as loud as each other.
Different destinations ask for different targets. Many streaming platforms turn tracks up or down towards a reference around −14 LUFS, so mastering near that point means the service changes your audio as little as possible. Podcast guidance commonly suggests about −16 LUFS for stereo, and about −19 LUFS for mono, since a mono file played on both speakers sounds louder than the same reading suggests. Broadcast television in many regions uses −23 LUFS, which leaves more room for dynamics.
The true peak figure matters too. Encoding to MP3 or AAC can push peaks slightly above where they sat in the original, so a ceiling of −1 dBTP leaves a small margin that helps prevent clipping after conversion. A two-pass process measures the file first and then adjusts, which lands closer to the target than a single guess.
- −14 LUFS: music and video for streaming platforms.
- −16 LUFS: stereo podcasts and spoken video.
- −23 LUFS: broadcast delivery.
Why not use an online loudness tool
Audio you are levelling is usually close to finished: an episode before it is published, a client's ad, a recorded interview with someone who agreed to be heard by your audience, not by an unknown web service. Uploading it means trusting a stranger's server with work that is not public yet.
Free conversion sites carry a security cost as well. The FBI Denver Field Office warned on 7 March 2025 that free online document converter tools are increasingly used to spread malware; the conversions work, but returned files can carry malware leading to ransomware, and sites can scrape personal data including identity numbers, banking and crypto details, emails and passwords. The warning concerned document converters, and it is a sensible reason to keep any file processing local.
FileDial measures and adjusts loudness on your Mac. Files are never uploaded and every tool works with Wi-Fi off.
Other ways to do it on a Mac
The Music app has a Sound Check setting that evens out playback volume across your library, but it only changes how Music plays tracks; it does not write a new, levelled file you can upload or send. GarageBand and other audio editors let you adjust gain and add a compressor or limiter by hand, which works well if you are comfortable reading meters and are processing one project at a time.
FileDial is the better choice when you want an exact, named target rather than adjusting by ear, when a whole season of episodes needs the same treatment in one batch, or when you want a new file saved beside the original with Undo a click away. The preset names tell you the target and the true peak ceiling up front, so there is nothing to configure. The same tools also work on a video's soundtrack: the picture is copied as it is and only the sound is re-encoded.
Questions
What is the difference between Normalize loudness and the LUFS presets?
Normalize loudness evens out the level and saves a new copy beside the original. The three presets each target a named loudness, −16, −14 or −23 LUFS, with a −1 dBTP true peak ceiling, measuring the file in two passes to land close to the target.
Which LUFS target should I use for a podcast?
Use Edit › Loudness for podcasts (−16 LUFS) for a stereo episode. Podcast guidance commonly suggests around −16 LUFS for stereo and around −19 LUFS for mono, but check what your host or network asks for.
Can I use the presets on a video?
Yes. The loudness presets also work on a video's soundtrack. The picture is copied as it is and only the sound is re-encoded, and the result is saved as a new file you can undo.
Can I level a whole folder of episodes at once?
Yes. Select all the files in Finder, hold right ⌥ and choose the tool once. FileDial runs it on every selected file and saves each result beside its original.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Yes. Every FileDial tool runs on your Mac and works with Wi-Fi off. Your audio and video files are never uploaded. The only things that go online are a licence check and optional anonymous usage counts, which you can switch off in Settings › Privacy.