Clip audio

Why is my clip so quiet on TikTok and Shorts, and how do I fix it?

You scroll from a loud video into yours and it almost disappears. Or you turned it up and now the voice crackles. Both have the same few causes, and both are fixed before you post, not after.

Make your clips Jump to the fix
What is going on

Three reasons a clip ends up quiet or harsh

  1. 1

    The source was quiet to begin with

    A podcast mic set low, a stream where the game is louder than the voice, a call recorded on a laptop. A clip carries the sound of the moment you cut, so a quiet recording gives you a quiet clip.

  2. 2

    The app turns loud videos down, not quiet ones up

    YouTube lowers videos that are much louder than average so the feed stays even. It does not raise quiet ones. Do not count on any app to rescue a clip that went out too quiet.

  3. 3

    It was turned up too far

    Pushing the whole clip louder also pushes the loudest moments past the top. A laugh, a shout or a hit of music then crackles or sounds flat and squashed, which is worse than quiet.

The fix

Five steps, in this order

Works the same in CapCut, Premiere, DaVinci or a free online tool. The numbers are a guide, your ears decide.

  1. Listen on a phone speaker first. Not headphones. Most people watch on a phone with the sound low, so that is the test that counts. If the voice is hard to follow there, the clip is too quiet.
  2. Aim for about -14 LUFS. LUFS is how loud something sounds over its whole length. Around -14 is where most short videos in the feed sit. Many editors and free meters show it; anything near -14 is fine, there is no need to hit it exactly.
  3. Keep the loudest moments under -1 dB. Use a limiter (in many editors it sits next to the volume slider) rather than only the volume slider. It lifts the quiet parts and stops the loud ones at a ceiling, so nothing crackles.
  4. Put music well under the voice. If you add music, it should sit clearly below the speaker, so the words win even on a cheap speaker. If you have to strain to hear the words, the music is too loud.
  5. Compare with a clip from your feed. Play a popular video in your niche, then yours, at the same phone volume. If yours drops noticeably, go back to step 2.
In SnapDub

What happens to the sound when SnapDub cuts a clip

Your clip keeps the sound of the moment exactly as it is in your video, and sound effects you add play over the voice without turning it down. So the clip sounds like your source: start from a video that sounds right, and the steps above take care of the rest.

That makes the source the place to fix it. If you want to check or rework the sound on its own, Extract audio pulls it out of any video in your browser. And if a swear word is the loudest thing in the clip, bleeping it covers that too.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Why is my TikTok so quiet compared to other videos?

Usually the source was recorded quietly and the clip kept that level. Other videos in the feed were made louder before posting. Bring yours to around -14 LUFS with the loudest moments under -1 dB and it will sit with them.

Does YouTube Shorts make quiet videos louder?

No. YouTube turns videos that are much louder than average down, but it does not turn quiet ones up. A clip that goes out quiet stays quiet.

Why does my clip crackle after I turned it up?

The loudest moments were pushed past the top and got cut off. Turn the volume back down and use a limiter instead: it raises the clip as a whole and stops the peaks at a ceiling.

What LUFS should a short clip be?

Around -14 LUFS for the whole clip is a safe target for TikTok, Shorts and Reels, with the loudest moments under -1 dB. A little either side is fine.

How loud should background music be under speech?

Clearly lower than the voice. A simple test: on a phone speaker you should understand every word without trying. If you have to lean in, lower the music.

Get the cut right first

Strong moments, cut at the right place

SnapDub finds the moments worth posting in a long video and cuts them to vertical with captions. Start free, no card.

Make your clips

Also worth reading: what to put under a clip and why Shorts get no views.