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My internal microphone broke, and I have an external microphone on my webcam on an external monitor that is extremely quiet even when the volume is set to 100%.

I tried using Boom, Loopback, and SoundSource, all of them can amplify output (speaker) volumes to above 100% but not microphone volumes.

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Is there a way to boost the microphone's input volume above 100%?

Edit:

I'm using it for Zoom meetings, so I need a software that modifies the volume in real-time.

Hykilpikonna
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    SoundSource can't use plugins on the Input unfortunately. Did you check if your webcam has any kind of control panel available? [Some do, some don't] – Tetsujin Jul 08 '20 at 18:35
  • @Tetsujin No it's just a regular USB webcam without specific drivers or control panels. – Hykilpikonna Jul 08 '20 at 19:03
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    You don't increase the volume of a microphone, you increase the gain. There's only so much gain your going to get out of software. If you want to override that, you must do with with hardware - and for that, you need a preamp/mixer – Allan Jul 08 '20 at 21:02
  • @Allan Thanks for the info. But it's a USB 2.0 webcam that doesn't even transfer audio through an independent audio cable... and with the price of a preamp, it might be better for me to just buy a better mic. – Hykilpikonna Jul 08 '20 at 22:46
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    Use a separate Mic then. What comes on your computer is more for "meeting a marketing requirement" than putting in quality gear for quality results. For instance, my iSight cam is "good enough" for the occasional video chat, but since everything has gone virtual I had to shell out for a high quality webcam (Logitech Brio 4K) and I still have an external mic for when higher quality is needed (i.e. streaming a presentation). You've unfortunately reached the limits of what the built in stuff can do. – Allan Jul 08 '20 at 22:59
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    Putting in a quality mic with pre-amp isn't as expensive as you'd think. Maybe even start with a good quality USB Mic (Snowball Mic is a good one). – Allan Jul 08 '20 at 23:02
  • @Allan Ok, I guess the only available option seems to be to buy better hardware. Thanks for the response and recommendations! – Hykilpikonna Jul 08 '20 at 23:07
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    I know, it sucks...and believe me, when Apple talks about "going green" it's not about the environment - it's about how to get you to give them more of it from your wallet. – Allan Jul 08 '20 at 23:34

2 Answers2

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I'm a bit late to the party, but I had exactly the same issue. The answer was Audio Hijack (probably the one Rogue Amoeba product you didn't mention : )

There is a 'Built-In Effects' block called 'Volume' that allows you to alter the volume and it has 'Overdrive' options to increase the volume by up to four times. Seems to work well for my Aftershokz OpenComm headset that's too quiet for me even at 100%.

I hope this helps.

simon247
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To increase the sound, import the sound file into an iMovie project. Once it is in, select the audio recording and drag the volume slider to anything beyond 100% (you can also click the sound button in the app and increase it from there).

Once you're done modifying the volume, share the iMovie project as an audio file.

Macintosh Fan
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    Thanks, this is correct for people who want to record audio to a file. However, I'm using my audio for Zoom meetings, which requires software to change the volume in real-time. Sorry for the ambiguity. – Hykilpikonna Jul 08 '20 at 22:48
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    @Hykilpikonna No problem. I’ll just leave my answer for other future users. – Macintosh Fan Jul 08 '20 at 22:49