How to increase MPlayer volume above sound cards maximum volume

MPlayer has two options for increasing volume above the sound card's maximum setting. Adjusting MPlayer's software volume, or using an audio filter to amplify the audio.


 * I had a problem where my DVD's would play too quiet, even when the volume was maxed out. Using this I was able to adjust the volume so the DVD would play at the same volume as any other video and i wouldn't have to readjust it each time a changed between them.

The Audio filter method tends to work better

Software Volume
Software Volume or softvol adjusts you volume using software amplification, not your sound cards hardware volume


 * To use it add:
 * -softvol −softvol-max <10.0−10000.0>
 * To set the maximum amplification level in percent (default: 110). A value of 200 will allow you to adjust the volume up to a maximum of double the current level. With values below 100 the initial volume (which is 100%) will be above the maximum, which e.g. the OSD cannot display correctly.
 * Example
 * mplayer -softvol -softvol-max 200 media.avi

=Audio filter (volume increase)= You can turn on an audio filter to increase the volume


 * To use it add :
 * -af volume=&lt;v&gt;:&lt;sc&gt;
 * Where
 * &lt;v&gt; is the desired gain in dB for all channels in the stream from -200dB to +60dB, where -200dB mutes the sound completely and +60dB equals a gain of 1000 (default: 0).
 * &lt;sc&gt; Turns soft clipping on (1) or off (0). Soft-clipping can make the sound more smooth if very high volume levels are used. Enable this option if the dynamic range of the loudspeakers is very low.
 * Example:
 * mplayer −af volume=10.1:0 media.avi

=Audio filter (volume normalizer)= Maximizes the volume without distorting the sound.


 * mplayer −af volnorm media.avi

=References=
 * MPlayer options
 * MPlayer audio filter options

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