Microphone Level Meter
A live volume meter for your mic, right in the browser. Speak and watch the bar move — green is good, yellow is hot, red is clipping. Useful for setting mic gain before recording, podcasting, or joining a call.
Open the Level Meter
Reading the meter
0–20%
Mic is too far or input gain is too low. Move closer or boost gain in System Settings.
40–70%
Sweet spot for normal conversational speech. This is what you want most of the time.
70–85%
Hot but not clipping. Fine for shouting or laughter peaks. Sustained levels here mean reduce gain.
85%+
Clipping. Audio will distort and can't be fixed in post. Reduce input gain immediately.
Why levels matter more than you think
Audio that clips can't be unclipped — the waveform is permanently flat at the top. Levels that are too low force you to boost gain in post, which boosts the noise floor too (room hum, fan noise, hiss). Setting levels right at the source is the single biggest improvement you can make to recorded audio quality, more than any plugin or processing chain.
What this tool does not do
- Record audio. Nothing is captured or uploaded — close the tab, the stream stops.
- Test specific frequency response or polar pattern. For that, use a dedicated audio analyzer.
- Replace a real mixer. If you're streaming or podcasting professionally, get a USB interface with hardware gain.
Recording at the right level
ShipClip shows a live level meter while you record, not just before. So you can monitor and adjust mid-recording without re-shooting. Mic and system audio are captured as separate tracks, so volume issues on one track don't poison the other. Native Mac app, 6 MB, free download.
Open the Mic Level Meter
Related
Hosted on Render. Full tool: shipclip.app/tools/mic-test. Built by ShipClip.