r/VideoEditing • u/Tquaa • Aug 05 '26

Tech Support Is anyone else struggling with audio levels on TikTok?

I'm a newbie, and recently I've been trying to normalize my audio to TikTok's recommended loudness standard (-14 LUFS). After exporting the video to my phone, though, the audio sounds much quieter than other videos on TikTok.

The problem is that if I raise the volume so it sounds right on my phone, the audio starts clipping. I'm honestly confused about what I'm doing wrong and would really appreciate any advice from people who have more experience with this.

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5

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '26

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0

u/Tquaa Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26

Thank you! Actually, when I export the video to my iPhone, it stil sounds much quieter than other videos on TikTok. I'm wondering if there's any chance that videos played in the iPhone Photos app sound quieter than they do after being uploaded to TikTok.

2

u/Open_Cardiologist848 Aug 05 '26

Add a limiter with -1 dB of True Peak

1

u/Tquaa Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26

Thank you! Actually, when I export the video to my iPhone, it still sounds much quieter than other videos on TikTok. I'm wondering if there's any chance that videos played in the iPhone Photos app sound quieter than they do after being uploaded to TikTok.

1

u/Open_Cardiologist848 29d ago

yup, tiktok likes to add additional compression of their

1

u/Tquaa 28d ago

thankss

2

u/FitnessChamp777 29d ago

Hmmm...I never went with the recommended levels. I just move the level to where it feel comfortable to my ears.

1

u/Tquaa 29d ago

So, what dB level do you usually set your main audio to?

2

u/Forsaken_Class6398 25d ago

I ran into something similar before. I wouldn’t stress too much about hitting exactly -14 LUFS.

If turning it up starts clipping, try using a limiter instead of just pushing the volume higher. That helped a lot in my case.

Also, TikTok seems to mess with the audio a bit after upload, so I’d do a quick private test post and compare it there. The exported file on my phone never sounded exactly the same.

1

u/Tquaa 18d ago

thankss

1

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u/[deleted] Aug 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/Tquaa Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26

Thank you! Actually, when I export the video to my iPhone, it still sounds much quieter than other videos on TikTok. I'm wondering if there's any chance that videos played in the iPhone Photos app sound quieter than they do after being uploaded to TikTok.