Apple Music - Sound Check & volume +/- adjustments

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iz_thewiz149 Author

Level 1

12 points

Apple Music - Sound Check & volume +/- adjustments

Apple iMac M1 2021

macOS v15.7.3

Apple Music v1.5.6.11

Hi all,

I have a question regarding file playback in Apple Music, and the metadata information applied when Sound Check is enabled & then disabled.

I have a home system that includes various audio components including external digital and analogue meters, I also utilise numerous audio processing applications and a DAW for recording and mix down.

I have a vast library of local digital music files which are primarily used with Apple Music for playback. I have used Sound Check in the past when the technology became available, but now I have disabled it as I prefer a 1:1 representation of the file without gain adjustment. I have noticed that after disabling Sound Check, some files are now peaking above 0 dBFS, and viewing file information in Apple Music reveals that volume adjustments are still applied without an option to edit.

How do I revert these volume adjustments to pre-Sound Check levels for all files affected? ChatGPT suggests that these volume adjustments cannot be edited.

Posted on Feb 5, 2026 4:26 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ed2345

Level 9

63,620 points

Feb 6, 2026 8:13 PM in response to iz_thewiz149

Iz,

When you add an audio file to iTunes/Music, the file gets analyzed for "loudness," and a value is placed in the "volume" field on the File tab of Get Info. The value will be a strong negative number for "louder" files, and closer to zero for "quieter" files. This happens whether or not SoundCheck is enabled. As ChatGPT implied, they result from the audio analysis and cannot be edited unless the file is changed.

If you enable SoundCheck, those values will be used to adjust the playback volume, but with no alteration to the file. If SoundCheck is not enabled, those values are ignored.

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Answer 2

iz_thewiz149 Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 7, 2026 10:32 PM in response to ed2345

Thank you for your excellent reply.

Seems that a lot of the modern music files are just simply mastered to levels that are exceeding 0dBFS, or perhaps I need to find better sample rate/media converters. I'll need to perform some further testing when I get a chance.

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Answer 3

ed2345

Level 9

63,620 points

Feb 8, 2026 7:36 AM in response to iz_thewiz149

....Seems that a lot of the modern music files are just simply mastered to levels that are exceeding 0dBFS...

Yes indeed. You are probably familiar with this phenomenon:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

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