# Is my audio loud enough for Instagram?

Canonical URL: https://getvidiyo.app/prompts/check-loudness-for-instagram
Last updated: 2026-10-08

> TL;DR: Ask "Is my audio loud enough for Instagram?" and Vidiyo measures your mix as it will export: integrated loudness against the -14 LUFS social target, peaks, each speaker's level, and the voice-to-music margin. It answers with the numbers and what they mean, and changes nothing until you ask it to fix them.

## What to say

> Is my audio loud enough for Instagram?

Category: Review

## What Vidiyo does

1. Measures the mix as it will export: integrated loudness, sample peak and loudness range.
2. Measures voice, music and other sound separately, and each speaker's level.
3. Compares the result with the -14 LUFS social target and flags clipping, quiet dialogue or music masking speech.
4. Answers with the numbers and what they mean, without changing anything.
5. When you ask for a fix, balances the levels and sets a limiter, then measures again.

A video that's much quieter than the ones around it gets scrolled past, and one that's too hot sounds harsh. This question gets you a measured answer before you post, and a fix only if you want one.

## What does Vidiyo do when you say this?

Vidiyo measures your mix as it will export and compares it with the -14 LUFS social target. It measures the overall loudness, peaks and loudness range, the voice, music and other sound separately, and each speaker's level. Then it answers with the numbers in plain terms and flags problems like clipping, quiet dialogue or music masking your voice.

Because you asked a question, nothing changes. When you say "fix it", the assistant balances speaker levels, sits the music under the voice, lifts a quiet mix toward the target and turns on a limiter on the master stage. It measures again afterwards and reports before and after. After export, a separate check measures the exported file's loudness too.

## How do you phrase it?

Ask the question, or go straight to the fix:

- "Is my audio loud enough for Instagram?"
- "Check the levels before I export"
- "Why does my voice sound quieter than the music?"
- "Make it -14 LUFS"
- "My guest is much quieter than me, fix it"

A question gets an answer. An instruction gets a change. Mixing the two, like "check the levels and fix anything off", gets both.

## How would you do this by hand?

By hand, you'd open a loudness meter on the master, play the whole video through, read the integrated value, adjust gain, add a limiter, and play it through again. Matching two speakers means adjusting each clip by ear and meter. It's standard work if you know the tools. Here the measurement and the fix are one request each.

## What should you check afterwards?

Listen on a phone speaker, where most short-form video is heard. A mix can hit -14 LUFS and still sound wrong if the music is busy or the voice is thin. If the voice sounds muddy or harsh after raising the level, ask for voice EQ or de-essing.

## Honest limits

- Vidiyo measures loudness. It can't judge how the mix sounds, so listen on a phone before posting.

## Frequently asked questions

### What loudness should a Reel be?

Vidiyo measures against a -14 LUFS integrated target for social video, with peaks kept under -1 dB so the encoding doesn't clip.

### Will asking a question change my video?

No. A question gets an answer from the project and nothing changes. Ask "fix it" when you want the levels adjusted.

### What does the fix do?

It matches speaker levels, sits music under the voice, lifts a quiet mix toward the target within the available headroom, and turns on a limiter on the master. If the recording is too quiet or peaky for that, it compresses the voice first.

## Related

- [Music and sound effects that sit under your voice](https://getvidiyo.app/features/music-and-sound-effects)
- [LUFS](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/lufs)
- [Audio ducking](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/audio-ducking)
- [How to add background music without drowning out your voice](https://getvidiyo.app/blog/add-background-music-without-drowning-voice)
- [Keep the music under my voice](https://getvidiyo.app/prompts/duck-the-music-under-my-voice)

Download Vidiyo for Mac (free during the beta): https://getvidiyo.app/download