Description of need:
Some uploaded audio is very quiet even at maximum volume. This can make it difficult to ID without downloading the audio and boosting the volume through other software. It would be useful if there was an option to boost/amplify sound as this would save time. I guess it would be similar to the way photos have brightness and zoom controls to aid ID.
Feature request details:
Perhaps there could be a button called ‘boost’ or ‘amplify’ next to the player that could be ticked to help increase volume further. Or something similar. I’m not sure about the technical part. I guess maybe it won’t be possible with current HTML5 audio tags but perhaps there is another way that is not to demanding on the site.
Process your sound file before you upload it to iNat with the free to download and use software (Ocenaudio - https://www.ocenaudio.com/) - this will allow you to easily Nomalise and to Amplify the sound signal as well as allowing you to remove extraneous noise (e.g. hiss). Excellent free, and simple to use software.
@jwidness OK thanks. Didn’t know about browser extensions (only had seen some software which I wasn’t sure about). Will certainly check them out.
@SteveMcBill@deboas Thanks both, appreciate the replies - personally that’s something I do in Audacity and I think this is good advice for observers if they feel able to. I don’t think it’s easy for all users to do - optional normalise on upload could reduce this barrier but that’s another thing completely. That said, this request was focused on the IDer side rather than observer side. In a similar way it’s useful if observers adjust brightness levels and crop photos before upload but does not help the IDer if they don’t (hence the brightness/zoom tools are useful).