Here's an answer to a question I've always wondered about:

Quote:Some audio output from files or streams is too low. It is obvious that hardware is able to play the same sounds but louder but because of the data it just plays it at some low level even at 100% volume. Vlc can generally increase the volume of a file up to 200%. Is there a way to do the same thing VLC does system-wide and if possible for an arbitrary v percentage value.

http://superuser.com/questions/146784/so...e-on-linux