Many people don’t pay much attention to their computer’s volume level. It’s easy to turn the sound up to better enjoy music, videos, or games—then forget about it and leave it that way for hours.

However, prolonged exposure to high sound levels can eventually damage your hearing.

SoundBrake is a small, free utility designed to monitor your system volume in the background and warn you when it exceeds potentially harmful levels. Its goal is simple: help prevent long-term exposure to loud audio without interrupting your workflow.

SoundBrake: A Quiet Guardian for Your Ears

Once installed, SoundBrake runs quietly in the background. The application places a small icon in the system tray and continuously monitors your computer’s audio output.

Every five seconds, the software checks two things:

• the current system volume level
• whether audio is actually playing

This second check is important. For example, if your system volume is set to 80% but no music or video is playing, SoundBrake won’t trigger any alerts.

Unlike basic volume limiters, the utility doesn’t simply react to brief spikes in sound. Instead, it tracks cumulative listening time at high volume levels, which better reflects real hearing risks.

For instance, listening at 75% volume for an hour may be more harmful than a few seconds at maximum volume.

A Three-Level Warning System

SoundBrake uses a three-stage alert system inspired by common audiology recommendations.

Level 1: Gentle Reminder

The first alert appears after 60 minutes of listening at volumes between 75% and 84%.

At this stage, SoundBrake simply sends a notification suggesting that you might want to take a break or lower the volume slightly.

Level 2: Stronger Warning

The second warning occurs after 20 minutes between 85% and 94% volume.

This notification is more noticeable, encouraging you to reduce the sound level before prolonged exposure becomes risky.

Level 3: Automatic Volume Reduction

If the volume exceeds 95% for more than 5 minutes, SoundBrake automatically intervenes.

The software immediately reduces the system volume to 70%, even if you don’t respond to the alert.

This automatic adjustment helps prevent accidental long-term exposure to dangerously loud audio.

Smart Notifications Without Being Annoying

If you dismiss a warning without lowering the volume, SoundBrake won’t continuously spam you with alerts.

Instead, it applies progressive delays between notifications.

You can also temporarily disable warnings for 24 hours directly from the system tray icon—useful if you know you’ll need higher audio levels for a specific situation.

Lightweight, Cross-Platform, and Privacy-Friendly

One of SoundBrake’s biggest strengths is its simplicity.

The application is available for multiple operating systems:

• Windows 10 and Windows 11 (64-bit)
• macOS Monterey or newer (Intel and Apple Silicon)
• Ubuntu 20.04+ and Fedora Linux 36+ on Linux

On Linux systems, SoundBrake works with both PulseAudio and PipeWire audio servers.

The program is written in Go, which helps keep it extremely lightweight.

• Installer size: less than 9 MB
• RAM usage: around 9 MB in the background

No Telemetry, No Internet Connection

SoundBrake also stands out for its privacy-friendly design.

The software:

• collects no telemetry
• requires no internet connection
• does not require a user account

All usage data remains stored locally on your device.

Notifications automatically appear in the system language, with support for 13 languages, including French.

Open Source and Community-Friendly

SoundBrake is released under the MIT license, and its source code is available on GitHub.

This means anyone can:

• audit the code for security and privacy
• contribute improvements
• build their own customized version

For users who frequently listen to music, watch videos, or play games on their computer, SoundBrake provides a simple way to protect hearing health without interfering with everyday use.