Your song isn't actually broken — it's unmastered. Commercial tracks go through mastering that makes them loud AND full. Suno gives you a good mix; the final loudness step is on you, and it's easier than you think.
1. Don't just turn it up. Turning up an unmastered track raises the peaks and the harshness together. Loudness comes from controlling peaks, not raising volume.
2. The free 5-minute master:
- Load the song in any DAW (Audacity works)
- Light compression: ratio ~2:1, just taming the loudest 2-3dB
- Limiter on the end, ceiling at -1dB, push gain until it sounds full but not crushed
- Done. This alone gets you 80% of commercial loudness.
3. Reference properly. A/B your track against a commercial song in a similar genre at matched volume (turn the commercial one DOWN to yours, not yours up). Fix what you hear: usually low-end weight and vocal presence.
4. In the prompt, ask for mastered qualities: polished radio-ready mix, full and punchy — won't replace mastering, but starts you closer.
5. Don't over-limit. Crushed dynamics sound loud for 10 seconds and fatiguing for 3 minutes. Leave some punch.
Good luck! Hank founder of SonorixPG