Hi everyone,
I’ve recently started working more seriously on podcast recordings and I’m using Audacity for editing. My main issue is voice clarity—the audio sounds fine while recording, but after editing and exporting, it sometimes feels slightly dull or less clear than expected.
I usually record spoken voice only, no music, and I’ve tried basic noise reduction and compression, but I’m not sure about the best order of effects or ideal settings. I’d really appreciate advice on EQ, compression, or any workflow tips you use for clean podcast audio.
I publish my episodes on my own website, [LINK DELETED] and want the voice to sound as clear as possible across platforms. Any suggestions from experienced Audacity users would be greatly appreciated.
Have you read the Recording Your Voice With A Microphone section of the manual?
Here is the order I do the podcast. I’ve actually documented this for old age when I won’t be able to remember things any more.
Open the audio file with Audacity to edit the audio.
Save the project file. The default file name will be the same as the audio file.
Select a few seconds of silence, then open the Noise Reduction effect and click on [Get Noise Profile].
Select the whole audio, then open the Noise Reduction effect and then [Ok].
Save the project file.
Export the audio to a WAV file in the C:\Podcast\ folder as a backup. Add -01 to the filename.
Edit the audio, removing unwanted sections. Save a backup after each effect used.
After all edits are done, use the De-clicker effect to remove pops. This will take some time to finish. Save a backup.
Use the De-Esser effect to remove breath noises. Save a backup.
Use the Truncate Silence effect to remove long sections of silence. Save a backup.
After everything is edited, use the Compress Dynamics > Advanced Compress effect to raise soft audio and reduce loud audio. Save a backup.
Where did you get the audio file from? Shooting your voice can be the difference between simple production processing and working for weeks to suppress the damage.
You can get into deep doo-doo (tehnical term) by recording your work in a compressed or processed format. Those can add sound damage over here while you’re stamping out damage over there.
Koz
I record on a field recorder in 32-bit float WAV files. I have a couple of different brands. The one I use depends on the recording situation. I use unidirectional hard-wired lavalier microphones on each of us for stereo separation. When we go somewhere and want to record, I use 24-bit wireless microphones.
I’ve been playing catch-up.
Announce this forum voice test as you would normally.
Export an ordinary WAV version of the performance like it says and post it on the forum. The heavy block with up arrow is the upload icon.
Then Process it as you would normally, export a WAV and post that.
Koz
I recommend that when someone complains about theatrical sound quality. There is no Sound Quality Button in Audacity. There is no Standard Set of Corrections and Effects.
Much better to hear the work on good quality headphones or my theatrical quality sound system.
And yes, we have had New Users discover that their natural, conversational voice (that we normally recommend) has been driving their friends nuts for years.
There is an Audiobook Note. The last step for ACX Acceptance, after all the technical, editing, and processing craziness, is a worker sits down and listens to it. That’s when your heavy-handed application of Noise Reduction kills you. ACX sees Perfect, Dead-Quiet Silence between words and sentences as the indication that you don’t know what you’re doing.
Koz
Use better micto improve voice clarity.