Sound for Video Session — Leveling vs Compression for dialogue sound & Q&A

When evening out dialogue or spoken word audio, most of us turn first to a compressor to do the job. It's the fast and easy way to get the job done. But, it isn't the only way and some suggest it isn't always the best approach, at least not on its own. Let's look at other techniques you can use to even out dialogue and how they each sound.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at https://school.learnlightandsound.com including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. We have a course on sound for live-streaming with the ATEM Mini, Introduction to Izotope RX for Dialogue Audio, and Mixing fundamentals in DaVinci Resolve Fairlight.

Gear I often use or that we mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:

- Mackie DLZ Creator XS adaptive audio mixer — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/6lDtu69
- Mackie DLZ Creator adaptive audio mixer (the original, bigger one) — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/42KrX0
- Earthworks ETHOS microphone — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/8G8UdBB
- Allen & Heath SQ5 digital mixing board — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/sRxFU90
- Sound Devices MixPre II Series Recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/O8e0
- Sound Devices 888 field recorder/mixer with Dante — B&H, Sweetwater https://geni.us/zAryW4J
- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/InspOl
- Teleprompter Ikan 17" high bright — B&H https://geni.us/RcuXD3
- Canon C200 Camera - B&H https://geni.us/9Zi4m4a
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/kZyU7e
- ATEM Mini Extreme & Extreme ISO - B&H, DVE Store, Amazon https://geni.us/b8my
- Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, pre-amp, EQ, compressor - Sweetwater, B&H https://geni.us/9ZfE77
- Universal Audio 6176 channel strip pre-amp, EQ, compressor — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/505L55n

The intro and outro music for this episode is from Musicbed. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself: https://geni.us/G7by

Copyright 2024, Curtis Judd

00:00 Start
02:38 Beginning of stream
03:00 Agenda
04:58 About compressors
14:59 About levelers
22:26 Leveling and compressing
26:09 My favorite compressor plugins
28:05 Compressing for music vs. dialogue
30:20 Upgrade to iZotope RX 11 Advanced?
30:51 Using compression and leveling together
31:32 2-step compression
34:34 Does MPS format add compression?
45:24 Syncing timecode with Bluetooth
48:59 Compressor presets?
51:12 Troubleshooting RF interference
54:52 Compression ratios
55:32 Levelers in Adobe Audition?
55:51 Leveling in DaVinci Resolve
1:03:36 Mics with minimal off-axis coloration
1:05:10 When to bounce a track?
1:06:09 End of stream