Most people who are new to creating content don't realise that audio quality beats video quality every single time. Unless, of course, it's UFO content... So you should aim to get your audio perfect before anything else. So if your audio is too quiet, viewers will struggle to hear it. If it is too loud, you risk distortion and inconsistent playback across devices. Thankfully, DaVinci Resolve has some quick and easy tools you can use to pretty much automate the process.
Takeaways:
- What's the best way to fix audio in DaVinci Resolve?
- Easy ways to get great-sounding audio in DaVinci Resolve.
Table of Contents
How to Fix Audio Levels in DaVinci Resolve
The first thing you need to do is get the right audio levels. For dialogue, aim for around -10 dB. This is the sweet spot where speech is clear and present without clipping or becoming harsh. Small variations above or below are fine, but consistently sitting near -10 dB will keep your mix balanced. If your audio is sitting at something like -30 dB, it will sound far too quiet and need a boost. If it is pushing close to 0 dB, it may distort or feel uncomfortable to listen to.
Check your meters on the Edit page
- Start on the Edit page and make sure your mixer is visible in the top right.
- The audio meters are your main reference point.
- Play your timeline and watch where your dialogue peaks land.
- If your voice is averaging too low, you will immediately see it in the meters.
- This visual feedback is the fastest way to diagnose level problems before making adjustments.
Adjust clip volume in the Inspector
- Click your audio clip and open the Inspector panel.
- In the audio section, you will find a volume control. Increase or decrease this value while watching your meters until your dialogue peaks around -10 dB.
This is the most direct way to fix levels. For example, boosting a clip by around +20 dB can bring very quiet recordings into a usable range, depending on the original recording level.
You can also adjust the volume visually. Each audio clip has a thin white line across it.
- Click and drag this line up or down to raise or lower the volume.
This method is useful when you want quick, intuitive control without opening the Inspector.
Use the Normalize Audio Levels Option
If you want a faster starting point, right-click your audio clip and choose Normalize Audio Levels. This automatically adjusts volume based on the option you select.
There are a ton of presets, most of which are useless, so ignore them and stick with the YouTube preset.
Just remember that normalization only adjusts volume. It does not compress or shape dynamics. Because of that, you may still need to fine-tune levels afterwards.
Use AI Dialogue Leveller for consistency
If your dialogue fluctuates a lot, use the AI Dialogue Leveller. Select your clip or track, go to the Inspector, open the Audio tab, and enable AI Dialogue Level. This is usually the first thing that I enable whenever I drop an audio track on the timeline. It does a pretty good job. Turn on the Voice isolation option as well to remove small background noise.
