There are some basic truths that can help. One thing... No EQ is better than poor EQ. Trying to EQ anything on less than optimal monitoring equipment is a losing battle, and without a working knowledge of audio fundamentals can cause you to create more problems than you can possibly solve with it. Even WITH good monitoring equipment, lacking an understanding of audio fundamentals can lead to bad habits and mistakes. Just as with EQ, poor compression practices are worse than no compression. A little can go a long way. There's probably a little more margin of error here than with EQ, as long as you're working conservatively. A high pass filter (AKA HPF or Low cut) is something that can generally be applied conservatively on a voice and absolutely not hurt a thing. IOW an 80Hz or 100Hz setting. If you engage it and don't hear it doing anything, that also means it's not hurting anything. It should help keep rumbles, low end environment noise, wind noise, and plosives down. You might get away with a higher setting, but if nothing else, that conservative setting is a good idea as something to always just engage. Room noise/echo is a product of the environment you're recording in. If the mic is picking up too much of the sound you don't want (the room/echo) and not enough of the sound you do want (your voice)- Get closer to the mic. Change the S/N ratio (signal to noise). Loudest sound at the mic wins. Get closer to the mic, and make sure the mic is aimed properly. Also, make sure you're using a cardioid mic versus an omni (or figure 8 pattern) mic in these type of environments. Getting closer to the mic helps changes that balance and gets more of your voice into the mix vs the ambient room noise. The signal you want versus the noise you don't want. It probably goes without saying, but using a voice that projects versus a quiet voice trying not to be heard also helps. If you talk quietly so others won't hear you, the mic will have trouble hearing you as well. You don't have to shout, but speak like you want to be heard. You can also improve your room to make it less lively, but unless you don't want the mic in the camera shot, getting close to the mic goes a long way if not all the way in most cases. Or do both things... Ignore nonsense about condenser mics vs dynamic mics. If all else is equal, then that's not the reason for most problems people have in this regard. If you match the gains, then there will be tonal differences in the mics (as there are in ANY different mics), but "condensers pick up more room sound" is mainly a myth based on a fundamental misunderstanding of audio principles. As long as all else is equal anyway. Likely main reason this myth floats around is that a condenser is typically a LOUDER mic than a dynamic. But you're supposed to adjust and optimize the gain in your system. As soon as you do that, the dynamic and condenser are essentially going to do the same job as far as room noise goes as long as all else remains relatively equal. Comparing a condenser in a figure 8 pattern to a cardioid dynamic, even if gain matched, will have the condenser picking up more ambient noise. That's not because it's a condenser mic... it's because it's a mic with a figure 8 pickup pattern. There are some other caveats, but the gist of it is the mic type (Dyn vs Cond) is rarely the issue when room noise is the complaint. But, also, speaking to the myth, I'm sure some people have swapped out a louder condenser with a quieter dynamic, didn't gain match the mics, and noticed the dynamic didn't pick up as much room noise. Well, that's because it's not as loud in the first place. It also won't pick up as much voice (because it's got a lower output). But then if the person gets closer to the mic to compensate THAT actually helps to mitigate or fix the S/N ratio issue with room noise. So... cause and effect might lead someone to believe the dynamic mic fixed the problem.... No... getting closer to the mic is what fixed the problem. Answer from bball2014 on reddit.com
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VoiceActor
voiceactor.com › articles › audacity-settings-for-recording-voice-overs
Audacity Settings for Recording Voice Overs - The DIY Voice Over Website Template Builder - VoiceActor.com
May 23, 2023 - Set the input volume: Use the "Recording Volume" slider in the main Audacity window to adjust the input volume. Aim for a peak level of around -12 dB to -6 dB, which will leave enough headroom for editing and processing the audio later.
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Audacity
forum.audacityteam.org › audacity 3 help forum
Voice Over Quality Settings - Audacity 3 Help Forum - Audacity Forum
April 27, 2024 - What are the best settings to use in Audacity for voiceover work to ensure the best quality? Thanks
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Music Radio Creative
producer.musicradiocreative.com › audacity-settings-for-voice-over
Best Audacity Settings For Voice Over
September 11, 2025 - With these three core steps — Normalize, EQ, and Compress — you’ll have the best Audacity settings for voice over. It only takes a few minutes, and the difference is huge.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/newtubers › help with voice-over and audacity editing?
r/NewTubers on Reddit: Help with Voice-over and Audacity Editing?
June 25, 2023 -

TLDR: How do I make my voice-over sound sleek and professional? The way any video essay channel does?

Hello. Up-and-coming YouTuber here with five published videos. I use a Blue Yeti mic and Audacity to record and edit voice-overs. I feel like I'm a terrible voice-over artist. I think my biggest issue is getting my mouth to stop clicking. I stay extremely hydrated and turn the gain down all the way on my mic, so I don't know what the issue is. I try to remove it as best I can in editing, but then, when I use the tools to make the audio sound more professional (filter curve, amplify, compressor), I feel like it just makes the errors more pronounced and gives an echo quality to the voice-over on the whole. Any help would be so appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Top answer
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There are some basic truths that can help. One thing... No EQ is better than poor EQ. Trying to EQ anything on less than optimal monitoring equipment is a losing battle, and without a working knowledge of audio fundamentals can cause you to create more problems than you can possibly solve with it. Even WITH good monitoring equipment, lacking an understanding of audio fundamentals can lead to bad habits and mistakes. Just as with EQ, poor compression practices are worse than no compression. A little can go a long way. There's probably a little more margin of error here than with EQ, as long as you're working conservatively. A high pass filter (AKA HPF or Low cut) is something that can generally be applied conservatively on a voice and absolutely not hurt a thing. IOW an 80Hz or 100Hz setting. If you engage it and don't hear it doing anything, that also means it's not hurting anything. It should help keep rumbles, low end environment noise, wind noise, and plosives down. You might get away with a higher setting, but if nothing else, that conservative setting is a good idea as something to always just engage. Room noise/echo is a product of the environment you're recording in. If the mic is picking up too much of the sound you don't want (the room/echo) and not enough of the sound you do want (your voice)- Get closer to the mic. Change the S/N ratio (signal to noise). Loudest sound at the mic wins. Get closer to the mic, and make sure the mic is aimed properly. Also, make sure you're using a cardioid mic versus an omni (or figure 8 pattern) mic in these type of environments. Getting closer to the mic helps changes that balance and gets more of your voice into the mix vs the ambient room noise. The signal you want versus the noise you don't want. It probably goes without saying, but using a voice that projects versus a quiet voice trying not to be heard also helps. If you talk quietly so others won't hear you, the mic will have trouble hearing you as well. You don't have to shout, but speak like you want to be heard. You can also improve your room to make it less lively, but unless you don't want the mic in the camera shot, getting close to the mic goes a long way if not all the way in most cases. Or do both things... Ignore nonsense about condenser mics vs dynamic mics. If all else is equal, then that's not the reason for most problems people have in this regard. If you match the gains, then there will be tonal differences in the mics (as there are in ANY different mics), but "condensers pick up more room sound" is mainly a myth based on a fundamental misunderstanding of audio principles. As long as all else is equal anyway. Likely main reason this myth floats around is that a condenser is typically a LOUDER mic than a dynamic. But you're supposed to adjust and optimize the gain in your system. As soon as you do that, the dynamic and condenser are essentially going to do the same job as far as room noise goes as long as all else remains relatively equal. Comparing a condenser in a figure 8 pattern to a cardioid dynamic, even if gain matched, will have the condenser picking up more ambient noise. That's not because it's a condenser mic... it's because it's a mic with a figure 8 pickup pattern. There are some other caveats, but the gist of it is the mic type (Dyn vs Cond) is rarely the issue when room noise is the complaint. But, also, speaking to the myth, I'm sure some people have swapped out a louder condenser with a quieter dynamic, didn't gain match the mics, and noticed the dynamic didn't pick up as much room noise. Well, that's because it's not as loud in the first place. It also won't pick up as much voice (because it's got a lower output). But then if the person gets closer to the mic to compensate THAT actually helps to mitigate or fix the S/N ratio issue with room noise. So... cause and effect might lead someone to believe the dynamic mic fixed the problem.... No... getting closer to the mic is what fixed the problem.
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Give the free adobe podcast AI a shot. See if it helps in anyway: https://podcast.adobe.com/Enhance
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Voiceovers.com
voiceovers.com › blog › best-audacity-settings-for-voice-over
Best Audacity Settings for Voice Over: Achieve Professional Sound - Voiceovers.com
Its user-friendly interface and ... recordings. To optimize settings in Audacity, select a sample rate of 44.1 kHz or higher and a bit depth of 16-bit or 24-bit....
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Krisp
krisp.ai › home › 8 easy steps to improve voice quality in audacity
8 easy steps to improve voice quality in Audacity
July 4, 2024 - The Normalizer feature in Audacity is the next best shout for improving voice quality on your audio recordings. Immediately after recording capture (or import) of your audio, this effect should be used solely to remove any DC offset that may be present with no amplitude adjustment applied at this stage. Use the Normalize effect to set ...
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TechWiser
techwiser.com › home › windows › best audacity settings for voice over
Best Audacity Settings for Voice Over - TechWiser
October 15, 2021 - Audacity will remove all noise from the recording. Pro Tip: It’s good practice speak after 5 seconds after pressing the start button. This way you will be able to pick up the noise quite easily. What normalization does is, it increase the audio level of the entire clip without affecting the dynamic range. So, if your sound is low, this will increase it. But if you overdo this (or any other effects per se), it will kill your audio quality.
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Audacity
forum.audacityteam.org › feedback and discussion forum › audacity 3.x feedback and reviews
Voice over settings - Audacity 3.x Feedback and Reviews - Audacity Forum
February 7, 2023 - Hey Everyone, I am new to doing voiceovers, and for now I want the simplest way to make my audacity recordings to sound as professional as possible. would it be advisable to do the following to my voice recording, in this order?: -Reduce noise noise gate -Normalize -EQ -Compress Thanks.
Find elsewhere
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Audacity
forum.audacityteam.org › audacity 3 help forum › windows
What effects, settings and order for podcasts/voice-overs? - Windows - Audacity Forum
July 19, 2023 - Hi, After reading different forums and watching different videos I am still lost. I want to create small podcasts, I bought a Rode NT-USB for that. In terms of effects I try to apply what I learned but it doesn’t seem…
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YouTube
youtube.com › serge m
5 STEPS to Improve Your VOICEOVER in Audacity - YouTube
5 STEPS to Improve Your VOICEOVER in Audacity Improve your next voiceover or narration in your next video using these 5 simple steps in Audacity 1. Noise Red...
Published   January 27, 2018
Views   314K
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Flixier
flixier.com › blog › how-to-make-your-voice-recordings-sound-better-in-audacity
How to Make Your Voice Recordings Sound Professional Using Audacity | Flixier
July 21, 2025 - NOTE: Try not to set the Gate Threshold to anything above -35, since that might end up muffling some of your speech. Keep in mind that in order for the Noise Gate to be effective, your speaking voice needs to be significantly louder than the ...
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VoiceActor
voiceactor.com › articles › audacity-a-comprehensive-guide-for-voice-over
Audacity: A Comprehensive Guide for Voice Over - The DIY Voice Over Website Template Builder - VoiceActor.com
March 13, 2024 - Under Edit > Preferences > Devices, select your microphone in the Recording section. Audacity supports multiple input sources, so ensure you're capturing from the right device. For voice over work, it's typically best to set Channels to 'Mono'.
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Gemoo
gemoo.com › home › blog › how to make your voice sound better in audacity?
How to Make Your Voice Better in Audacity [Including Best Audacity Settings]
April 17, 2024 - This will increase the volume without causing any sound distortions, effectively making the voiceover clearer. ... After amplifying the audio as much as you can, you can re-establish a better balance with compression. You can find this function in the Effect menu, and it’s best to apply it to the entire track. Audacity gives you the power to control numerous factors related to compression, but it may be best not to tinker too much with those settings unless you are an expert.
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diyvideoeditor
diyvideoeditor.com › the diy video editor › audio tips for video › audio processing for voice-overs in audacity
Audio Processing for Voice-overs in Audacity
July 17, 2024 - Enhance your video production with high-quality audio. How to process voiceovers and improve sound quality with this step-by-step guide.
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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
How To Make Your Voice Sound Better In Audacity 2025 (Make ANY Mic Sound Professional Audacity 2025) - YouTube
▶How To Make Your Voice Sound Better In Audacity 2025 (Make ANY Mic Sound Professional Audacity 2025)▶Hey everyone and welcome back ! Today I'am showing you ...
Published   May 3, 2025
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Voice-Over Freelance
voiceoverfreelance.com › best-audacity-settings-for-voice-over
Best audacity settings for voice over | Voice-Over Freelance
April 1, 2020 - For demonstration purposes, I have ... sound will be recorded. On your microphone or audio interface set Gain level so your recorded voice peaks between -9 and -6 dB....
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Thedigitalsidehustle
thedigitalsidehustle.com › audacity-settings-voice-over
Audacity Settings for Voice Over - In-Depth Instructions with Examples & More - The Digital Side Hustle
April 19, 2022 - We’ll do that by normalizing your voice-over again with Audacity but this time, to -3 dB instead of 0 dB. The process will be the same as step 3 but instead of 0 dB, you’ll enter -3 dB as shown: This will result in your voice-over being ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/audioengineering › optimal audacity settings for simple voice recordings?
r/audioengineering on Reddit: Optimal Audacity settings for simple voice recordings?
December 29, 2022 -

I've just started using an EV RE20 and Focusrite Scarlett Solo (3rd Gen) to record simple recitations that will be imported into Camtasia Studio, produced with a video, and then uploaded to YouTube.

I'm wondering what the best quality settings and WAV encoding format are for this particular use case:

https://i.imgur.com/vqB97l9.png

https://i.imgur.com/9EhDFFL.png

Also, if there are any special settings in Camtasia which might negatively affect the final audio quality that I need to be wary of.

Would very much appreciate any advice I can get. Thanks for taking the time to read.

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Worldvoiceovers
worldvoiceovers.com › blog › best-audacity-voice-settings
Best Audacity Voice Settings for Clearer, Professional Audio - World Voiceovers
Normalize Audio for Consistency: Normalize tracks after editing to maintain uniform volume levels across your recordings, enhancing overall listener engagement. Post-Processing Enhancements: Apply final adjustments like noise reduction, EQ boosts, and compression to polish your audio before exporting it for distribution. Audacity serves as a powerful audio editing tool for voice artists and voiceover professionals.