Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this week's session, we'll go back to basics and have another go with compression for spoken word audio. But this time, we'll focus on HEARING compression and avoiding the use of visual tools when setting up a compressor. Then we answer your sound for video questions.
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 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 and just added Introduction to Izotope RX for Dialogue Audio.
Gear I often use or that we mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVE Store, Waves, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Earthworks ETHOS microphone — B&H, Sweetwater geni.us/8G8UdBB
- SHURE KSM8 dynamic microphone — Sweetwater, B&H, Amazon geni.us/XKxz
- Sound Devices MixPre II Series Recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/O8e0
- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon geni.us/InspOl
- Canon C200 Camera - B&H geni.us/9Zi4m4a
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens — B&H, Amazon geni.us/kZyU7e
- ATEM Mini Extreme & Extreme ISO - B&H, DVE Store, Amazon geni.us/b8my
- Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/sRxFU90
- Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, pre-amp, EQ, compressor - Sweetwater, B&H geni.us/9ZfE77
- Universal Audio 6176 channel strip pre-amp, EQ, compressor — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon 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: geni.us/G7by
Copyright 2022, Curtis Judd
00:00 Start
02:46 Beginning of stream
03:06 Agenda
03:50 What is sound?
16:27 What is amplitude? + compressor settings
21:12 Shelford Channel compressor for live streams?
23:37 Reviewing how to set a compressor
28:28 Compression settings for live streams
32:38 At what point in your signal chain should you apply compression?
33:49 Clarification of how the Ratio setting works
34:23 On which device in your signal chain should you apply compression?
35:15 Different guidelines for setting a lookahead compressor?
36:06 Experimenting with no visual compression cues
50:42 Signal chain- balanced cable or cloudlifter?
53:53 How fast of an attack is too fast for dialogue/vocals?
1:01:55 How good are the Canon C200’s balanced XLR in and converters?
1:03:30 Wrap-up
1:04:18 End of stream
In this week's session, we'll go back to basics and have another go with compression for spoken word audio. But this time, we'll focus on HEARING compression and avoiding the use of visual tools when setting up a compressor. Then we answer your sound for video questions.
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 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 and just added Introduction to Izotope RX for Dialogue Audio.
Gear I often use or that we mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVE Store, Waves, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Earthworks ETHOS microphone — B&H, Sweetwater geni.us/8G8UdBB
- SHURE KSM8 dynamic microphone — Sweetwater, B&H, Amazon geni.us/XKxz
- Sound Devices MixPre II Series Recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/O8e0
- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon geni.us/InspOl
- Canon C200 Camera - B&H geni.us/9Zi4m4a
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens — B&H, Amazon geni.us/kZyU7e
- ATEM Mini Extreme & Extreme ISO - B&H, DVE Store, Amazon geni.us/b8my
- Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/sRxFU90
- Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, pre-amp, EQ, compressor - Sweetwater, B&H geni.us/9ZfE77
- Universal Audio 6176 channel strip pre-amp, EQ, compressor — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon 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: geni.us/G7by
Copyright 2022, Curtis Judd
00:00 Start
02:46 Beginning of stream
03:06 Agenda
03:50 What is sound?
16:27 What is amplitude? + compressor settings
21:12 Shelford Channel compressor for live streams?
23:37 Reviewing how to set a compressor
28:28 Compression settings for live streams
32:38 At what point in your signal chain should you apply compression?
33:49 Clarification of how the Ratio setting works
34:23 On which device in your signal chain should you apply compression?
35:15 Different guidelines for setting a lookahead compressor?
36:06 Experimenting with no visual compression cues
50:42 Signal chain- balanced cable or cloudlifter?
53:53 How fast of an attack is too fast for dialogue/vocals?
1:01:55 How good are the Canon C200’s balanced XLR in and converters?
1:03:30 Wrap-up
1:04:18 End of stream
