Episode Summary: Part 2 of the Audio 101 series — editing and post-production, from noise reduction through final export, with the glossary terms every podcaster eventually needs to know.
What You'll Learn
- The full post-production glossary: noise reduction, normalization, EQ, compression, and more
- The exact settings used for noise reduction and high-pass filtering on every episode
- How to hit broadcast loudness standards using LUFS and the Match Loudness panel
- 2 one-click tools (Essential Sound panel, Auphonic) for a faster editing pass
Part 1 covered pre-production and recording fundamentals. This episode covers what happens after the recording is done.
Editing
The goal is shaping the story, cleaning up gaps and mistakes, and producing a naturally sounding episode — fixing "ums" and "ahs," deleting dead air. Work left to right, start to finish. Keep it simple and avoid over-cleaning.
Post-Processing: Plugins, Filters & Effects
1. Noise Reduction
Usually applied right after editing. Tip: record 3–5 seconds of quiet room tone before anything else, giving the noise reduction plugin a clean sample of ambient noise to work from. In Audition: capture a noise print from that room-tone section, then apply Noise Reduction (a common setting used here: 60%). Noise reduction filters measure ambient room noise and scan the full recording to remove it — doing this early matters, since raising overall volume before noise reduction also amplifies the noise itself. Use sparingly — aggressive reduction makes voices sound distinctly strange.
2. Normalization
Pulls overall volume up to a target decibel level without affecting dynamic range (the gap between the loudest and quietest moments). In practice: normalizing an entire track to -3dB pulls up the whole track proportionally, so even the quietest parts get a little louder.
3. EQ (Equalization)
Equalizers work across frequencies: low end on the left, mids in the middle, highs on the right. The approach used here: apply a high-pass filter at -80dB on every episode (often called "rolling off the low end"), removing low-end rumble picked up as room noise. A slight high-end boost via a shelf adds a bit of air/treble to the voice, and sweeping through the mids catches trouble frequencies for subtle cuts (around -4dB) when needed. Great resource: the EQ cheat sheet from The Podcaster's Studio.
4. Dynamic Range
Simply the gap between the loudest and quietest parts of a recording.
5. Compression
Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.
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