How to Record Clean Dialogue: 7 Mistakes I Hear All the Time
20 May 2026 · dialogue · recording · guide
Noise, reflections, clipping and a microphone too far away. The most common speech-recording mistakes — and how to fix them before pressing REC, not in post.
Post-production can save a lot, but not everything — and every rescue costs something. The cheapest audio fix is the one that happens before the shoot. These are the seven mistakes I hear most often in raw recordings.
1. Microphone too far away
The most common and the worst. Every doubling of distance drops the voice by ~6 dB while room reflections and noise stay. The ideal for speech: 15–30 cm for lav/handheld, and a shotgun as close above the frame line as possible.
2. A live room
Bare walls, glass and tiles create a "bathroom" sound no plugin fully removes. A blanket on the table, curtains, a rug and recording away from walls do more than an expensive microphone.
3. Clipping
A clipped signal is damaged beyond repair. Set levels so speech peaks sit around −12 to −6 dBFS. Headroom isn't cowardice, it's insurance.
4. Gain recovered in post = noise
The opposite extreme: a −40 dB recording you later amplify along with the preamp's noise. Set gain on location and monitor with headphones.
5. No room tone
Thirty seconds of the room's silence is gold: a bed for edits, material for denoising. Record it before the crew scatters — every time.
6. Mains hum
50 Hz hum from lights or adapters is inaudible on set, audible in the recording. Headphones on before the first slate — and switch the hum source off rather than "fixing it later".
7. One track for two speakers
If you can, give each speaker their own microphone and their own track. Balancing and editing then take minutes, not hours.
Practical training — including a recording the Academy's AI system measures for you and tells you what to improve — is in the Clean Sound for Video course.