Advanced Audio Mixing in DaVinci Resolve: Professional Techniques for Video Editors

Most video editors focus on the visual aspects of their craft, but after producing content for live events, conferences, and cultural institutions, I've learned that audio quality often determines whether content feels professional or amateur. DaVinci Resolve's Fairlight page offers broadcast-quality audio tools that many editors never fully utilise.

Foundation: Proper Gain Staging

Understanding the Signal Chain Before touching any effects, get your levels right:

• Clip Gain: Adjusts the source audio level (non-destructive)

• Track Volume: Controls the track's output to the mix bus

• Bus Output: Final level going to your master output

The -18dBFS Rule Professional audio targets -18dBFS for optimal headroom:

1. Select your audio clips

2. Right-click > Normalise Audio Levels

3. Set target to -18dBFS

4. This gives you room for processing without distortion

Reading Your Meters Watch the track meters, not just the master output:

• Green: Good operating level (-18 to -6dBFS)

• Yellow: Approaching limits (-6 to -3dBFS)

• Red: Clipping (avoid at all costs)

Dialogue Enhancement Techniques

EQ for Clarity Most dialogue issues happen in predictable frequency ranges:

• High-pass at 80Hz: Removes rumble and handling noise

• Presence boost (2-5kHz): Adds clarity and intelligibility

• De-essing (6-8kHz): Gentle reduction for harsh sibilants

Practical EQ Workflow:

1. Add EQ from Effects Library to your dialogue track

2. Enable high-pass filter, sweep to find the right frequency

3. Use narrow Q to identify and reduce problematic frequencies

4. Broad boost in presence range for clarity

Compression for Consistency Dialogue compression evens out volume variations:

• Ratio: 3:1 to 4:1 for natural sound

• Attack: 10-30ms (fast enough to catch peaks)

• Release: 100-300ms (natural decay)

• Threshold: Set so you get 3-6dB of gain reduction on loud passages

Music and Background Audio Management

Ducking Techniques Automatically lower music when dialogue appears:

1. Add Compressor to music track

2. Set sidechain input to dialogue track

3. Adjust threshold so music ducks 6-10dB when dialogue is present

4. Fast attack (1-5ms), medium release (500ms-1s)

Frequency Separation Keep dialogue and music from competing:

• Music: High-pass at 100-200Hz, gentle low-mid cut around 300-500Hz

• Dialogue: Complementary boost in mid-range where you cut music

• This creates space for both elements to coexist

Live Event Audio Challenges

Dealing with Room Tone Live venues always have ambient noise:

• Record 30 seconds of "silence" at each location

• Use this room tone to fill gaps in dialogue

• Match the ambient level throughout your edit

Multi-Microphone Mixing When working with multiple sources:

• Phase Alignment: Use Fairlight's phase meter to check correlation

• Gain Matching: Ensure consistent levels between different mics

• EQ Matching: Make different mics sound cohesive

Feedback and Handling Noise Common live event issues:

• Notch filters for feedback frequencies (use narrow Q)

• De-noise for air conditioning and electrical hum

• Gate for eliminating handling noise between speech

Advanced Fairlight Features

Bus Processing Group similar elements for efficient processing:

• Create buses for dialogue, music, and effects

• Apply compression and EQ to buses rather than individual tracks

• Use sends for reverb and delay effects

Automation for Professional Polish Fairlight's automation rivals dedicated audio software:

• Volume automation: Smooth out levels that compression can't fix

• EQ automation: Dynamic frequency adjustments

• Send automation: Varying reverb amounts for different sections

Loudness Standards Different platforms have different requirements:

• YouTube: -14 LUFS integrated loudness

• Broadcast: -23 LUFS (EBU R128)

• Streaming: -16 LUFS typical

• Use Fairlight's loudness meter to hit these targets

Delivery and Quality Control

Final Mix Checks Before exporting, verify your mix:

1. Mono compatibility: Check how your mix sounds in mono

2. Headphone check: Different perspective from monitors

3. Quiet listening: Mix should work at low volumes

4. Phone speaker test: How does it sound on small speakers?

Export Settings for Audio Maintain quality through the delivery chain:

• Sample Rate: Match your timeline (usually 48kHz for video)

• Bit Depth: 24-bit minimum for professional work

• Codec: Uncompressed or high-quality compressed (AAC at 320kbps minimum)

Troubleshooting Common Audio Issues

Sync Problems:

• Use Fairlight's automatic sync feature for multi-cam audio

• Manual sync using waveform matching

• Always record scratch audio on camera as backup

Noise Issues:

• Spectral analysis to identify problem frequencies

• Adaptive noise reduction for varying background noise

• Manual cleanup for specific problem areas

Building Your Audio Workflow

Template Creation Save time on future projects:

1. Set up your standard bus structure

2. Add your go-to effects with default settings

3. Save as project template

4. Include color-coded track organization

Keyboard Shortcuts Speed up your Fairlight workflow:

• Shift + Z: Fit timeline to window

• A: Select all clips on selected tracks

• Blade tool shortcuts for quick editing

Conclusion

Professional audio mixing in DaVinci Resolve requires understanding both the technical tools and the creative decisions that serve your story. After handling audio for hundreds of live events and video projects, I've learned that consistent, methodical approaches always outperform quick fixes.

The Fairlight page offers genuine professional capabilities, but like any powerful tool, it requires proper technique to achieve great results. Every project teaches you something new about audio, and building a systematic approach helps you deliver consistent quality regardless of the source material challenges.

Want to dive deeper into audio techniques specific to your projects? Book a free 30-minute consultation where we can discuss your audio challenges and develop solutions tailored to your workflow.