Sound for Video Session — Hearing Compression & Q&A

Опубликовано: 16 Февраль 2026
на канале: Curtis Judd Audio
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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 https://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 https://geni.us/8G8UdBB
SHURE KSM8 dynamic microphone — Sweetwater, B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/XKxz
Sound Devices MixPre II Series Recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/O8e0
Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/InspOl
Canon C200 Camera - B&H https://geni.us/9Zi4m4a
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/kZyU7e
ATEM Mini Extreme & Extreme ISO - B&H, DVE Store, Amazon https://geni.us/b8my
Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/sRxFU90
Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, pre-amp, EQ, compressor - Sweetwater, B&H https://geni.us/9ZfE77
Universal Audio 6176 channel strip pre-amp, EQ, compressor — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://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: https://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