Improve Podcast Audio for Better Car Listening
How to Improve Podcast Audio for Better Listening in Cars: A Guide to Clearer Dialogue
Have you ever found yourself on a road trip, trying to enjoy a podcast, but you can’t hear the dialogue clearly? The voices are distant, the volume fluctuates, and you’re constantly adjusting the volume knob. It shouldn’t be this hard to hear a podcast, right?
Unfortunately, these issues are more common than you think. Poor podcast audio quality, especially for dialogue, is a major frustration for listeners, especially in noisy environments like cars. Thankfully, with a few simple steps in recording, editing, mixing, and mastering, you can make sure your podcast has crystal-clear voices that your audience can enjoy without the hassle of adjusting the volume.
Here’s what I experienced: I was on a road trip, listening to an older episode of the ‘Mormon Stories Podcast.’ There were two main voices, but they sounded distant. It felt like they were both sharing one microphone in the middle of the table, which probably wasn’t the case. Given the amount of room noise and the distant sound, I suspect they were using a condenser microphone set to a wide polarity pattern. To reduce background noise, they kept the overall volume low, which also seemed to reduce the dialogue volume. Unless one of the speakers moved closer to the mic or got more powerful in their delivery, I could barely hear the host, while the guest’s voice would occasionally spike in volume.
Check out ‘Mormon Stories Podcast’
- [‘Mormon Stories Podcast’ - example](https://www.mormonstories.org/jeremy-runnells-and-his-letter-to-a-ces-director/)
Let’s dive into some of the reasons this happens and how to fix it, so you can improve your podcast’s audio quality and provide your listeners with a smooth, consistent experience.
Common Podcast Audio Issues in Cars
When listening to podcasts in cars, here are some typical audio issues that affect clarity:
- Dynamic volume changes: Loud and quiet parts fluctuate throughout the episode.
- Distant voices: Voices sound far away due to improper mic placement.
- Room noise: Background noise becomes more prominent in the absence of proper noise reduction.
- Inconsistent audio levels: One speaker is too loud while another is too quiet.
These problems often result from recording and mixing choices, but fortunately, there are easy solutions to fix them.
Identifying the Audio Problem
The main issue I heard was a lot of dynamic volume – very quiet segments followed by loud ones. If you visualized the sound waves, you’d see tiny oscillations during the quiet parts and huge peaks in the loudest moments. This wide range of volume variation is common in unbalanced audio recordings. Sure, higher-resolution formats like 48 kHz WAV at 24-bit allow for wider dynamics, but format changes alone won't fix this issue. The real solution lies in using a compressor to manage the dynamics more effectively.
Compression: The Fix for Dynamic Range Issues
Compression is the tool most people turn to when they encounter wide dynamic range issues like this. But there’s a lot more to a polished dialogue sound than just slapping on a compressor and calling it a day. Compression, when done correctly, reduces loud peaks and boosts quiet parts, creating a more even listening experience. However, if you push a compressor too hard, you’ll end up with a weird pumping effect, where the audio sounds like air is rushing in and out.
The key here is to find the right threshold—the dB level where the compressor starts to work. You want to set it just below the loudest peaks, so it reduces only the most extreme levels without making the overall dialogue too quiet. After compression, you'll likely need to increase the output volume, which brings those previously quiet sections up to a more comfortable level for listeners. But compression is just one piece of the puzzle.
Equalization: Boosting Clarity
Before you even start compressing, I recommend working with an equalizer (EQ) to enhance the clarity of the speaker's voice. Boosting certain frequency ranges can help make the dialogue clearer, especially when listening in challenging environments like a car.
For example, you can isolate the dialogue by boosting the mid-range frequencies where most voices sit—typically between 1 kHz and 4 kHz. Be careful not to boost too much, or you’ll end up with unnatural-sounding audio. On the flip side, you can cut out unwanted frequencies, like low-end rumble or high-pitched hiss, to further clean up the sound.
Every voice is unique, so this step requires a little finesse. For a deep voice, you might want to preserve some of the lower frequencies for richness, but if it’s too muddy, it won’t cut through the background noise in the car. On the other hand, higher frequencies are more piercing and easier to hear over ambient noise. Balancing these frequencies in line with how the person sounds in real life helps create a natural and clean sound.
- Boost mid-range frequencies (around 1 kHz to 4 kHz) to add clarity to speech.
- Cut unnecessary low-end frequencies to remove any rumble or background noise.
- Boost high frequencies (around 10 kHz) to add brightness to the voice, making it more piercing and easier to hear over car noise.
Everyone’s voice is different, so you’ll need to adjust these settings based on the speaker’s tone. This process will help ensure that your dialogue is clear and distinguishable, even in a noisy car.
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For a more in-depth guide on using EQ check out chapter 9 of this book on amazon. [The Mixing Engineer's Handbook: 5th Edition](https://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Engineers-Handbook-5th-ebook/dp/B09Y116KQ6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PTDB7SHIV9Y4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pGA51N9TfgpmBqulavqg5R0Pr2iGMKHnHrX9MZlrsZ8pQcQnoaA5v0MmGM5HZVRXfuwOpb1YrTb_8OM4sO4IJb_Qy9F1d9epkLQzJ-kQAHGLxVtRnttdN7ZSXRu0kXYEnTGFB06GwEPLnry3yppAWIQgMO7mnwuQi8LWQ5gVp0TKZ_5iIi0QD1jP5qG3b9-8WAMxy4KgfQVS5N5vAhqQ8UXzuKJ2E6-FdMP3mfJ9kb4.nyUB1V0b1hKaJugAt6A3NwSZplLhzM-P_kXBj9g2ZEA&dib_tag=se&keywords=mixing+engineers+handbook&qid=1727148107&s=digital-text&sprefix=mixing+enginee%2Cdigital-text%2C112&sr=1-1).
Recording: Starting with a Good Signal
The audio I heard on *Mormon Stories Podcast* was recorded decently—it didn’t clip, which means they kept their input levels low enough. For podcast recording, I generally recommend setting your input volume between -10 dB and -15 dB. This range allows for louder moments, like laughter or excited exclamations, to stay below 0 dB (where clipping and distortion happen). When the levels are too high, you end up distorting the audio, creating a harsh, unnatural sound that’s nearly impossible to fix in post-production.
If your levels are too low, though, you end up with the opposite problem: dialogue that’s barely audible, like what I experienced. In this case, a hard limiter can be used to prevent those louder moments from going over a set dB threshold, without crushing the overall dynamic range.
For more on how to set optimal input levels, read this [How To Set Levels And Avoid Clipping When Recording?](https://www.kloverproducts.com/blog/how-to-set-levels-and-avoid-clipping-when-recording).
Matching Clip Loudness: Consistency is Key
One of the easiest fixes for inconsistent volume levels is using a tool like “match clip loudness” in Adobe Audition. This tool automatically increases or decreases the volume of each clip to a consistent median level. After balancing the clips, you can focus on removing unwanted noise or gaps, using tools like DeEsser to reduce sibilance or iZotope RX plugins for denoising and declipping.
This kind of processing not only makes the dialogue more pleasant to listen to but also ensures that listeners won’t need to constantly adjust their volume.
You can learn more about these tools here:
- [iZotope RX Noise Reduction](https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx.html)
- [Adobe Audition DeNoise](https://helpx.adobe.com/audition/using/noise-reduction-restoration-effects.html)
The Opposite Problem: Over-Compressed, Distorted Audio
Ironically, after struggling through the quiet ‘Mormon Stories Podcast’ episode, I switched to another podcast while driving, only to be hit with audio that was way too loud and distorted. Normalization on Spotify had been turned off, so this new podcast was blasting at 20 times the volume of the previous one.
Here’s where things went wrong: the input on their voices was too high, which caused clipping and distortion. After listening to this podcast for years, I was surprised to hear such distortion like this.
Establish a Workflow for Consistency
This is where having a clear workflow or SOP comes in handy. Save your settings as a template in Pro Tools or whatever software you’re using. Each time you create a podcast, use the same settings for recording, mixing, and mastering. If you’re using multiple programs or analog gear, document your process in a Word document or spreadsheet. Back in the day, mixing engineers had to refer to data sheets to recall settings for specific mixes. Now, with the digital tools we have, it’s much easier—but you still need a system in place.
Conclusion: Simple Fixes for a Better Listening Experience
To wrap it all up, there’s a lot you can do to improve podcast audio, especially when listeners are in environments like a car, where audio quality matters even more. Start with a good recording—get your input levels right, use individual mics, and avoid recording with too much room noise. From there, balance the frequencies with EQ, compress the audio for consistency, and make use of tools like match clip loudness to smooth out the volume.
Podcasting is a learning process, but with these basic precautions, you’ll save your listeners from having to fiddle with the volume knob constantly, making for a more enjoyable, professional listening experience.
- [‘Stuff You Should Know’ - Newer Podcast](https://stuffyoushouldknow.com/episodes/?_search=minecraft)
- [‘Stuff You Should Know’ - Older Podcast](https://stuffyoushouldknow.com/episodes/?_search=body+language)
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If you're looking to improve your podcast audio or need help mastering your episodes, reach out for professional sound engineering services. Let's make sure your podcast sounds great no matter where your listeners are tuning in!
[Contact Us for Podcast Mastering](music@audiodesignstudios.com)