… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1134: Use EQ to Enhance Voice Clarity

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Adjusting frequencies is the best way to improve the clarity of human speech.

Human hearing spans from 20 – 20,000 Hz; a ten-octave range. Human speech is a subset of this: from roughly 200 – 8,000 Hz.

Vowels are low frequency sounds, which give a voice its character, warmth and sexiness. Consonants are, generally, high frequency sounds, which make speech intelligible.

NOTE: For example, the difference between hearing an “F” or an “S” is whether the hiss is present. If you hear it, you hear an “S.” If not, you hear an “F.” And that hiss is around 6,200 Hz.

So, if you want to warm up a voice and make it more intelligible, select your dialog clips and apply: Effects Browser > Audio > EQ > Fat EQ filter.

Select the clip, open the Inspector, then click the small icon to the right of the Fat EQ title (top red arrow)

Then, make the following adjustments.

Improve Speech Clarity