How to Fix Bad Audio in Video and Recordings

A familiar situation: you prepared, shot footage for work or school, start watching — and the sound is ruined. The voice is quiet, there’s background noise, or the microphone recorded something wrong at some point. You can’t reshoot, and the finished video has to be delivered on time.

The good news: most audio problems can be fixed in a finished recording. Let’s look at the types of defects, how to fix each one, and what to do if it can’t be fixed.

Types of Audio Problems

First, figure out what exactly is wrong with the recording: the fix depends on it.

• A quiet, distant voice. The mic was far away, or you recorded on a phone, camera or laptop. The voice sounds muffled and “flat”, and you have to strain to hear it.
• Background noise. Traffic, air conditioning, chatter, appliance hum, microphone hiss.
• Echo. The voice sounds hollow, like in an empty room, and words blur together.
• Uneven volume. The speaker moved closer to and away from the mic, or several people speak at different volumes.
• Extra sounds in speech. Loud breaths, coughs, “um” and long pauses.
• Distortion. The sound was too loud for the mic, and the peaks were clipped. The voice crackles on loud words.
• Dropouts and gaps. The mic’s battery died, it disconnected, or the recording was interrupted.

How to Fix Bad Audio Online

The first five problems on the list can be fixed online: with Background Noise Removal you can enhance audio online without software or manual tuning. Upload a file, choose the mode for your problem, wait for processing and download the result. On average, a 5-minute recording takes about 45 seconds.

Which mode to choose:

• Quiet, muffled or “phone-like” voice — Bandwidth Extension and Voice AutoEQ (keep noise). It makes the voice fuller and clearer without aggressive noise removal.
• Background noise — Voice Cleaner (remove music). It works for most recordings: keeps only the voice and makes it clearer. More on the background noise removal page.
• Noise, but there’s music you need to keep — Voice Cleaner (keep music).
• Echo — Voice Cleaner (keep music), Partial Deverb, or the echo remover.
• Uneven volume — Adaptive Leveler (keep noise). Quiet and loud phrases become equally loud.
• Breaths — Voice Cleaner (remove breathings). Read how to remove breaths from a video.
• Coughs, “um” and pauses — Cut Filler Words, Coughs and Silence. This mode cuts parts of the recording, so check the result before editing.

If you have an audio file rather than a video, it works the same way — see remove background noise from audio.

Example: phone recording from a distance

Example: uneven volume

More on specific problems — in the articles how to remove echo from video and audio and how to remove microphone hiss and hum.

What Can’t Be Fixed

Processing improves the sound that’s in the recording, but it can’t restore what isn’t there.

• Severe clipping distortion. When the sound was clipped, part of the voice information is lost. Light distortion becomes less noticeable after cleanup, but heavy crackling stays.
• Dropouts and gaps. If the mic disconnected, there’s simply no voice at that point in the recording.
• A voice that’s barely audible. If speech is completely buried in noise, processing will make it cleaner, but intelligibility will be limited.

In these cases, check for a backup audio recording: a camera, a second phone or a recorder often captures sound in parallel. If there is one, process it and sync it with the video. If not, you’ll have to re-record the sound or reshoot the problematic part.

How to Avoid Bad Audio in the Future

• Make a test recording. Record 15–20 seconds and listen on headphones before shooting. It’s the simplest rule and prevents most problems.
• Check the test with the tool right on location. If the sound isn’t good and you can’t replace the mic, upload the test recording from your phone and process it. If you like the result, keep shooting with confidence.
• Charge and check the microphone connection. Wireless mics run out of battery at the worst moment.
• Turn on a backup recording. Put a phone with a voice recorder nearby: if the main mic fails, the sound won’t be lost.
• Watch the recording level. The voice should be loud, but the meter shouldn’t hit the red zone — otherwise you’ll get distortion.
• Keep the microphone close to the speaker. This reduces noise and echo at once and makes the voice clearer.

More tips — in the section microphone problems when recording.

FAQ

Can I improve audio recorded on a phone?

Yes. Bandwidth Extension and Voice AutoEQ (keep noise) makes the voice closer and fuller. If the recording is also noisy, choose Voice Cleaner (remove music).

Can I fix crackling, distorted audio?

Light distortion becomes less noticeable after processing. Severe clipping can’t be fixed: use a backup recording or re-record the sound.

How much does it cost to fix audio?

The first 30 seconds of 2 files are processed for free. After that — no subscription, from $0.79 per file or minute packages from $1.99 for 10 minutes. See Pricing.