How to clean up a voice-over: remove hiss and rumble, and add voice effects
People forgive a video that looks a little rough. They scroll past one that sounds rough: a hiss under every word, a rumble from the street, S sounds that sting. Most of that can be fixed after recording, without an audio editor. This is how to clean up a voice-over in SPREVA's Studio, and how to add a voice effect when the story calls for one.
Rodolfo MotaFounder of SPREVA
The short version
In Studio, select the clip or the sound with the voice, open its Audio tab (Basic, for a sound) and turn on Clean voice under Voice. It cuts rumble and hiss, softens harsh S sounds and evens the level. If a line needs character, choose a Voice effect such as Telephone, Radio or Robot. Every export is also brought to a steady loudness, so your video sounds as loud as the ones around it.
What makes a voice sound amateur
Four things, almost always:
- Rumble: the low hum of traffic, air conditioning or a bumped desk, under everything.
- Hiss: the steady noise of a cheap microphone or a quiet room turned up.
- Harsh S sounds that sting on phone speakers and earbuds.
- An uneven level: one sentence too loud, the next too quiet.
Clean voice, in one switch
- 1
In Studio, select the video clip or the sound that carries the voice.
- 2
Open its Audio tab, or Basic for a sound, and under Voice turn on Clean voice.
- 3
SPREVA removes the rumble below the voice, reduces the hiss, softens the S sounds and evens out the level, in that order.
- 4
Play it. The player gives you a close preview as you work; the hiss reduction itself is applied when the video is exported.
Record it well to begin with
Cleaning helps most when there is not too much to clean. Record in Studio with Record audio, which records from your microphone while the video plays, and:
- Get close to the microphone, a hand's width away, so your voice is far louder than the room.
- Choose a soft room: curtains, a sofa and a rug absorb the echo that no filter fully removes.
- Turn on Mute the project while recording, so the video's own sound does not end up in your take.
Voice effects
Under Voice effect, one effect can colour a voice for a moment of the story:
| Effect | Good for |
|---|---|
| Telephone | A call, a quote, a voice from far away |
| Radio | An archive clip, a broadcast, a flashback |
| Megaphone | An announcement, a crowd, a protest |
| Echo | A thought, a dream, an empty place |
| Hall | A big room, a stage, a church |
| Underwater | A muffled moment, a scene under water |
| Robot | A machine, an AI, a joke |
| Chipmunk and Deep | A voice higher or lower, at the same speed |
A clip takes one effect at a time, and it works together with Clean voice, which always runs first. It works on a voice-over you recorded, on AI narration, on a video clip's own sound and on sounds from your library.
The rest of the mix
Next to Voice, the same tab holds the rest of what a voice needs:
- Volume, which can change over time with keyframes, and Fade in and Fade out.
- Role: Voice, Music or Sound, so SPREVA knows what to keep in front.
- A steady loudness on every export, set for you, so the video is neither quieter nor louder than the ones before and after it in the feed.
Or ask the AI
In Studio's AI chat, or through an AI agent connected to SPREVA, you can ask for it in words:
Clean up the voice on every clip, put a telephone effect on the quote from the customer, and keep the music under the voice.
Clean up your next voice-over
Open your last video in Studio, turn on Clean voice on the voice-over and export it again; listen on your phone. Studio is part of the Pro and Business plans, and every plan starts with a 7-day trial. How to turn a script into a video: write the words, get an editable first cut.
Questions
Does Clean voice cost AI credits?
No. Clean voice and the voice effects are part of Studio and use no credits.
Can I choose how strong the cleanup is?
No. Clean voice is a switch, tuned for spoken voice, so there is nothing to set.
Does it work on AI narration?
Yes. It works on AI narration, a voice-over you recorded, a video clip's own sound and sounds from your library.
Can I use two voice effects at once?
One effect per clip. Clean voice can always be on as well, and it runs before the effect.
Why does my video sound as loud as others in the feed?
Every export is brought to the same loudness that streaming and social platforms expect, so you do not have to set it.
Written by
Rodolfo Mota
Founder of SPREVA
Makes SPREVA in Portugal: the Studio, the tools an agent works with, and the publishing behind them.
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