AI Tools to Separate Voices in Audio

Here’s a quick look at the most common problems podcasters face and how disruptive they are to the listening experience:

Listener distraction levels by audio problem type (estimated based on podcasting community surveys)

Why These Problems Happen

Most of these issues come from recording in untreated rooms, using budget microphones, or sitting too close to your mic. The great news is that all of them are fixable in post-production. That’s where learning how to clean speech for podcast editing saves the day.

Best Tools to Clean Speech for Podcast Editing

You don’t need to spend a fortune on software. In fact, some of the best speech-cleaning tools are completely free. Here’s an honest comparison:

Comparison of popular podcast audio editing and speech-cleaning tools

For most beginners, Audacity is the best starting point. For those who need AI-assisted voice isolation quickly, VocalRemoverX is a fantastic free browser-based option that doesn’t require any downloads.

Step-by-Step: How to Clean Speech for Podcast Editing

This is the core of the guide. Follow these steps in order, and you’ll get professional-sounding audio every time.

Step 1 — Import and Organize Your Raw Audio

Open your editing software and import your raw recordings. Label each track clearly — host, guest 1, guest 2, music, and so on. Working organized saves a lot of time later.

Step 2 — Listen Through Once Before Touching Anything

Play through the full recording first. Take notes on where the biggest problems are. This gives you a roadmap before you start making changes.

Step 3 — Cut the Dead Air and Obvious Mistakes

Remove long pauses, false starts, and obvious stumbles. This makes the recording feel tighter before you even start on audio quality. Most editors delete anything over 1.5 seconds of silence.

Step 4 — Apply Noise Reduction

This is where you actively clean speech for podcast editing. Noise reduction removes the steady background hum — like fans, air conditioners, and computer noise. Here’s how to do it in Audacity:

1. Find a section of your recording with only background noise (no talking). Even 1–2 seconds works.
2. Select that section and go to Effect → Noise Reduction → Get Noise Profile.
3. Select your entire audio track (Ctrl+A / Cmd+A).
4. Go back to Effect → Noise Reduction and click OK. Start with Noise Reduction at 12 dB.
5. Listen back. If the audio sounds “watery” or robotic, reduce the setting.

Step 5 — Remove Plosives and Mouth Sounds

Plosive pops are those harsh bursts when someone says “P” or “B” sounds too close to a mic. To fix them:

• Use a high-pass filter set to around 80–100 Hz to cut low-frequency booms.
• Zoom in on the waveform and manually reduce the peak of any plosive hit.
• iZotope RX has a dedicated “De-click” and “De-plosive” tool that handles this automatically.

Step 6 — Use Equalization (EQ) to Shape the Voice

EQ is one of the most powerful ways to clean up speech. Here’s a simple starting point for voice EQ:

Basic EQ guide for podcast voice processing

Step 7 — Apply Compression

Compression evens out the volume differences in speech. When someone talks quietly, then suddenly gets loud, compression brings those levels closer together. For podcasts, a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 with a medium attack and release works well for most voices.

Step 8 — De-ess the Harsh “S” Sounds

A de-esser is a plugin that targets harsh, hissy “S” and “SH” sounds. Set it to target the 5,000–8,000 Hz range. Apply gently — over-de-essing makes voices sound lispy and unnatural.

Step 9 — Normalize and Set Final Loudness

Most podcast platforms recommend a loudness of –16 LUFS (stereo) or –19 LUFS (mono). Use a loudness meter plugin or your software’s built-in normalization tool to hit these targets consistently.

–16

LUFS target (stereo)

–19

LUFS target (mono)

–1 dB

True peak maximum

3:1

Compression ratio for voice

Noise Reduction Techniques That Actually Work

Not all noise reduction is equal. There are several different approaches, and knowing which one to use in which situation makes a huge difference when you clean speech for podcast editing.

Spectral Editing — The Surgeon’s Approach

Spectral editing lets you see your audio as a visual map of frequencies over time. You can literally paint away noise. iZotope RX is the gold standard here. It’s like Photoshop for audio — you can spot a dog bark or a siren and erase it without affecting the speech around it.

Gate vs. Expander — Know the Difference

A noise gate completely silences audio that falls below a set volume threshold. An expander does the same thing but more gradually. For podcasting, expanders are usually better because they don’t create abrupt, unnatural silences.

Comparison of noise reduction techniques for podcast speech cleaning

AI-Powered Noise Removal — The Fast Lane

AI tools like Adobe Enhance Speech (free), NVIDIA RTX Voice, and online tools such as VocalRemoverX use machine learning to separate speech from background noise automatically. They work remarkably well on most recordings, making them a great choice when you need to clean speech for podcast editing quickly.

Advanced Speech Cleaning Tips for Better Results

Once you’ve mastered the basics, these next-level techniques will take your podcast audio to another level.

Record in a Treated Space First

The single best way to clean speech for podcast editing is to not need much cleaning at all. Record in a space with soft surfaces — a bedroom with carpet, a walk-in closet, or a small room with acoustic foam panels. Hard walls create echo; soft materials absorb it.

Use Multiband Compression for Uneven Voices

Regular compression treats all frequencies the same. Multiband compression lets you compress different frequency ranges independently. This is especially helpful when a guest’s voice is bassy and boomy in some moments and thin in others.

Match Loudness Across Multiple Guests

When you have multiple speakers recorded on separate tracks, their levels almost never match. Use a gain plugin or trim each track manually before applying compression. The goal is to make all voices sound like they’re in the same room at the same distance from the mic.

Use a Limiter at the End of Your Chain

After all your processing, place a limiter as the very last plugin. Set the ceiling at –1 dB true peak. This prevents any accidental clipping from sneaking into your final export.

Create a Standard Processing Chain (Template)

Once you find a workflow that sounds great, save it as a template in your DAW. That way, every episode starts with the same processing applied automatically. This saves time and keeps your show sounding consistent from episode to episode.

Mistakes to Avoid When Cleaning Podcast Audio

Even experienced editors fall into these traps. Here’s what to watch out for when you clean speech for podcast editing:

Common podcast audio editing mistakes and how to correct them

Frequently Asked Questions