Balance the real program, tune dynamics without losing quiet speech and verify recorded tracks, transitions and the listener’s mix.
List voice, game or presentation, remote guests, music and alerts. Identify the live program, replay/VOD path, local mix and optional isolated tracks. Confirm each source is captured once and that monitoring does not feed back into an unintended input.
Record natural quiet speech, normal delivery and emphatic phrases through the actual chain. Fix clipping, plosives and disruptive noise before balancing against other sources. Compare compatible signal/noise measurements without replacing the noise sample with gated silence, and check the recorded peak against an explicit ceiling.
Play the busiest expected program and alerts while speaking normally. Adjust source and program levels by listening to a recorded rehearsal on representative playback devices. Measure the combined digital program directly; an acoustic SPL addition formula cannot predict peaks from game, music and microphone meters.
Start with the least processing needed for intelligibility. Inspect a proposed compressor threshold, ratio and makeup curve, then audition the actual attack and release. Set any gate or expander from the quietest intended words and tails, and tune ducking depth and recovery by listening instead of adopting a universal dB value.
Record overlaps, alert bursts, pauses, mute states and scene changes, then solo every required recording track. Check voice clarity and synchronization throughout. If there is an actual loudness target, measure integrated loudness and true peak on the recording and test constant gain separately from limiting.
Check the intended broadcast or deliberate platform test from a separate receiving device. Record mix settings, source levels, routing, measurement scope and any remaining limitations. Save a rehearsal reference and repeat the relevant checks after adding an alert, guest or new audio application.
Write and download the task brief, measured results and handoff decisions as Markdown.
Calculate a ratio from compatible signal-only and noise-only measurements made under the same conditions.
Compare the measured sample or true peak with an explicit ceiling; keep crest factor separate.
Inspect the static hard-knee curve with explicit makeup gain before auditioning the real processor.
Compare a constant loudness adjustment with the measured true peak and an explicit delivery ceiling.
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OBS describes setting levels through the signal path and checking monitoring. Evaluate the actual combined output, not just isolated meters.
OBS’s multi-track guide explains why a complete program track is useful alongside isolated editing tracks.
Keep the following evidence with the actual version used for this task.
| Record | Include | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Voice | Quiet, normal and emphatic passages | Check sentence starts and endings |
| Program | Busy content, alerts and overlaps | Listen for masking and clipping |
| Outputs | Live, replay, local mix and isolated tracks | Verify each destination separately |
Muted or gated silence does not reveal the microphone’s open-channel noise.
A new effect can change the loudest combined moment even if speech settings stay the same.