Dialogue Leveler VS Dynamics in DaVinci Resolve 18.1.1 | SHOWDOWN!

[@QrooSpanish]

Your videos are awesome. This is my go-to channel to do anything with Davinci.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks! Glad my vids have been helpful! If you ever have questions, just drop me a comment. 😁

[@TheRealBarkinMadd]

Hi Jason - I would love to see more details of how you tweaked the expander and compressor (and why) for this set of examples. Cheers and thanks!

[@Timooji]

Thanks Jason. I think it would be more convenient for the audience if you split the window into 2 sections; one for leveler and the other is for the dynamics, and play parts of the same audio using this and that as if you are toggling between both leveler and dynamics. That would have given us the chance to compare the 2 outcomes instantaneously.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Great idea! I’ll keep that in mind for the next video comparison. 😁👍

[@PorkBone8016]

The dialogue leveler is definitely a good start to make audio sound better, but yes, dynamics for the win. It might be intimidating but we’ll worth the sweet sound that you can have!

[@JasonYadlovski]

I agree. 👍😜

[@Retset]

Great comparison! I just do studio (well, my man cave) VO's on a tiny KZbin channel. This dialogue leveller will be a godsend for me as it did great in that environment!

[@JasonYadlovski]

😁👍

[@JesperLowgrenTransformation]

Another fantastic video Jason !! 🙏

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks man!

[@GrassBuffalo]

I think when combined with the dialogue leveler, the dynamics panel, would be an epic duo.

[@JasonYadlovski]

I agree, it may be beneficial to use both of them on the same clip or tracks.

[@UHStudio]

Yep, especially when you might want to use Gate to block out some of the quiter noises like swallowing, table taps, etc

[@SuperchargedLlama]

A great video comparing these, thank you! I think that the Dialogue leveller actually sounded better in the studio environment, but for everything else I think the Dynamics worked well. I guess you could stack them?

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks! You could stack them if you wanted and it works for your situation.

[@GaryCunninghamyouareenough]

Great video as always, Jason 🙏🏻 I personally believe it is really good to know how compression etc works with your audio - but of course, the Dialogue Leveler is pretty awesome 🤟 Cheers, Jason 🤜💥🤛

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks Gary! I agree with you!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Dialogue Leveller is a really good cheat for me. I'm just in a studio environment. Thanks for all your help Jason!

[@JasonYadlovski]

Nice! Thanks for watching!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Jason, Have you tried doing any alterations to the settings on the audio leveller as it seems a little unfair comparing the standard settings with the dynamics that you spent sometime adjusting to get the best from it? If you just set the dynamics to standard settings would that still be better I wonder.

[@JasonYadlovski]

I didn’t try changing the settings on the dialogue leveler since there aren’t many options. They may help but for this video I didn’t make any changes.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

@@JasonYadlovski It would be interesting to try. I certainly like the leveller which is very like the one from Crumplepop I think as I have real problems getting my head around the dynamics. I understand what most of the controls do except for the ratio one which completely foxes me. What does not make sense to my simple mind it why you don’t reduce the level one for one. But that’s just me as so many others don not seem to have this mental block over it.

[@StephanieJeanne]

Same after sample 2. Dynamics was more precise. Now the studio example, the dialog leveler did great. I don't film outside, only in a studio, so I use the dialog presets.I know very little about audio, so they help me quite a bit. 😄 Thanks for the comparison, Jason. ✌️

[@JasonYadlovski]

😁👍

[@christianhotter]

I'm loving what Davinchi has been adding for audio tools . I've stopped using my Ozone products.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Agreed! They keep adding great features and functionality. Black Magic Design is awesome.

[@Ruffedges]

You do great work and educate people, glad to be a subscriber. Thank you for videos like these.

[@JasonYadlovski]

You're welcome! Thanks for being a part of the community!

[@JoseSpenaN]

Great demonstration. Hoy you have the waveform on the leveler window? Mine is hide.

[@JoseSpenaN]

NVM I notice if you activate the leveler on clip level it won't show the waveform. It have to be activate on track level.

[@JasonYadlovski]

👍😁

[@ElmarHarbecke]

Great video so far, thank you for the insights. But what I would like to see/hear is a test with a second or third person - it is a "Dialog Leveler". Some persons are naturally louder in speaking then others. What will happen when two or three voices have a different level during the same clip.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks! That would be a good test, maybe I can do that in the future.

[@ElmarHarbecke]

@@JasonYadlovski Yep, there are several options in the Dialog Leveler. A how-to would be great. It can be a live saver - I had to find it out the hard way. Specially in situations where to lift up quiet parts or vocals against others.

[@Mictlan.x]

I would've like for you to tinker at least a little bit with the settings of the Dialogue Leveler, on top of trying the default settings. I feel like it would've been a bit more of a fair comparison. But still, great video!

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks man! Tweaking the settings might’ve helped a little bit, but I don’t think it would’ve made a huge difference. At least based on trying the different settings before recording the video. But I agree, it’s always worth playing with the settings and seeing if it helps. Thanks so much for watching!

[@VAsHachiRoku]

Jason have you thought about doing live audio editing in the future? Different streams doing different editing, then mixing, etc. be great to see how you change the EQ for a VO based on background music etc. I really like the raw uncut editing to really see creators amazing work!

[@JasonYadlovski]

Great idea! I have always thought of doing some live stuff so maybe I’ll give it a try. 😁👍

[@Robroy333]

I have a seriously bad noisy audio scene that we were not able to shut off coolers in the place and we were prepared to do post ADR . I still tried the tools in in Davinci dynamics with no luck. The new voice isolation add on worked right out of the box! I even sent the clip to another audio engineer and they couldn’t fix it. I could provide you the raw clip if you’d want as a test. Since you are an audio guy.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Awesome! That's great that the new Voice Isolation worked! Feel free to send the clip if you'd like.

[@Robroy333]

@@JasonYadlovski I’d love to see what happens when you put your pro ninja moves on it! Where do I send it?

[@Robroy333]

@@JasonYadlovski sending!

[@Robroy333]

sent! Good luck! lol

[@mrkumaran]

together with the voice isolation, the dialogue leveller, are game changers. It works tremendously well, but they are processor intensive.

[@JasonYadlovski]

They do work very well. I’m combo with the voice isolation, the leveler would be even better. I only didn’t include it in this vid because I know a lot of people use the free version. 😜👍

[@vrihaspati110]

Considering dialogue leveler is 1st gen product, it performs pretty good. I am very glad it exists and pretty good for indie movie makers like me who can't afford big studios and people. thanks for the videos Jason. Please do some videos on automation.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Agreed, I’ll work on some automation videos. 😁👍

[@peterrichardson1054]

Hey Jason. Have you evet done a WWII radio aircraft coms effect in Resolve? Thanks.

[@JasonYadlovski]

I haven’t, but it could be pretty easy, using the distortion effect that’s available in fairlight. 😁👍

[@JasonYadlovski]

That reminds me, I did make a video about a telephone effect, it could be similar to that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWbQnJV-bM-VrM0

[@peterrichardson1054]

@@JasonYadlovski Cool man - works for me with some tweaking. I bet you wish they were all that easy :)

[@iamrawfilmmaker]

How you setup your recording? MIC, AUDIO INTERFACE AND MORE...

[@JasonYadlovski]

Hi! For the majority of my audio, I use the Senheisser MKE600 Mic connected to an Audient EVO 4 Audio Interface via XLR, then from the EVO4 into the computer via USB. I record using either DaVinci Resolve or Screenflow. As a backup, I've got a Saramonic Soundbird V6 on my Canon C100 MKII via XLR. I use it to sync my audio or incase there's a problem w/ my MKE600 audio.

[@IlVolpiELaPandi]

Hi Jason, I am watching a whole lot of your videos because they are very well done and they bring to me a lot of (new) knowledge of DaVinci Resolve. I am a content creator with two channel on KZbin: one about a procedure I had been trough (Sleeve Gastrectomy) and a second one about motorbike travels that my wife and I take with our two motorbikes... The first channel is just me talking to the camera (easy audio situation), while the second has audio recorded trough a lavalier mike installed in my helmet and my voice has to fight against the wind noise and the engine sound to get out at it's best... So I am really interested in adding some "magic" trick to my audio, but at the time I haven't mastered it yet. (Try to imagine: almost 3h of footage of each ride for my helmet camera + the same from my wife helmet... with two completely different needs: different voice, different wind noise, different engine noise... The footages comes in 3mins long chunk that I mount as multicam and then I put altogether for the final video...) Back to your tree examples: I cannot feel an appreciable difference between Dialogue Leveler and Dynamics (I am hearing it from my Pc trough my Mackie CR StealthBar) so... I would go by the "effortless 1-click Dialogue Leveler" as a winner here. In the third example (the one in the studio) I also felt the difference between the far/close section of the video (are you sure you applied the Dialog Leveler here? Or it's a tricky way to see if we can hear the real difference without the bias of knowing which is what?) Although I am sure the Dynamics give you far more control over the whole process, I also wonder how long did you needed to tweak everything in place... At the end I believe that for difficult situation (AKA my MotoVlog videos) the Dynamics is the only way to go to obtain a decent improvement, while the Dialogue Leveler can't get it around. But it's time-consuming (at least for me) and sometimes I get frustrated... Cheers from Italy!

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks man! Sounds like 2 great channels! If you have the studio version, you should also try the voice isolation. It's great.

[@IlVolpiELaPandi]

@@JasonYadlovski I am really interested in the "Voice Isolation" feature... but at this time I cannot afford the studio version... I've spent a lot on other gear I needed more... But I am saving money for the "Studio Version"! :)

[@JasonYadlovski]

The voice isolation is very good. If you do a lot of editing studio is 100% worth it, it will definitely use your computer resources better and you’ll be able to edit smoother.

[@IIMANIXII]

I noticed some audio wizardry in this video and a little known trick/tool in the audio space is DTC - Delay time Calculator - its free software that calculates delay times The company ia called Liqube Studio Tools - Its good for fades, attacks, releases and all your ADSR needs - worth a look - thanks for the recent uploads they are helping me learn Video... its alot like audio which gives me a headstart i guess :)

[@JasonYadlovski]

Awesome, that’s cool thank you for the info.

[@kevinbillington9773]

I tried the Voice Isolator at track level and had a terrible glitch on the vocal, I wouldn't call it distortion as you could hear the voice and isolated brilliantly. But it sounded like a speaker cone had a rip in it if you know what I mean. I had to remove it. It was great otherwise.

[@JasonYadlovski]

It's not always great, but most of the time its pretty good. Did you try turning it down a bit to see if that helps?

[@kevinbillington9773]

@Jason Yadlovski yes, I did. But it was fine at first. But once the sound was there it wouldn't dissappear. If it uses the GPU it may have been the card is not an RTX.

[@michaellissow543]

Would using voice isolation before or after processing help further isolate the back ground wind noise?

[@JasonYadlovski]

Yes, it may help to use the voice isolation in combination with this tool. However, I did not use that in this video because that’s a studio only feature, and I realize most people have the free version.

[@RemingtonKeller]

How does the leveler compare to normalizing audio at -10db for example?

[@JasonYadlovski]

Good question, I’ll have to read the manual about it and see what it’s actually leveling too. I don’t know what the number level is that it’s leveling it.

[@RemingtonKeller]

@@JasonYadlovski Thanks! I’m looking for a better but still fairly quick alternative to normalizing. Usually after that I still need to go and tweak each clip to make sure it sounds consistent. If there’s a ton of them it can take a while.

[@JasonYadlovski]

I would just use the dynamics panel and apply it in the track. Gonna work faster for you. You can use things like the Waves Vocal Rider. Same concept as the dialogue leveler but with more features.

[@RemingtonKeller]

@@JasonYadlovski Thanks! I’ll check that out

[@Primocustomsadventures]

Question For all You Audio Guys&Gals I Shoot in a shop environment with loud hammers, Spray Guns, Metal Banging.. Just wondering how or If Jason can make a video on dealing with that.. It seems to make my videos low lufs and high TP... or if you have a video already explaining how to deal with Impact noises and Hissing from airlines... I am working on custom Automotive How to videos

[@JasonYadlovski]

Hey! If you have the studio version of DaVinci Resolve, the best tool for that is going to be Voice isolation. Other tools won’t really make as big of a difference. Voice isolation will reduce all of that background noise so it’s not as loud and bring out the voice more.

[@Primocustomsadventures]

@@JasonYadlovski I will give it a try. Yes I have 19 studio Thank you. Learning a ton

[@theplussizecostumer]

I think the Dynamics work better on clips made outside the studio but then the Dialogue Leveler works better in studio. But here's a question. Can you use them both on the same clip? Would using the Dynamics give the Dialogue Leveler more control, or would they just muddy up the process?

[@JasonYadlovski]

You can use them in the same clip, but I haven’t tried it. It could go either way depending on the adjustments you make.

[@uroq]

I'm with Jason here, tho I'd say I would never be this good as our audio guy with dynamics ;) I found one problem tho, that Jason missed, because he has the hardware for it. If you are more on a "bang-for-the-bug-system" like me (Ryzen 5 5600X, RTX 3060 12GB, 32GB RAM): I recognized quite the hit on performance in edit. Audio sometimes needs up to a sec to play at all when I drag my play head. This is quite annoying and the reason I'll stay on dynamics instead of the leveler.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks for sharing your experience when using a more budget system. Are you in Studio? With those specs, you should be seeing slowdowns with audio work. If you are on the free version, then you may see the slowdown.

[@5Stringslinger]

@@JasonYadlovski Yeah, I'm on the free version. I thought Studio is just multi GPU support and some transitions and effects. Gonna buy the key one day tho. I think the software is great and the guys gotta get payed.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Studio does offer multi GPU support, but the free version in general does not utilize much GPU. The studio version takes full advantage of even one GPU, and overall just runs better and smoother than the free version. If you had a lot of video, you should definitely upgrade to the studio version.

[@petrub27]

for social media content: dialogue leveler paid jobs: dynamics

[@JasonYadlovski]

There ya go. 😜😁👍

[@PrakashVanaliya]

You are Awesome 😊

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks!

[@thomasomectin9056]

I vote for Dynamics panel over leveler in all situations. Mainly, for control. Maybe I missed a video you made on the limiter in the dynamics panel. I watch you skip past the limiter in several videos. Your thoughts on the limiter❓. I’m not an audio editor guy although mainly because of your videos Jason, I’m more of an audio guy than I was several weeks ago. How do you begin to become an audio editing guy❓ learn about and play with the controls and settings of audio adjustment tools. How do you not become an audio editing guy❓ use preset and plugins. I choose learning coz I like to understand what I’m doing and I’m a control freak. Thanks for all you bring Jason- Tom-

[@JasonYadlovski]

I generally don’t use the limiter that you see in the dynamics panel. I would use a limiter effect on a channel or on the main bus instead of using the limiter that is found in the dynamics panel. I do have a video where I cover everything in detail in the Dynamics window, and I talk about the limiter in there. I think to become an audio person you just have to work with a lot of audio, try things, understand how everything works, understanding, causes, and effects of what you’re doing and what good audio should sound like. I got started running a soundboard for my church, and mixing live services for our worship band and speakers. I brought those tools and things I learned over into resolve and that’s how I became a Resolve audio guy. 😜

[@thomasomectin9056]

@@JasonYadlovski I use the limiter in obs when recording web video with my Yeti and it seems to help shape the voices. I’ll check out the video you’re referring to. Thanks again

[@robertpdavenportii2908]

The automatic level adjustments were actually better than I thought they would be. The dynamics of Fairlight easily won in every test example. I would not be afraid to allow dailies from production initially processed by the automatic process to be distributed to editors for syncing visual effects, creating foley, or any of the steps that do not require a final locked audio mix but could certainly benefit from a normalized leveled track for intelligible listening. The Fairlight dynamics however are in no threat of being replaced by this level of automatic processing. However Audio ai processing is certainly an area I will continue to monitor with great interest an anticipation.

[@JasonYadlovski]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@technickr]

Why don't use both?

[@JasonYadlovski]

You can defiantly use both but I almost thing the auto leveler would have a negative impact on what your trying to do with dynamics possibly.

[@visionary_vega]

To be honest for most applications the leveler with eq would be enough. Through cell phone speakers you can't hear much of a difference I had to put the headphones on to really hear it. So I say depending on the content you are creating and who you are creating it for the AI does a close enough job. Obviously on a more professional level you will want to go in there and tweak everything to perfection. But the everyday consumer of content won't notice a difference. A pro would tho.

[@JasonYadlovski]

I agree, most people watch on phones or iPads, or similar devices. It’s really hard to hear audio differences on those devices unless the audio really stinks. But on a professional level, you’re right, I don’t think it would cut it.

[@TheOfficialABHS]

Time is money. It looked like about 15 seconds for the leveler. How long for the manual tweaks?

[@JasonYadlovski]

It’s pretty quick once you know how to work with the tools. A minute to a few minutes. The advantage is more control over what happens with the audio.

[@HitechProductions]

I think that the Dynamics always sounded better. The difference in the studio clip was closer. In both DSLR clips the dialogue sounded muddled to me.

[@JasonYadlovski]

I agree. 😁👍

[@l0rdcroissant]

I would stick with Dynamics and watch your videos how to do it right ;)

[@JasonYadlovski]

😜😁👍

[@starwaves1993]

I have a problem with the current Davinci Resolve Studio where turning on dynamic Leveler makes timeline playback on the edit and cut page not play glitchy. Dont really understand why a powerful computer can have a hard time playing back smoothly when processing audio dynamics. I’m using an Apple M1 Studio Max with 64GB ram. Happens with Prores and All Intra H.264 recorded on a Ninja V. Anybody notice this problem. I’m also using the Davinci Speed editor and using the job wheel to scrub the video makes it so glitchy when I the audio leveler on. Off playback is ok. Any ideas? Do I need to pre-render for this option or what. I just switched over from Final Cut Pro so not a good experience so far.

[@JasonYadlovski]

I find that the voice isolation and the dialogue leveler can cause stuttering playback or delayed playback. I don't know why, so I usually just turn them on when I'm done cutting the video together.

[@starwaves1993]

@@JasonYadlovski Yup… I’ve been seeing forum posts dating mid 2022 mentioning this problem. They still haven’t fixed it. And I’m just finding out after I purchased Davinci Studio that Davnci Resolve has traditionally needed allot of computer power compared to other NLE’s. I’m so used to using Final Cut Pro. It just works so smoothly. Reason why I tried switching was mainly because I do green screen and found the built in keyer in Final Cut Pro is not very good. I get much better results with Davinci’s Delta Keyer.

[@StephanieJeanne]

My assumption before anything, the Dynamics would be more precise. After sample 1, I still feel the same. On to 2..

[@JasonYadlovski]

😜👍

[@mupicap7927]

can anyone help me? I drag my video into davinci.. but the dialogue film does come out, Only the score.. Is there anyway to set this up?

[@AM23.]

I think if they used the new voice isolation WITH the voice leveler it'd be cherry

[@JasonYadlovski]

I agree, it would help a lot. I didn't include the the voice isolation because that's only in Studio. This way people with the free version can see how they stack up. 😜

[@AM23.]

@@JasonYadlovski Right. I forget how many people probably don't have studio, it's so worth it though 🤷‍♂️

[@JasonYadlovski]

I agree, studio is 100% worth it. I thought the same thing about the voice isolation when I was making the video - it would help even the playing field. I figured this was good to show wince everyone has the tools.

[@UTAZCO.Overland]

Dynamics definitely better; although the leveler did a decent job.

[@JasonYadlovski]

😁👍

[@SECourses]

Lol you spent so much time. Voice leveller is 1 click. Man I am gonna use it hopefully in my future videos

[@JasonYadlovski]

Lol thanks for watching.

[@Stories10]

Dynamics is better, but Leveler would do in most of the situations I need to.

[@JasonYadlovski]

😁👍

[@KozlosLife]

If you are pressed for time, I think the Dialog Leveler would be the choice.

[@JasonYadlovski]

I agree. Good for a quick fix. If combined with the voice isolation, it would work better I think.