Audio quality checklist

How to use it

1. Download the file and keep an editable copy for this recording.
2. Fill in the project details, then work through the checks before moving to the next step.
3. Save the completed version with your footage so the next person can see your decisions.

Use the checks that fit this recording. A checklist records a review; it does not replace watching and listening to the final video.

What is included

# Audio quality checklist
- [ ] Confirm the expected microphone is selected.
- [ ] Keep the microphone position stable and avoid contact with clothing.
- [ ] Stop avoidable fan, appliance and keyboard noise.
- [ ] Record normal speech, a loud sentence and a quiet sentence.
- [ ] Listen for clipping, room echo, hum, plosives and dropouts.
- [ ] Move closer to the microphone if room sound overwhelms the voice.
- [ ] Reduce gain if loud syllables distort.
- [ ] Compare any noise-reduced version with the original on headphones.
- [ ] Compare loudness across speakers and between beginning and ending.
- [ ] Check intelligibility on a small speaker as well as headphones.
- [ ] Keep the untreated original; processing may remove useful speech detail.
Problems heard and changes made: