How to Make Your Voice Sound Better in Adobe Audition (Even if You’re a Beginner)

Author

Master Editor
May 21, 2025

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If you want your voice recordings to sound clean and professional, Adobe Audition has a great tool to help: Favorites.

It lets you record a series of actions, so you can apply them later with just one click. This is a huge time-saver and helps you get consistent results every time.

Let’s break this down so anyone can follow, even if you’re just starting out.

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🎯 Goal: Make Your Audio Sound Clear, Loud, and Polished

Here are the 5 basic steps that many audio editors use to improve voice recordings:

  1. Normalize – Makes the volume level consistent.

  2. Noise Reduction – Removes background noise like hums or hiss.

  3. EQ (Equalization) – Balances frequencies to make your voice clearer.

  4. Compression – Controls volume peaks and brings quiet parts up.

  5. Normalize again – Final volume boost to make everything sound polished.

🛠 Where to Apply These Effects: The Effects Rack

In Adobe Audition, you can use something called the Effects Rack. Think of it like a chain where you stack effects in the order you want, and apply them all at once. You can even save this chain as a preset to reuse later.

But there’s a small problem…

⚠ The Catch: Normalize Can’t Be Used in the Effects Rack

Adobe Audition treats some effects as “processes” that need to be applied one at a time. Normalize is one of them. That means you can’t include Normalize in your Effects Rack preset.

So, how do we fix that?

✅ Step-by-Step: The Best Workflow

Here’s a beginner-friendly version of how you can set this up:

Step 1: Apply Normalize Manually

  • Go to Favorites > Normalize to -3 dB (or use Effects > Amplitude and Compression > Normalize).

  • This brings your audio to a good volume level for editing.

Step 2: Use Effects Rack for the Middle Effects

  • Open the Effects Rack (usually on the left panel).

  • Add these effects in this order:

    • Noise Reduction / Restoration > De-Noise

    • Filter and EQ > Parametric Equalizer

    • Amplitude and Compression > Dynamics

  • Adjust the settings to your liking (or follow this PDF guide).

  • Save this rack as a preset so you can use it anytime.

Step 3: Apply Normalize Again

  • Once the Effects Rack has been applied, go back and normalize the audio again.

💡 Shortcut: Automate with Favorites

Instead of doing this every time, you can record all these actions as a Favorite:

  1. Click Favorites > Start Recording Favorite.

  2. Go through all the steps above:

    • Normalize

    • Apply Effects Rack

    • Normalize again

  3. Click Favorites > Stop Recording Favorite.

  4. Give it a name like “1-Click Processing” or something you like

Now, whenever you have a new recording, just go to Favorites > [Your Favorite Name] and everything is done in one click!

👀 Bonus Tips