Post-Production Audio Services Explained: What Happens After Recording?
Introduction
You’ve wrapped your voiceover, podcast, ADR, or music recording session — but what happens next? Post-production audio is where raw recordings are refined, polished, and shaped into professional, release-ready content.
Whether you’re a producer, agency, musician, or content creator, understanding what post-production involves helps you make better creative decisions, communicate more effectively with studios, and avoid costly surprises.
In this guide, we break down the most common post-production audio services, who uses them, and why they matter — especially when deadlines are tight and quality expectations are high.
What Is Post-Production Audio?
Post-production audio refers to everything that happens after the recording session ends. It’s the process of cleaning up, enhancing, synchronising, and finalising audio for distribution — whether it’s a podcast, film, ad campaign, audiobook, or music release.
It includes:
Editing
Noise reduction
Dialogue clean-up
Mixing and balancing
Mastering (for music or broadcast)
File prep and delivery
Sync to picture (for ADR or VO to video)
Why It’s Crucial
Even the best performance in a world-class studio can fall flat without proper post-production. Conversely, smart editing and mixing can elevate a good session into something truly polished and impactful.
A strong post-production workflow ensures:
Clarity and consistency across all content
Pacing and flow that supports the message
Compliance with broadcast or platform standards
Audience engagement and retention
Common Post-Production Services (and What They Involve)
1. Dialogue Editing
Used in: Voiceover, ADR, audiobooks, interviews, branded content
This involves:
Removing filler words, false starts, and long pauses
Reducing breaths, mouth clicks, pops or coughs
Ensuring smooth transitions between takes
Stitching together the best reads from a session
Studios like Kore Sounds use tools like Pro Tools, iZotope RX, and manual waveform editing to deliver ultra-clean results without sounding artificial.
2. Noise Reduction
Background hum? HVAC noise? Distant traffic or laptop fans?
Noise reduction tools identify and suppress unwanted background noise while preserving the quality and natural tone of the voice or performance. This is especially helpful when working with recordings from home studios or non-treated spaces.
3. Mixing
Used in: Commercials, video content, podcasts, music, sound design
Mixing balances all elements of a project:
Dialogue or VO
Music beds
SFX or ambiences
Room tone or location sound
Loudness and stereo image
A professional mix ensures nothing feels overpowering or buried. It also ensures spatial depth, especially if you’re working in Dolby Atmos or multi-speaker setups.
4. Mastering
Mastering is the final polish — it brings everything up to the required loudness, dynamic range, and tone for final release.
Different platforms have different delivery requirements:
Broadcast TV: -23 LUFS
YouTube/Spotify: -14 LUFS
Podcasts: -16 LUFS mono / -19 LUFS stereo
Film & streaming: Custom specs
Studios apply compression, EQ, limiting, and level matching to create a cohesive, clean output across all your content.
5. Sync to Picture (for VO or ADR)
For ADR or VO recorded to picture, post-production involves syncing takes to on-screen visuals. This includes:
Nudging waveforms to match lip movement
Blending with production audio
Applying reverb or EQ to match the original location
Timing dialogue to match cue points exactly
Tools like EdiPrompt, EdiCue, and Pro Tools Ultimate allow studios to prep, cue, and deliver files ready to drop into a video timeline.
6. File Delivery and Asset Organisation
Post-production ends with:
Exported stems or mixes in the correct format (WAV, AIFF, MP3, etc.)
Clearly labelled files
Mastered versions for each delivery platform
Optional session backups or Pro Tools session files
Transfer via MASV, WeTransfer or other secure platforms
At Kore Sounds, delivery is tailored to each client — from quick MP3s for reference, to broadcast-ready WAVs and full project archives.
Who Uses Post-Production Services?
Post-production isn’t just for big-budget projects. It’s essential across the board:
Ad agencies prepping campaigns for TV, social or radio
Film and drama producers syncing and mixing dialogue
Podcast creators looking to improve audio quality
Authors finalising audiobooks for Audible
Brands producing internal or external voice content
Musicians mixing and mastering singles, EPs or albums
Even short-form content (like a 30-second social spot) can benefit from professional clean-up and polish.
Final Thoughts
Recording is just the first step. Post-production is where your audio comes to life — balanced, cleaned, paced, and prepped for real-world use.
If you’re not confident with editing or don’t have the tools in-house, partner with a studio that offers dedicated post-production support. It can save hours of frustration and elevate the quality of your output tenfold.