How To Set The Proper Recording Level For Voice-Over

The best way to set your recording level is at the source — by adjusting the input gain on your audio interface or preamp while you record.

Your goal is to have your strongest natural peaks land as close as possible to –6 dB on a peak meter without going over it.

A healthy voice recording will often average somewhere around –18 dB to –10 dB, with stronger moments reaching toward –6 dB. Lower is acceptable. Clipping or exceeding your safe peak target is not.

Because speech is naturally dynamic, you probably won’t hit exactly –6 dB every time. If you finish a clean recording and the loudest peak lands a little low, using DAW gain or peak normalization afterward to make a small adjustment is perfectly acceptable.

The important distinction is this:

Post-recording normalization is a fine-tuning tool — not a substitute for setting the correct recording gain in the first place.

You don’t want to intentionally record too low and depend on normalization to bring every recording up to –6 dB. Set the gain properly during capture first, then make a small software adjustment afterward only when necessary.

And if the recording seems quiet while you’re working, don’t increase the recording gain just to make it sound louder in your headphones. Turn up your headphone monitoring level instead. Recording level and listening volume are two different things.

I illustrate this concept further in the video below if you’d like to see it in action.

Want to master this on your own?
My Recording Levels Training Course shows you exactly how to read your meter, set input gain, and establish a reliable recording level—without the guesswork.