I’ve covered the best vocal EQ settings in the past, but EQ can ALSO benefit spoken voice. Voice EQ can be used to lock in the low end while cleaning it up and adding presence and overall a more balanced sound. Use these voice EQ settings to get your recorded spoken voice on your podcast, video, etc. sounding as good as possible.
Voice EQ Settings
Here is a snapshot of the best voice EQ settings to implement to get spoken voice for both men and women to sound powerful, crisp, and clear:
Let’s go through each frequency band in the above voice EQ cheat sheet to explain the changes we’re making, why we’re making them, and the effect they’re having on our voice overall.
High Pass at 80Hz (Female 100Hz)
Just like we would do on a vocal, adding a high pass filter around 80-100Hz (depending on the voice) will remove irrelevant frequencies/noise.
This is an easy way to attenuate the sound of an air conditioner or computer fan as well as low frequency sounds passing through the walls from outside.
Dynamic Cut at 150Hz for Plosives
As I covered in my overview of how to remove plosives from vocals, plosives are those low energy pops you get in a vocal from a force of air.
They tend to “explode” on “P” sounds in particular, hence the term, in the 150Hz area.
As such, I like a dynamic EQ cut at 150Hz, meaning that the EQ band will ONLY pull down when there’s a surge at 150Hz:
Just set the threshold as I explain in my overview on how to use dynamic EQ so that it only pulls when you get that exaggerated surge at 150Hz.
Loop the most offending plosive in the entire recording and use that to setting the threshold so that you only see the reduction of 3-5dB when that plosive engages.
This ensures that you only cut when necessary and that 150Hz which is an important area for the body of your voice is left largely untouched.
Also remember that pop screens are the first line of defense and best way to catch that air during a recording so that you don’t need to worry about plosives as much in the mixing stage.
Boost at 200-300Hz for Body
Speaking of the body of your voice, EQ boost at 200-300 by 1-3dB (3 at most) to add a little warmth and thickness to your voice.
This helps to add a kind of subtle presence and credibility to that voice that you don’t get in a thin voice.
A static boost works here, but again make sure that it’s subtle. Try boosting between 1 and 3dB to determine what sounds best, but don’t go beyond that or it will start to sound uneven and unnatural.
As an aside, the next time you record voice, make sure that anyone being recorded is right up on the microphone (ideally behind a pop screen) to capture more of that low end deepness naturally via the proximity effect.
Cut 400-600Hz for Clarity
Just like cutting the mix mud out of a vocal, a small cut in the 400-600 range adds clarity via subtractive EQ.
A lot of people make the mistake of boosting in that 3-5k range to get clarity and crispness from their vocal BEFORE they visit this area.
Unless the voice was recorded in bad conditions with poor microphone placement, you shouldn’t have to cut TOO much here.
You might try a dynamic cut for a more transparent solution to just pull 1-2dB at most on occasion and with certain sounds.
Adjust 1-2k for Nasal Voice or Hollow Recording
1-2k is a range which should be adjusted depending on what the recording calls for (if at all).
If you or another voice has a nasally voice, you can attenuate this effect with a small cut or dynamic cut more on that 1k end.
Conversely, if you have a hollow sounding voice which is typically a product of a bad room or again microphone placement, then a small boost between 1-2k can help to “fill” out the sound.
If the microphone isn’t right up on the person speaking, you tend to get more of the room sound and reflections which can exacerbate the hollow sound, so keep that in mind when setting up the microphone or instructing everyone who is being recorded next time.
Dynamic Cut at 5k for Sibilance
Sibilance is that exaggerated, grating kind of effect you get on “S” consonant sounds in particular.
It tends to exist around 5k, sometimes higher depending on the voice.
Using a de-esser cleans up sibilance, but you can use dynamic EQ to tame it with transparency and without killing the clarity in your voice, as well.
Similar to how we looped the most offending plosive(s) in our voice to set the voice EQ down lower, do the same for the most offending sibilant sound in your voice recording.
Set the threshold and dynamic range of the dynamic band to pull out 5dB on average on that most offending sibilant sound. This will pull less drastically from the rest of the sibilance in your voice and go a long way to transparently taming it without introducing a lisp (which can happen when you de-ess too aggressively).
Dynamic Cut at 11k for Mouth Noises
Maybe the MOST offending sounds on a voice aren’t even in the words themselves but the high frequency mouth noises/clicks you get from lips parting or smacking ahead of speaking.
A dynamic cut at 11k seriously attenuates this annoying sound to save your listeners from wanting to jam forks in their ears. By the same token and as with other dynamic cuts we’ve made, the dynamic nature of the cut ensures it only pulls when you get a surge from that mouth noise at 11k.
As such, 11k is generally left untouched, maintaining the crispness and air in your voice to keep it sounding clear, open, and punchy on that top end.
Lastly, low passing at 18-20k is optional and admittedly more applicable to a musical mix.
Voice EQ Tips
- Voice EQ can be used on a spoken voice as effectively as sung vocals to strike a more balanced tone from your recorded voice.
- High pass at 80-100Hz (for male or female voice, respectively) to remove unwanted noise and clean up voice.
- Use a dynamic cut at 150Hz to remove plosive sounds in your voice.
- Add a small boost between 200-300Hz to add depth and fullness to a voice.
- Cut between 400-600Hz to clean up and add clarity to your recorded voice without cutting anything desirable in the tone.
- Adjust 1-2k as necessary, cutting or boosting to correct a nasally or hollow voice, respectively.
- Dynamic cut around 5k or so to reduce sibilance.
- Dynamic cut at 11k to attenuate the effect and apparency of mouth sounds/clicks.
- Low passing at 18-20k to create headroom without sacrificing anything is optional.
