How to Edit Audio in DaVinci Resolve: A Complete Guide

If you’ve ever wondered how to edit audio in DaVinci Resolve, you’re in the right place. While DaVinci Resolve is a powerful video editing software, it also offers a comprehensive set of features for professional-grade audio editing. 

Whether you’re a YouTuber, filmmaker, podcaster, or content creator, we’ll walk you through every essential step of audio editing in DaVinci Resolve. Let’s get started.

An Overview of DaVinci Resolve

The DaVinci Resolve is categorized into seven pages. The Edit page and Cut enable syncing and quick edits. The Color page is an advanced color corrector, while the Fusion page contains visual effects and motion graphics. 

Additionally, the Media and Deliver pages offer everything you need to organize your media and deliver the final output. The specific page that we’ll explore is the Fairlight page, featuring tools for professional audio post production.

DaVinci Resolve’s Fairlight is the first audio editor that has built-in picture editing capabilities. This means you don’t need a separate audio and video editor, as the tool allows you to switch between both on the same interface. 

Whether you’re doing basic voiceovers or a full-blown sound design, you’ll find everything you need inside DaVinci Resolve. Fairlight brings in over a hundred features that are ideal for editors, sound engineers, and filmmakers. These include:

How to Edit Audio in DaVinci Resolve in 6 Easy Steps  

Now that you’ve gained insight into DaVinci’s dedicated audio editing tool, Fairlight, let’s show you how to get started. The steps are quite simple to follow, and the Fairlight interface is easy to navigate.

1. Import Audio Files Correctly

Open your project tab on DaVinci Resolve and navigate to Media. Right-click and select Import Media, or simply drag audio clips onto your pool. You can work with different audio formats, such as WAV, MP3, AAC, and more. Make sure to organize your clips into bins for a cleaner workflow and maximum productivity.

2. Create the Timeline

Navigate to the Fairlight tab, click File, and select New timeline. This will open a new window where you can enter the number of audio tracks and audio type you want to edit. There’s also an option to input the number of video tracks if you want to edit video clips alongside the audio. Select Create when you’re done.

3. Add Audio Track

You may be working with multiple audio types like dialogue, music, and sound effects. It’s important to separate them into tracks for better control. Right-click the track header and select Add Track. Ensure to name each track to avoid confusion when editing.

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4. Edit Audio Files

You can apply several techniques when editing audio on DaVinci Resolve. Here are the basic audio editing tools:

Trimming and Cutting Clips  

To cut unwanted sections, use the scissors-like tool to split clips where edits are needed, then delete or rearrange sections. You can also adjust clip length by dragging the edges of a clip to shorten or extend it. This feature is useful for tightening pauses in dialogue.

Adjusting Audio Levels

You can adjust the overall loudness of a selected clip and create dynamic volume changes over time using keyframes. To balance audio levels, select a clip, go to the Inspector, click Audio, and adjust Volume to match other clips. Moreover, you can enable Automation (A) for smooth transitions by dragging the volume line up/down to fade or duck audio under dialogue.

Fading In and Out

Fading smoothly ramps volume up/down at clip edges. Hover over the edge of a clip, then drag the fade handle inward to create a gradual volume change. For quick fades, right-click a clip and select Add Fade In/Out for instant smoothing.

5. Cleaning and Enhancing Audio

DaVinci Resolve’s audio enhancement features ensure that your audio is clean and appealing to the ears. Here are some tools you may need when using the Fairlight audio editor:

Removing Background Noise

DaVinci’s noise reduction tool analyzes and suppresses constant noise (hums, hiss, or room tone) while preserving speech/music. From the Effects Library, click Audio FX. In the Inspector, adjust the Threshold to set noise reduction strength. Avoid over-processing, as it can cause artifacts. 

Equalization 

The EQ tool boosts or cuts specific frequency ranges (e.g., reducing muddiness in lows or enhancing vocal presence in mids). You can add it to an audio clip from the Effects Library. Ensure to cut frequencies below 80 Hz to remove rumble, then boost 1 kHz – 5 kHz for clearer dialogue.

Compression

The compressor reduces volume peaks and lifts quiet sections, creating a more uniform sound. You can set the compression threshold between -10 dB and -20 dB (where compression kicks in).

6. Finalizing and Exporting Audio

After editing your audio track in DaVinci Resolve, you can save and export it in different formats. WAV offers uncompressed, high-quality sound, while MP3 is a compressed, smaller file size for distribution.

To export the new audio, go to the Deliver page, under Format, select Audio Only, and choose a file type. Click Add to Render Queue > Start Render.

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Essential Tips for a Better Audio Workflow in DaVinci Resolve

Editing audio efficiently in DaVinci Resolve’s Fairlight page can save you time and improve your final mix. Here are some professional tips to streamline your workflow and achieve better results:

1. Organize Tracks with Color Coding and Naming

Clear labeling prevents confusion when working with multiple audio tracks (dialogue, music, SFX). Right-click a track header, then select Track Color to assign colors. Double-click Track Names to rename them.

2. Use Keyboard Shortcuts for Faster Editing

Shortcuts speed up repetitive tasks like cutting, muting, and playback. Here are some essential shortcuts:

3. Enable Auto Backup for Fairlight Projects

Backing up your project prevents you from losing it when there’s a crash or accidental closure.

Go to DaVinci Resolve Preferences > User > Project Save & Load. Enable “Live Save” and “Project Backups.”

4. Leverage Presets for Common Effects

You don’t have to recreate the same EQ or compression settings repeatedly. To adjust an effect (e.g., “Vocal Enhancer EQ”), click the preset icon > Save Preset. Name it (e.g., “Podcast_Voice”) for future use.

5. Record Voiceovers Directly in Fairlight

DaVinci Resolve allows you to record audio directly and edit it in the same software, which saves time. Right-click an audio track, then select Record. Press Stop when done, and the clip will appear in the timeline.

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FAQ

1. Can you edit audio on DaVinci Resolve?

DaVinci Resolve has a full-featured audio editor in its Fairlight page. You can cut, mix, apply effects, adjust levels, and clean up audio just like professional DAWs. It supports multi-track editing, plugins, and advanced tools for voice enhancement, music mixing, and sound design.

2. How to adjust audio in DaVinci Resolve?

To adjust audio in DaVinci Resolve, use the Inspector for basic volume/pan controls. For precise adjustments, enable automation (press A) to create volume keyframes. The Fairlight Mixer offers track-level controls. Apply EQ, compression, and effects from the Audio FX panel, then normalize clips by right-clicking for consistent levels.

3. How do you change the audio track in DaVinci Resolve?

Simply drag clips between tracks in the timeline to change the audio track. You can also route audio differently using the track output selector in the Mixer. For video and audio clips, right-click and choose Detach Audio to separate them onto different tracks for independent editing.

4. How do I remove background music from audio in DaVinci Resolve?

Use Fairlight’s Voice Isolation effect to reduce music while preserving speech. Alternatively, apply EQ to cut frequencies where music sits (usually 100Hz-5kHz). For best results, combine with noise reduction. Although a complete separation isn’t perfect, it can significantly reduce unwanted music.

5. Can you separate audio in DaVinci Resolve?

You can separate audio in DaVinci Resolve by right-clicking a video clip and selecting Detach Audio to split it. For multi-track separation, export via the Deliver page by choosing Export each track as separate file. Fairlight also lets you extract dialogue, music, and effects to different buses for processing.

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Summary on Editing Audio using Davinci Resolve

Learning how to edit audio in DaVinci Resolve opens up new creative doors, letting you polish your projects to cinematic quality. Whether you’re fine-tuning a podcast or mixing a film soundtrack, Fairlight gives you the tools you need, and you can start using it for free.

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