Journalists
News reporters and field journalists who need clearer speech from interviews recorded in difficult conditions.
Dialogue Repair Clearer Speech. Natural Voices.
I repair dialogue affected by background noise, hum, room echo, clicks, distortion and uneven recording quality while preserving the natural sound of the voice.
Free assessment and no obligation quotation.
- Every file assessed individually
- Manual restoration
- Free assessment
Who It Is For
Who This Service Is For
This service is for people and teams working with damaged or difficult spoken dialogue — not general podcast editing, transcription, voice cloning, forensic enhancement, legal evidence processing or voiceover production. For podcast episode restoration, see our podcast audio restoration service.
Documentary Producers
Documentary teams where interview dialogue must be intelligible without losing the natural character of the speaker.
Interview and Research Teams
Researchers, oral historians and interview producers preserving spoken testimony and recorded conversations.
Production Companies
Production teams delivering client content where dialogue quality must meet a professional standard before release.
Problems
Common Dialogue Problems
These are the issues I listen for first during assessment. Not every problem can be removed completely — the aim is honest improvement based on what the recording allows.
Background Noise
Traffic, crowds, office noise and other environmental distractions competing with speech throughout a recording.
Room Echo and Reverb
Hollow or boxy room sound from untreated spaces, hard surfaces and distant microphone placement.
Hum and Electrical Interference
Mains hum, buzz, ground loops and interference picked up during recording or transfer.
Uneven Speaker Levels
One speaker loud and another quiet, forcing listeners to adjust volume between participants.
Clicks and Mouth Noise
Lip smacks, plosives, keyboard clicks and other small distractions that break listener focus.
Distant Microphone Recordings
Speech captured too far from the source, leaving voices thin, quiet or buried in the environment.
Clipping and Distortion
Overloaded inputs, peaking levels and harsh distortion on loud moments during recording.
Inconsistent Recording Quality
Mixed mic types, varying capture quality and changes in tone between sessions or locations.
Improvements
What Can Be Improved
Restoration focuses on making difficult dialogue easier to understand. Depending on the recording, work may improve:
- Speech clarity
- Intelligibility
- Voice consistency
- Balance between speakers
- Background noise
- Distracting hum and clicks
- Room sound
- Overall presentation
The purpose is to preserve the natural voice — not to create an artificial or overprocessed sound. Speech should still sound like the original speaker, just clearer and easier to follow.
Dialogue Repair Process
Free Assessment
Send a short speech or interview sample. I listen and tell you honestly what can be improved in the dialogue recording.
Problem Diagnosis
I identify the main issues — noise, echo, hum, level imbalance, clicks or clipping — and what each requires.
Speech Restoration
Dialogue is repaired by hand: noise reduced, clicks treated and problem areas addressed while preserving natural voice character.
Level and Tonal Balancing
Speakers are balanced so listeners can follow the conversation without adjusting volume between participants.
Quality Control and Delivery
Restored dialogue is checked on headphones and speakers, then returned in your preferred format ready for your project or publication workflow.
Location Recording
Difficult Interview and Location Recordings
Dialogue is often recorded on location where conditions are hard to control. Common problems include traffic, crowds, air conditioning, wind, room echo, distant microphones, clothing rustle and changes between recording environments.
Restoration can often improve these problems, but results depend on how clearly the original speech was captured. Assessment will show what is realistically achievable. For video production dialogue, see our video audio restoration service.
Expectations
Honest Limitations
Polymiq Audio Lab prioritises honest improvement over artificial sounding results. It is important to understand what restoration can and cannot achieve.
Speech Covered by Noise
Speech completely covered by noise may not be recoverable. If words are buried beneath the problem, they cannot always be brought back.
Severe Clipping
Severe clipping cannot always be fully repaired. Mild overload may improve; heavy distortion often leaves permanent damage.
Strong Room Echo
Strong room echo may remain partly audible. Light room sound can often be improved, but heavily reverberant recordings may retain some character.
Overlapping Voices
Overlapping voices cannot always be separated cleanly. When two people speak at once, one voice may remain partly audible beneath the other.
Heavy Distortion
Heavy distortion may limit natural sounding results. Severe damage can sometimes be improved, but not always restored to clean speech.
Over-Processing Risk
Aggressive processing can damage voice quality. The goal is clearer dialogue that still sounds like the original speakers.
Ongoing Work
Ongoing Dialogue Work
Repeat clients and production teams can send regular interview or documentary work for assessment. Consistent dialogue restoration may be available across episodes or productions, with a repeatable workflow developed after the first assessment.
Volume pricing may be available for larger or recurring projects. There are no fixed package prices — every production is different. Contact me to discuss your schedule after the initial assessment.
Examples
Before and After Example
A relevant dialogue repair example will be added here.
In the meantime, you can hear real restoration work on dialogue, music and archive recordings on the Results page.
Hear Existing Restoration ExamplesDialogue Repair Questions
Can you remove background noise from dialogue?
Background noise can often be reduced in dialogue recordings. How much improvement is possible depends on how loud the noise is compared to the speech and the quality of the original recording. Every file is assessed individually before any paid work begins.
Can you improve speech recorded from a distance?
Distant microphone recordings can sometimes be improved for clarity and level. Very quiet or heavily masked speech may have limited recovery depending on what was captured at the source.
Can you reduce room echo?
Light room echo and reverb can sometimes be reduced in dialogue. Strong or heavily reverberant recordings may retain some audible room sound after restoration.
Can you repair clipped dialogue?
Mild clipping can sometimes be improved. Severe clipping or distortion cannot always be fully repaired, and results depend on how badly the recording was overloaded. Assessment will show what is realistically achievable.
Can you balance multiple speakers?
Uneven levels between speakers are a common dialogue problem. Restoration can often improve balance so listeners do not need to adjust volume between participants, while keeping voices natural.
Can you improve interview recordings?
Interview recordings can often be improved for noise, echo, hum and level problems. Results depend on recording conditions and how clearly speech was captured during the interview.
Do you work with audio extracted from video?
Yes. Audio extracted from video files can be assessed and restored. You can send a complete video file or exported audio from your edit — see our video audio restoration page for production-specific work.
What file formats can I send?
Common formats include WAV, AIFF, MP3, FLAC, M4A and standard video files such as MP4 and MOV. If you are unsure, send what you have — most standard exports can be reviewed.
How much does dialogue repair cost?
Cost depends on recording length, audio condition, number of speakers, severity of the problems and the amount of restoration required. Every project begins with a free assessment and a no-obligation quotation before you commit to paid restoration.
How long does dialogue repair take?
Turnaround depends on file length, complexity and current workload. A typical sample assessment is usually returned within a few working days. Restoration timing is confirmed with your quotation after assessment.
Get Started
Send Your Dialogue for Assessment
Send a short speech or interview sample for an honest assessment of what can realistically be improved.