Mixing
Mixing Levels for Phone Speakers
Most viewers watch on a small speaker held at arm's length. Mix for that speaker and the video works everywhere else too.
In this guide
What a phone speaker can and cannot do
Small speakers reproduce very little below a few hundred hertz. Energy you place in the low end is effectively invisible on a phone, and it can make the mix feel muddy on larger systems at the same time.
The frequencies that carry intelligibility — the presence range of the voice — are exactly what small speakers reproduce best. That is why a mix focused on the voice works almost everywhere.
Balancing voice and music
Start with the voice at a comfortable level, then bring the music up until it is clearly present but never competes. As a reference, the music during speech should sit several decibels below the voice, rising in the gaps between sentences.
If you find yourself lowering the voice to make room for music, the track is the wrong choice rather than the level. Change the track before you change the balance.
- Set the voice level first, music second
- Keep music clearly below speech during dialogue
- Let the music rise in pauses and transitions
- Reduce low frequencies that a phone cannot reproduce
Consistency across the video
Listen to the whole video once without watching the picture and note where the volume changes. Uneven loudness between shots is more noticeable than an overall level that is slightly low.
Then play it on an actual phone, at arm's length, in a normal room. This single test catches more problems than any meter, and it takes less than a minute.
The final check before publishing
Check three things: every word is audible on a phone speaker, the loudest moment does not distort, and the beginning is not noticeably quieter than the rest. If all three pass, the mix is ready.
Write down the levels you used for the voice and music. Reusing them makes a series sound consistent without any additional work in the edit.
Key takeaways
- Mix on the speaker your audience actually uses.
- Set the voice level first and fit the music beneath it.
- Remove low-frequency content a phone cannot reproduce.
- Check the whole video for loudness consistency, not just the loudest moment.
CutPoint Collective editorial teamWritten by sound editors who work on short-form video daily, and reviewed on phone speakers before any guide is published.
Do I need to master the audio?
No. A consistent voice level, a music bed that sits below it and no distortion is enough for short-form video.
Why does my audio distort on a phone?
Usually because the overall level is too high or because low-frequency content is overloading the small speaker. Lower the music and reduce the bass before reducing the voice.
How do I make a series sound consistent?
Save your voice and music levels and reuse them for every video in the series. Consistency is a setting, not a skill.
