DaVinci Resolve audio encyclopedia
Fairlight in DaVinci Resolve
Audio editing, dialogue, mixing and final sound
Fairlight is DaVinci Resolve's integrated audio post-production environment. This section gives you a practical map from basic track editing and dialogue cleanup to routing, Fairlight FX, automation and mastering — without separating sound from the picture edit.
What Fairlight is
A complete audio-post workspace inside the same Resolve project
Inside Fairlight you can cut and align dialogue, record voice-over, clean problem audio, build effect chains, mix through buses, automate levels and prepare the final soundtrack without sending picture to a separate audio application.
DaVinci Resolve includes more than 25 Fairlight FX for repair, creative processing and mixing, and also supports third-party plug-ins. Core Fairlight tools cover recording, editing, EQ, dynamics, routing, automation, loudness and delivery.
Dialogue
Speech & cleanup
Music
Balance & dynamics
SFX
Accents & Foley
Voice-over
Recording & takes
Mixing
Buses & routing
Mastering
Loudness & delivery
Fairlight encyclopedia
The main areas of audio work
The section is organized around real audio-post tasks, so it is easy to move from simple track editing to signal flow, buses, automation and mastering without losing the overall logic.
Editing & synchronization
Clip and track editing, waveforms, fades, crossfades, frame-accurate dialogue alignment and sync of external recordings.
Dialogue & voice cleanup
Speech intelligibility, noise, background cleanup, de-essing, repair and preparing voice for a clean mix.
EQ & dynamics
Equalization, compression, limiting, gating and a practical signal-chain mindset rather than random presets.
Fairlight FX & plug-ins
Built-in Fairlight FX, effect order, clip and track processing, presets, plus third-party VST/AU plug-ins.
Mixer, buses & routing
How the Fairlight mixer is structured, how tracks differ from buses, where the signal flows and how to build clean routing.
Recording, voice-over & ADR
Recording directly into the project, input selection, monitoring, takes and dialogue replacement workflows.
Mix automation
Live Resolve 21 UI for the Automation menu, All Read, Follows Edit, Active Range, Write To, Fill/Glide Range, Mix List and Track Automation vs Clip Gain.
Loudness & mastering
Hybrid guide with mastering diagrams plus live Resolve 21 Bus 1, Control Room and Loudness meters during playback.
Specialized Fairlight tools
Go deeper into real audio-post workflows
These pages build on the eight core Fairlight sections and focus on narrower tasks that deserve their own verified workflow and visual explanation.
Dialogue & repair
Cleanup, AI dialogue tools and dedicated channel/processors.
Automatic Ducking
Current Ducker Track FX workflow: dialogue sources, target music track, Duck Level, Recovery and when to use Ducker versus Automation.
Noise Reduction
Detect and Learn, choosing a representative noise range, Clip FX versus Track FX and controlling cleanup artifacts on steady background noise.
De-Esser
Resolve 21 live interface: Frequency, Range, Amount, Slow/Medium/Fast and Listen to Ess Only for targeted sibilance control.
De-Hummer
Resolve 21 live interface: 50/60 Hz, Variable, Frequency, Amount, Slope and Listen to Hum Only for power-line hum.
Voice Isolation
Studio AI for human dialogue: suppress competing background/room sound, use careful A/B checks and choose correctly between Isolation, Noise Reduction and Dialogue Separator.
Dialogue Separator
AI rebalance of Voice, Background and Ambience for field recordings and interviews, room continuity and comparison with Voice Isolation.
Dialogue Leveler
Deep dialogue leveling for off-mic lines and uneven speakers, plus Leveler vs clip gain, compressor and automation without version-fragile presets.
Dialogue Processor
One Fairlight insert with De-Rumble, De-Pop, De-Ess, Compressor, Expander and Excite, documented from the live Resolve 21 interface.
Vocal Channel
A compact channel strip with High Pass, three-band EQ, Compressor, response graphs and Gain Reduction in one Fairlight FX.
Tone & dynamics
EQ, compression, peak control and pitch-processing tools.
Compressor & Dynamics
The built-in Fairlight channel compressor: expander/gate, compressor and limiter roles, dialogue workflow and diagnosing over-processing.
Equalizer — 6 bands
A dedicated encyclopedia page with the live Resolve 21 UI, Frequency, Gain, Q, edge filters, Track EQ vs Clip EQ and a practical workflow.
Limiter Fairlight FX
Live Resolve 21 insert interface: Input Level, Ceiling dBTP, Release, Reduction meter, sidechain and the difference from the built-in Dynamics limiter.
Pitch
Live Resolve 21 UI with Semitones −12…+12, Cents −100…+100, Dry/Wet, fine detuning, SFX layering and practical automation workflows.
Multiband Compressor
A Resolve 21 Dynamics insert for frequency-selective compression: when it is more useful than a standard Compressor and where it fits in the chain.
Soft Clipper
Verified Resolve 21 Dynamics FX for soft peak shaping, with clear distinctions from Limiter and Distortion inside a signal chain.
Creative FX
Space, delay, modulation, distortion and reusable effect chains.
Reverb
Space, room matching, a shared reverb bus with FlexBus, dialogue/Foley depth and listening to direct sound, reflections and tail without version-fragile presets.
Music Remixer
Studio AI Track FX with mute and level control for voice, drums, bass, guitar and other components, instrumental-style versions and automation.
Delay
Live Resolve 21 UI with independent L/R Delay Time and Feedback, filters, High Ratio, Stereo Blend, Dry/Wet and practical workflows.
Echo
Per-channel Delay Time and Feedback Delay, L→R/R→L cross-feedback, filtering and a full live Resolve 21 interface guide.
Distortion
Live Resolve 21 UI with High/Low Cut, two visible distortion-character modes, Distortion Level, Ceiling, Dry/Wet, Output Level and practical sound-design workflows.
Chorus
Live Resolve 21 UI with Delay Time, Voice Separation, Width, Frequency/Pitch modulation, Feedback, Blend, Dry/Wet and a complete practical workflow.
Flanger
Live Resolve 21 UI with Rate, Depth, Width Expansion, signed Feedback, High Ratio, Dry/Wet, Level and a comparison with Chorus.
Modulation
Live Resolve 21 UI with Shape, Rate into audio-rate territory, Frequency, Amplitude, Filter, Rotation, separate Phase controls, Dry/Wet and a complete motion-design workflow.
Chain FX
Resolve 21 Multi Effect for reusable chains of up to six effects, presets, processing order and Cache/Bounce workflow.
Metering & spatial
Level and spectrum analysis, loudness, monitoring, panning and surround.
Surround & immersive audio
5.1, 7.1, 22.2, channel mapping and multichannel mastering, plus Studio-only 3D panning, Space View, Atmos and Ambisonics.
Frequency Analyzer
Live Resolve 21 UI with Full Spectrum, a 20 Hz–24 kHz scale, Spectrum/Waterfall views and practical frequency diagnosis before EQ or restoration.
Loudness Meter
Metric diagram plus live Resolve 21 before and during measurement: True Peak, Short, Short Max, Range, Integrated and BS.1770.
Level Meter L/R
L/R diagram plus live Resolve 21 Mixer and Bus 1: dB level, channel imbalance, routing context and the difference from loudness.
Monitor
Monitor Source plus live Resolve 21 Control Room: monitoring path, Bus 1, loudness and the difference from track input and routing.
Fairlight Panner
Live Resolve 21 UI with C/L/R/Ls/Rs speaker field, surround positioning, panning vs bus routing and the boundary with Studio 3D Panner.
Editing & session
Sound Library, sync, layers, folders, mapping, Index and clip workflows.
Sound Library & Foley
Search and audition effects, sync waveform points to the playhead, edit SFX, record Foley and use Foley Sampler in Studio.
Sync Scrollers
Video and Audio Scrollers for precise visual alignment of picture, playhead and waveform events, plus when to use them alongside automatic sync.
Folder Tracks Resolve 21
A new Fairlight feature in Resolve 21: Add Tracks to New Folder, open/collapsed composite views, Solo/Mute, composite editing, folder removal and up to three nesting levels.
Channel Mapping
Live Resolve 21 UI for Clip Attributes, embedded channels, Change Track Type To, mono/stereo/multichannel mapping and the difference between Clip Attributes and the Inspector.
Clip Gain & Fades
Live Resolve 21 UI for fade handles, Cross Fade, clip-volume lines, Normalize Audio Levels and the difference between timeline editing and the Inspector.
Audio Track Layers
Live Resolve 21 UI for View → Show Audio Track Layers, alternate takes, the top composite layer, crossfades and non-destructive comping.
Timeline Index & Markers
Live Resolve 21 UI for Edit Index, Tracks, track controls, Markers, Notes, Keywords, colors and a practical spotting workflow for larger Fairlight sessions.
Cache & Bounce Audio Effects
Live Resolve 21 UI for a clip with FX, Cache Audio Effects, cached state, Bounce Audio Effects and the post-bounce committed result.
Recording, routing & extensibility
ADR, voice-over, FlexBus, external processing and Foley Sampler.
Recording, Voice-over & ADR
Live Resolve 21 UI for Patch Input/Output, monitor, mixer inputs, Record Voiceover, and the three ADR tabs: Setup, List and Record.
FlexBus, Sends & Outputs
Live Resolve 21 UI for Bus Format, Bus Assign, Bus 1/Bus 2, B1o/B1s/B2s, Send vs Out and Patch Input/Output for bus outputs.
Audio Plugins & External Processing
Live Resolve 21 UI for System → Audio Plugins, VST paths, Available Plugins, native Fairlight FX and External Audio Processes: Command Line, Clipboard and Reveal.
Foley Sampler
A Fairlight Studio instrument for performing footsteps, cloth and other Foley sounds from keyboards or drum pads against picture.
Where to start
A practical Fairlight learning path
Do not start by trying every plug-in. First understand signal flow, then repeat the same simple chain on real projects until the mixer stops looking overwhelming.
Track layout → voice cleanup → EQ and dynamics → buses and effects → automation → final loudness check.
Prepare the tracks
Separate dialogue, music and effects, check channels and establish clean starting levels.
Clean the dialogue
Remove obvious problems first, then use EQ and dynamics only where the recording needs them.
Build the mix
Balance speech, music and SFX, route through buses and automate the moments that need movement.
Check and deliver
Verify loudness, peaks and the final master, then render the finished mix together with the video.
Edit
When the Edit page is enough
For straightforward video editing you can trim audio with the picture, adjust basic clip level, add music and make quick fades directly on the Edit page. There is no reason to jump to Fairlight for every small change.
Fairlight
When Fairlight becomes the better workspace
Use Fairlight when the soundtrack itself becomes a real stage of post: detailed dialogue work, recording, routing, buses, effect chains, automation, loudness control, ADR or a final mix with many tracks.
Already available
Practical audio lessons
These audio lessons are already available on the site. Start with them if you want to move from the Fairlight overview straight into practical work.
How to synchronize audio and video
Waveform, timecode, Clip Attributes, manual sync and long-recording drift.
Audio waveforms on the timeline
What to check when audio waveforms are missing or not displaying correctly.
Exporting video and the final mix
Deliver, codecs, Render Queue and checking the finished file after rendering.
DaVinci Resolve
Fairlight is one part of the full Resolve workflow
Return to the DaVinci Resolve guide for editing, Fusion, color, export, scripting and the rest of the production workflow.