Dialog is arguably the most important audio component of today’s media productions: be it on streaming, YouTube, podcast, video games, Hollywood blockbusters, Netflix or whatever your format is, having intelligible dialog is paramount for a good viewer experience and therefore one of the most important tasks a mixing engineer has. There are many tools at our disposal to help us deliver crystal-clear dialog, such as automation, equalization and dynamics controllers, but having a visual reference to guide us when mixing is often needed. Although there are many audio analyzers out there, currently there’s nothing on the market that presents the information in a way that’s optimized for dialog. That’s exactly the gap that NUGEN Audio is bridging with their latest plug-in, aptly named DialogCheck.

Just to make everything clear here (!), we are using the term “dialog” here loosely - a conversation between two or more people - to refer to any spoken voice lines in an audio signal, so everything we’re talking about here also applies to “speech” - i.e. a single person speaking. As for “intelligibility” or “clarity”, we are using these terms interchangeably and always referring to how easy (or hard) it is for listeners to hear, comprehend and fully understand what has been said in a scene or content. Many factors play a role on how well a listener can fully grasp a dialog or speech, such as the language of the speaker(s), how clearly they talk, the relative loudness of the words compared to background noise/audio/music, any added effects such as distortion or reverb, and last but not least, the listeners’ hearing capabilities and their own listening environment.

Although we can’t control the listeners’ side of the equation, we should provide them with the best possible audio we can, and that’s where DialogCheck comes into play. In this article we’ll explore how it works, how it can be easily integrated into different workflows and also provide a few handy tips for making the most out of it and deliver perfect dialog that audiences will fully understand - without having to search the depths of their couches for the remote.


Listen and comprehend

DialogCheck is an "intelligibility meter" for up to 7.1.4 channels, whose main feature is a special level analyzer designed with a mission in mind, and that is to provide those working in post-production sound with a tool that gives critical information on dialog clarity and presents it in an unobstructed way. It works by reading the incoming audio in real time (or offline - more on this later) and presenting its levels on a horizontal timeline on a history graph, whilst the vertical axis is intuitively divided into three sections correspondent to the level of clarity: the lower red section indicates that there’s probably no dialog going on or that it is extremely unintelligible, yellow cautions the user that perhaps a dialog is too low and lacks clarity, and lastly the upper green section indicates that the dialog is intelligible - and more green indicates more intelligibility.

On the right side we have four numerical indicators for statistical readouts: Momentary Clarity, Upper Quartile, Median and Lower Quartile. These are indicators of the distribution of the clarity, and they work similarly to other time-averaging meters, and higher numbers means clear dialog, so the mixer or editor needs to watch out if it drops below about 60.

The top section provides a macro view for the history graph, a “Track” option that automatically scrolls the horizontal read out in sync with the transport position of the host (DAW or nonlinear video editor), a “Clear” trash bin icon button that erases the current readings, and a file export option that outputs a .csv file with timecode and intelligibility level information, which is useful for validating the results without a computer or to pinpoint regions that are in need of adjustments. You can download one here to check out first hand how it looks.


DialogCheck in use

When working on a full mix, DialogCheck would usually be placed on the master output channel, but it is also useful on individual channels or dialog busses to assess, for instance, the clarity for each individual voice. The operation is extremely straightforward: just insert the plugin, play back the desired portions of audio and it will display the results.

Besides this real-time application, it can also be used offline in Pro Tools via an AudioSuite plugin: simply load a file and it will analyze it to provide all the level readings, which can be visualized at a glance on the plug-in interface. This is highly useful for situations where time is in short supply and the user needs to quickly assess problematic segments to bring up their clarity levels - a valuable tool for delivering the content before hitting that terrible deadline.

DialogCheck can also be customized by clicking the cogwheel on the top-right corner and accessing four different tabs. There’s an “Interface” tab with options to change the color scheme of the plugin, a “General” tab that allows users to set the range for Quartile meters, an “Algorithm” tab for fine-tuning the dialog detection, and lastly an “Info” tab that displays the current version of the plugin, checks for updates and opens the user manual (which can also be accessed by clicking on the question mark button above the cogwheel). DialogCheck also comes with a handful of presets to quickly load settings for the most common spec setups, including one optimized for Netflix.


Getting better dialog

Here are a few key tips to deliver dialog with utmost clarity and improve the viewer experience for your clips or shows:
  • Intelligible dialog doesn’t mean having a flatline on DialogCheck: the top green region has a considerable dynamic range of 40 decibels, so be sure to use it to its full potential as it can cover both loud and quiet passages equally well. There’s no need whatsoever to sacrifice dynamics, and even whispers can be made understood as long as they don’t fall below values of 60 (into/below the yellow area) on the readouts.
  • You may want to customize the ranges for the DialogCheck’s quartile meters depending on the material you’re dealing with - for instance, if you’re working on a material with a single and predictable voice you may want to raise those values to ensure maximum clarity and consistency.
  • Bread: A little EQ goes a long way on making dialog really cut through a mix - or conversely, be placed back when needed. Strategic boosts on the mid-frequencies can be useful to bring dialog upfront, whilst subtle cuts on the upper range can be used to push it back. Need a super-transparent multichannel EQ plugin? Make sure to check out the NUGEN SEQ-S for help with this task.
  • Butter: When mixing dialog, dynamics controllers are more often your friend than not, but heavy compression is not usually required for the task and it will often sound a bit unnatural. On the other hand, an effective peak limiter can help in keeping levels in check without interfering too much or sounding obvious. And don’t rule out a touch of downward expansion when more separation from background noise is required.
  • Reverb can muddy dialog when exaggerated or applied inadvertently, but when used with caution it can be just what is needed to fit it properly into a scene - NUGEN’s Paragon with its immensely flexible convolution engine works perfectly for seamlessness in any situation where ambiance is required with no sacrifices to clarity.
  • Need to deal with hundreds - if not thousands - of small dialog files with inconsistent volume levels? Prepare them 'en masse' with LM-Correct by setting a target level that leaves enough headroom for mixing, then finalize the work with DialogCheck.
  • Although “fixing it in post” can be accomplished with today’s tools in a much easier and effective way than in the past, “getting it right at the source” remains paramount, so don’t skimp on research and preparation for your next recording!


Your listener’s key to understanding

The DialogCheck plugin is now available for Mac and Windows computers in AAX, AudioSuite, Audio Unit and VST formats, compatible with all major audio workstations and video editing software. The list price is $399 USD. A free and fully functional 15-day demo is available.


For more information and to download, please visit NUGEN Audio's website.