Mastering audio in what sequence of effects

Hi team/audio enthusiast,

For voice over, making cryspy clear VO, in adobe audition, in what SEQUENCE one should apply effects.
What is your thoughts on this…!

  1. Usually i do first clean noise before doing anything on audio (should it be before normalise?) in my view/thoughts if i first normalise it will boost noise as well hence clean noise first… what do you say

  2. Before any effect, make it louder to -1db or -3db as per need. some VO prefer -6db normalization

  3. Hard limiter, should we apply here to make it consistency in wave amplitude? Also should we apply multiple times at different stage of effects.

  4. Mastering

  5. Parametric EQ: please help in what step i should apply (should this be after normalise?)

  6. Dynamics -OR- Dynamic processoR : really i am not sure which one should i use. in both way i can do compressor/limitter/expander .

  7. Tube module compressor. i saw if i apply for my thick voice, it makes thinner cryspy sound.

  8. i prefer, Multiband compressor which has more granule control. but should i really need even after using Dynamics?

  9. At last stage for safety side, i prefer one more HARD limiter, to make sure the peaks.

As always @Mike best to helps in community. thanks in advance.

One last point was on audio standards. after applying all effects if i observe “AMPLITUDE statistics” what should be numbers for good VO.

The best way to sequence effects is as follows:

  1. Noise Reduction
  2. EQ
  3. Compression
  4. Limiting
  5. Mastering

This is a general guide to follow so, in your example, I’d do this:

Normalize, clean noise, parametric EQ, compressor(s), hard limiter, mastering effect.

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This is a very interesting topic!

I would like to ask you Mike, why the EQ before the compressor and not after?

Can you explain further about Mastering?, I wonder if you have a video talking about that for VO and Podcast applications, as many tutorials on YoutTube talks about Mastering for music, but what could be different for radio spots and VO jobs where we look to hear the voice in a more prominent way? what in the case of audiobooks or narrations? ─I mean, what is the main idea of Mastering in that case?

As always looking to find you on Youtube with new videos.

this is what @Mike says:

he memorise me, always REMOVE noise first before proceeding.

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I usually do sound design and mixing, but now I am mastering a podcast.

What is the recommended order of applying effects?
You talked about applying noise reduction first, before EQ and compressing.
Can I get a more comprehensive list as I am a beginner in mastering audio?

Please include in the list effects like noise reduction, dynamics (to remove breaths), EQ, compressing, normalizing, De-Essing, removing plosives, De-clicker, stereo expander, limiting, match loudness, and others not listed.

Thank you so much for all your helpful tutorials. I will continue to watch. Hope to hear back from you soon.