Audio Design
Immersive audio design and sound mixing. Custom music composition, foley work, and mix-down to broadcast specifications.
Professional Audio Design & Mixing
Audio design for video in London means dialogue editing, sound design, music, and final mix to UK broadcast loudness standards (-23 LUFS for Channel 4 and BBC, -24 LUFS for ITV, -16 LUFS for streaming). Turnaround for a typical 2-minute corporate piece is 3–5 working days. Pricing starts at £450/day for cleanup-only and rises to £3,500+/day for full surround mixes.
Great audio is just as important as great visuals. Our audio team specializes in dialogue editing, sound design, foley, music composition, and final mixing for all types of content. Audio design sits at the intersection of [post-production](/services/post-production/) and final [video production](/services/video-production/) delivery, and is often the difference between a corporate film that feels amateur and one that sounds broadcast-grade.
Working in Pro Tools, Logic Pro, and industry-standard plugins (iZotope RX 11 for de-bleed and mouth-click removal, iZotope Ozone for mastering, FabFilter for surgical EQ), we handle everything from simple dialogue cleanup to complex surround sound mixes. RX 11 spectral-repair in particular saves takes that older studios would have asked you to re-record, useful when an interviewee is hard to bring back.
For UK broadcast we deliver to specific loudness standards: -23 LUFS (R128) for Channel 4 and BBC, -24 LUFS for ITV, -16 LUFS for streaming and social. Foley turnaround for a typical 2-minute corporate piece is 3-5 working days through partner London foley studios; same-week turnaround is available with notice. Bad on-set sound, wind buffeting, mains hum, room reflections, is recoverable in most cases; pre-shoot planning in [our pre-production checklist](/blog/corporate-video-pre-production-checklist) covers the on-set mic choices that minimise post-production cost.
**What makes UK audio post different — three facts:** **LUFS targets vary by broadcaster — getting it wrong means rejection.** Channel 4 / BBC reject masters that drift outside -23 LUFS ±1 dB; ITV's -24 LUFS spec is stricter still. Most US-built audio plugins default to American CALM Act levels (-24 LUFS LRA-aware) which fails QC on UK terrestrial. Source: [Digital Production Partnership UK Broadcast Spec (DPP-AS-11)](https://www.thedpp.com/). **iZotope RX 11 spectral repair changes the economics of bad on-set audio.** Mouth-clicks, plosives, mains hum, and even short bursts of wind buffeting are now recoverable at the dialogue-editing stage — work that 5 years ago required an ADR session and a full re-shoot. Source: [iZotope RX 11 release notes, 2024](https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx.html). **5.1 surround delivery is a £400–£900/day cost adder, not a default.** A standard corporate stereo mix-to-spec is ~£600/day; the same edit re-balanced for 5.1 with discrete LFE management runs £1,000–£1,500/day. Quote at the start of post or budget overruns when broadcaster requests surround.
What's Included
Dialogue Editing
Cleanup, noise reduction, level balancing, and enhancement of all dialogue tracks
Sound Design
Custom sound effects, foley, ambience, and sonic textures to enhance your story
Music Selection
Sourcing and licensing from premium royalty-free libraries or custom composition
Mixing
Professional audio mixing in stereo, 5.1, or 7.1 formats with proper dynamics and balance
Mastering
Final mastering to broadcast loudness standards (LUFS) for any platform
ADR Recording
Studio recording for voiceover, narration, or dialogue replacement as needed
Our Audio Process
Audio Assessment
We review your production audio and identify what needs to be cleaned up, enhanced, or replaced.
Dialogue & Cleanup
We edit dialogue, remove noise and unwanted sounds, and ensure all speech is clear and intelligible.
Sound Design
We add sound effects, foley, ambience, and any sonic elements that enhance the storytelling.
Mix & Master
We mix all elements together with proper levels and dynamics, then master to broadcast specs for final delivery.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between audio mixing and audio design?
Audio mixing balances existing sound elements, dialogue, music, effects, at appropriate levels so they sit cleanly together in stereo or surround. Audio design is the creative discipline that decides what those elements are in the first place: which foley footsteps fit the floor surface, what ambience tells the viewer the room is large, what musical texture supports the cut. On a corporate video the two often merge in the same engineer; on a documentary or a longer-form brand piece they are separate disciplines, and we will allocate them to specialists when a project warrants it.
Do you provide royalty-free music?
Yes. We license from premium libraries (Musicbed, Marmoset, Artlist, Epidemic Sound) on a per-project or annual basis, and we hold our own production-music subscriptions that cover most UK corporate use cases without per-track fees. We supply written licence confirmation for every track placed in your edit, naming the track, the licence type (sync, perpetual, web-only, broadcast), and the territory. For projects that need true exclusivity or a bespoke score, our composers can create original music, typical cost runs £600-£3,500 depending on length, instrumentation, and revision rounds.
Can you fix bad on-set sound?
In most cases, yes. Common issues, air-conditioning hum, traffic rumble, room reverberation, mouth clicks, occasional clipping, are recoverable using iZotope RX spectral-repair, EQ surgery, and de-reverb plugins. The limits are: heavy clipping (distorted peaks) cannot be fully restored, only softened; severe wind buffeting on a lapel mic often needs ADR to replace; and audio recorded at a level so low that the noise floor dominates may need re-recording. Send us a sample clip and we will confirm what is recoverable before committing, we don't bill for restoration work we can't deliver.
What deliverables do you provide for broadcast?
For UK broadcast we deliver to the specification of the destination channel. Standard package: full mix as a 24-bit/48kHz WAV stem (dialogue, music, effects as separate stems for re-versioning), final stereo mix mastered to -23 LUFS (R128) or -24 LUFS for ITV, technical QC report confirming loudness, true-peak, dialogue intelligibility, and any required M&E (music and effects only) split for international versioning. For streaming-only delivery we master to -16 LUFS with -1 dBTP ceiling. 5.1 and 7.1 mixes are quoted separately based on speaker layout.
Can you fix poor quality audio?
In many cases, yes. We have advanced noise reduction and audio restoration tools. However, there are limits. Extremely poor audio (heavy distortion, very low levels) may require ADR recording to replace. Send us a sample and we'll assess what's possible.
Do you offer custom music composition?
Yes! We have composers who can create custom music tailored to your project. This is ideal when you need a unique sound or specific licensing requirements. Custom composition is quoted separately based on length and complexity.
What's the difference between stereo and 5.1 mixing?
Stereo is two-channel audio (left/right) suitable for most online content. 5.1 surround sound uses six channels (front L/R, center, surround L/R, subwoofer) for immersive audio, typically used for broadcast TV and cinema. We recommend stereo for web content and 5.1 for broadcast/theatrical.
Can you deliver to specific broadcast standards?
Absolutely. We deliver to any loudness standard you need: -16 LUFS (streaming), -23/-24 LUFS (broadcast), or cinema specs. We also provide full technical QC reports when required.
How long does audio post-production take for a 2-minute corporate video?
3–5 working days for a stereo broadcast-ready mix from clean on-set audio. Add 1–2 days for dialogue cleanup on noisy source, or 2–3 days for music composition. Same-week turnaround is available with notice.
Do I need 5.1 surround sound for my corporate video?
No, unless your distribution channel requires it. YouTube, LinkedIn, Vimeo, and most internal-communications platforms play back in stereo. 5.1 is only worth the £400–£900/day adder if the film is going to cinema, broadcast surround, or a high-end installation.
What is the difference between dialogue editing and sound design?
Dialogue editing is cleaning what was recorded — removing breaths, mouth-clicks, room tone, hum. Sound design is adding what wasn't recorded — foley, atmos, music, sting transitions. Both are needed; a film without sound design feels flat and "dry," even with perfect dialogue.
Can you fix bad on-set audio in post?
Most of it, yes — iZotope RX 11 spectral repair recovers wind buffeting, mains hum, room reflections, mouth-clicks, and short clipping. The exception is sustained background noise (a busy café, traffic next to the lav) where ADR is faster than spectral cleanup. Pre-shoot mic planning prevents most of this.
Do you provide music for video projects?
Yes. We license from premium royalty-free libraries (Musicbed, Artlist, Audio Network) which covers ~80% of corporate briefs, or commission custom composition through partner London composers when the brand needs a unique sonic identity. Licensing cost is included in the quoted project price.
Key Benefits
- Surround sound mixing (5.1, 7.1)
- Royalty-free music library access
- Foley and sound effects design
- ADR recording available
Service Highlights
Turnaround
Flexible scheduling
Experience
10+ years
Satisfaction
100% guaranteed
Related Services
Ready to Get Started?
Let's discuss how our audio design services can help bring your vision to life.