Audacity is free, runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and handles everything a B2B podcast team needs for basic to intermediate post-production. If your show is primarily interview-format -- two or three speakers, recorded remotely or in a quiet office -- Audacity will get you from raw recording to publish-ready audio without spending a dollar on software.
This guide walks through the full editing process for a B2B podcast episode in Audacity. By the end, you will know exactly which steps to follow and in what order.
Set yourself up for a faster edit before you touch the software. A few minutes of preparation saves a significant amount of time in post-production.
Check your recording files. Know which tracks are coming in: host audio, guest audio (if recorded separately), and any music files. If you recorded remote interviews using separate tracks for each participant, keep those files organized.
Note the problem spots. Before editing, do a rough listen-through. Mark timestamps where you hear background noise, dead air, crosstalk, or sections that need to be cut. Audacity lets you label regions directly in the timeline, which helps.
Set up your workspace. Audacity works best with a dedicated folder for the project. Keep raw files separate from export files.
Open Audacity and import your audio files via File > Import > Audio (or drag and drop directly into the interface).
If you recorded your host and guest on separate tracks, import each one. They will appear as separate waveform lanes in the timeline. This is called multi-track editing, and it gives you more control over each voice.
If you only have a single stereo or mono recording, import that file and work from a single track.
Tip: If your recordings are stereo (two channels) but you only need mono audio, split the stereo track to dual mono via Tracks > Stereo Track to Mono. This simplifies leveling.
Background noise is the most common problem in B2B podcast recordings. HVAC hum, computer fan noise, room echo, and street noise all show up in raw audio. Audacity has a built-in Noise Reduction tool that handles most of these cases well.
How to use Noise Reduction:
Do this for each track separately. Guest recordings often have different noise profiles than host recordings.
Inconsistent volume levels make B2B podcast listeners uncomfortable. When one speaker is noticeably louder or quieter than another, the audience reaches for the volume dial -- which is the last thing you want.
Normalize each track:
Check levels against each other. After normalizing, listen to your tracks together. If one speaker still sounds significantly louder, use the gain slider on the track header to manually adjust. Aim for consistent perceived loudness across all speakers.
For B2B shows, a target loudness of around -16 LUFS is standard for most podcast hosting platforms. Audacity 3.x includes a loudness normalization option in Effect > Loudness Normalization that lets you target LUFS directly.
Now comes the actual content editing. This is where you remove filler words, dead air, restarts, and any segments that do not belong in the final episode.
Use the Selection Tool (F1) to highlight sections you want to delete, then press Delete or Backspace. The track will close the gap automatically.
For cross-talk and overlapping audio: If your tracks are separate, you can mute specific sections on one track while another plays. Use the Mute button on the track header.
For long pauses: Select the pause and use Effect > Truncate Silence to automatically shorten gaps without manually selecting each one. Set the minimum silence threshold to around 0.5 to 1 second.
Label your edit points for any sections you are unsure about. Press Ctrl+B (or Cmd+B) to add a label at the current cursor position. You can review labeled sections before committing to cuts.
This is also the stage where you add intro music, outro music, and any mid-episode transitions.
To add music:
Keep your intro music short for B2B audiences. 15 to 20 seconds is standard. Long intros with music running under a lengthy host monologue test listeners' patience.
Dynamic range compression evens out the volume differences within a single speaker's track -- reducing the gap between their loudest and quietest moments. It makes speech sound more polished and easier to follow.
In Audacity: Effect > Compressor.
Recommended starting settings for voice:
Apply compression before normalization for best results. If you applied normalization in Step 3, you can re-run it after compression.
When your edit is complete, export the finished episode via File > Export > Export as MP3 (or WAV if your hosting platform prefers it).
Export settings for podcast distribution:
Add metadata (episode title, author, show name) in the export dialog. Many hosting platforms pull this automatically.
Skipping the noise profile step. Applying noise reduction without a proper profile produces artifacts and hollow-sounding voice. Always capture a noise sample first.
Over-compressing. Heavy compression makes voices sound pumping and unnatural. Start conservative and increase only if needed.
Exporting at the wrong loudness. If your episode peaks at -3 dB but a competitor's is mastered to -16 LUFS, yours will sound significantly louder on the same platform. Use the Loudness Normalization effect before export.
Not saving as an Audacity project. Raw edits should be saved as an .aup3 project file before exporting. This preserves your edit history.
Audacity handles straightforward B2B podcast production reliably. If your show is interview-format, remote or in-person, and you have one or two hosts plus occasional guests, Audacity covers your needs.
Where Audacity starts to show limits:
If you are looking at tools that go beyond Audacity, check out our full comparison in best voice editing software for podcast production.
Here is a practical figure worth knowing: podcast editing typically runs at a 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 ratio. A 30-minute episode takes 1.5 to 2 hours to edit well, including noise reduction, content cuts, music addition, and export.
For a bi-weekly B2B show, that is 3 to 4 hours per month on editing alone. For a weekly show, it doubles. When your content team's time has measurable opportunity cost, that is worth thinking hard about.
If in-house editing is not the right fit, Podsicle Media handles the full post-production workflow so your team can focus on guests, strategy, and distribution.
Is Audacity good enough for professional B2B podcasts?
For most interview-format B2B shows, yes. The output quality from a well-edited Audacity session is indistinguishable from more expensive tools when the source recordings are clean.
Does Audacity support AI noise removal?
Not natively in the free version. The paid Audacity AI (a separate subscription product from the same company) adds AI-powered noise removal. For the free version, the Noise Reduction effect described above is the primary tool.
Can I edit video podcasts in Audacity?
Audacity handles audio only. If you are producing video podcasts, you need a separate video editing application or an all-in-one tool like Descript.
Audacity is a capable tool, but it is one part of a larger production workflow. If your team wants to publish consistently without spending hours in post-production, talk to Podsicle Media about what a done-for-you production partnership looks like.
We handle the edit. You handle the strategy.
