Studio 21.1.1
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FIXES & PROJECT SAFETY

How to fix dialogue playing in only one ear

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1 · Original practical guide

A single microphone is often mono even when the recording container has two channels. Map the recorded channel correctly instead of treating silence on the other side as missing dialogue.

Before you begin

Save a recoverable copy and reproduce the issue on the shortest useful section.

ACTUAL RESOLVE INTERFACEView full size ↗
Audio configuration and individual source-channel waveforms
Audio configuration and individual source-channel waveforms Reference example from the DaVinci Resolve 21.1 manual, page 438. Software screenshot © Blackmagic Design. The demonstration media and selected settings may differ from your project.

Step by step

  1. Listen to each source channel and identify which one contains the intended microphone recording.
  2. In the Media Pool, open Clip Attributes > Audio and configure a mono channel mapping to the correct embedded source channel when appropriate.
  3. Place the result on a mono audio track and center its pan into the stereo mix bus.
  4. Play the timeline and a short stereo export through headphones. Confirm the voice is centered and any unwanted or empty channel is excluded.

Check your result

The microphone is heard centrally through both sides of the stereo output without duplicated or phasey sound.

If it doesn’t work as expected

Do not collapse a genuinely stereo recording merely because its channels differ. Determine whether the source is one microphone, two microphones, or a real stereo pair first.

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Technical reference: DaVinci Resolve 21.1 Reference Manual, Blackmagic Design, September 2026. Screenshot page numbers refer to that manual. Independently written guidance; specific controls may vary by platform and build. Authorship & image credits.