Audio fades — Verify the result

Worked example

Play the first three seconds and the last five seconds of the export separately.

The start should rise from silence without a click, and the end should reach true silence at the final moment of the file, not a second before it.

Check the clock. The duration must match the source exactly, since a fade never trims anything: a 45-second clip with a 2-second fade shows about 0:45 afterwards, and the page said the fade-out would begin at 0:43. If the length differs, a different file or setting was used.

Compare with the original wearing headphones. Loop the first word of the clip and confirm it is still intelligible; if the beginning sounds muffled or the last syllable is gone, the fade is eating real content and you should shorten it.

A common mistake is checking only the fade-out. Because the tool applies both ramps, the fade-in may already be hiding the first note or consonant, so listen to both ends before you approve the file.

Last, listen to the middle for dips. If the volume sags in the centre, the two fades have overlapped because the value was more than half the clip length, so go back to the original and use a shorter fade. Do this on the original recording, not on a copy, so that you can judge exactly what the fade changed.

Clip with abrupt boundary

Gradual level transition

Always verify against the untouched original, since a fade cannot be undone once it is baked into the export.