A fade is the difference between audio that starts and stops, and audio that arrives and leaves. Without one, a clip clicks in at full volume and cuts off dead at the end. With a fade, it eases in from silence and settles back into it. It's one of the smallest edits you can make and one of the most noticeable. Here's how to fade audio properly — and why the shape of the fade matters as much as its length.
Two things make a fade good. The first is obvious: it removes the click you get when audio starts or stops at full level instead of from silence. The second is subtler — the shape of the curve. A straight, linear fade changes volume at a constant rate, but because we hear loudness logarithmically, that can sound like it drops too fast at the start or lingers too long at the end. Bending the curve makes the fade feel natural, the way a fade on a real console or in a DAW does. The right length plus the right curve is what makes a fade disappear into the music.
A short fade ramps the volume from zero so the file never starts or stops at full level — no more click or pop on playback.
A 3–5 second curved fade out gives a track that timeless "fading into the distance" ending without a hard stop.
Fade a reel or teaser in and out so it feels finished, not chopped out of a longer file mid-sound.
Fade music beds under speech up and down so they swell in and duck out instead of snapping on and off.
A quick fade on a one-shot or sample stops it from clicking when it's triggered or tiled in a project.
It depends on the feel you want. A short fade of 1–2 seconds is enough to end a clip cleanly; 3–5 seconds gives a song that classic gradual ending. For a hard stop with no abruptness, even a 0.3–0.5 second fade removes the click. Try a few lengths and listen — the right one is the one that doesn't draw attention to itself.
A linear fade changes volume at a constant rate; a curved fade speeds up or slows down the change. Because we hear loudness logarithmically, a curved fade often sounds smoother and more natural than a straight line, especially on longer fade outs. AudioKit lets you bend the curve and hear the difference instantly.
A click happens when audio starts or stops at full level instead of from silence. Adding even a very short fade in at the start and fade out at the end ramps the volume from zero, which removes the click completely.