Dialogue audio too quiet in final export – what am I missing in Premiere?

Hey! I've run into this exact issue before. It's almost certainly not your export settings – AAC 320kbps is fine. The problem is likely that you're monitoring at a different loudness than your final delivery. In Premiere, the Audio Track Mixer shows dBFS, but for broadcast/online delivery, you should be targeting loudness units (LUFS) and true peak. Your dialogue at -6dBFS might average around -20 LUFS, which is fine, but if your reference monitor is set to -14 LUFS (common for streaming), it will sound quieter. Also, check if you have any compression or limiting on the master bus – if you're hitting -3dB true peak, inter-sample peaks could be causing distortion that makes it seem quieter. I'd suggest using the Loudness Radar effect on your master bus, set to EBU R128, and aim for -14 LUFS with a true peak of -1dBTP. Then adjust your dialogue levels accordingly. Also, make sure your export settings include 'Render Audio' and don't have any downmix issues if you're working with 5.1. Let me know your exact export settings!

Thanks, studiomaker22! I checked my export settings and I had 'Render Audio' checked, but I was working with a stereo mix, so no downmix issue. However, I looked at the Loudness Radar as you suggested, and my dialogue was averaging -22 LUFS, which is indeed too quiet for YouTube. I adjusted the dialogue gain and applied a gentle compressor to even out the levels, and now I'm hitting -14 LUFS with a true peak of -1.5dBTP. The export sounds perfect! I also realized my reference monitor was calibrated to -20dBFS, which threw off my perception. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction – problem solved!