abrupt audio

Hi,
I am new to using FCP X. I am creating a staccato edit of some testimonials -- a few words from a line -- that have been plucked out from long speeches. I am facing two issues with audio:

1) when I use transitions: when i place the tightly edited bits next to each other and use cross dissolve -- and there are 'no' handles on the clips for overlap -- the end and beginning audio gets eaten up, which I do not want.
2) When I don't use transition: The beginning of every audio part sounds abrupt and harsh, taking away from the overall softness of the whole clip.

i have tried reducing the duration of transition to .10 seconds, but there is still a loss of the audio part. how can I smoothen out both the video and the audio, without losing footage.

Mal

Don't use transitions, but the key frame slider of the audio track. Just one or two frames

If you double click on the audio section (wave form) of the timeline, it'll separate the picture and audio into two yellow fringed boxes. Now click on one edge of the audio box and it'll let you drag it outwards without affecting the picture, or let you do an audio only mix, or a combination of these. If you do this for every shot, you can smooth the audio transitions between the shots.

It sounds like the transition you were using mixed both the picture and the audio.

As I'm sure everyone else will say: you HAVE to do training for FCPX or it'll drive you nuts. There's really good, clear training a click or two away. It'll save hours of your time!

i think if you right click on the effect its self you can open it and the audio cross parts show then you can see if its fading properly or you can adjust it to your liking.
found that out yesterday when my audio wasn't fading with my dissolves....