Crossword Genius

Italian lord chasing gold, by the sounds (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

audio

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'italian lord chasing' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'gold by the sounds' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'Au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'the sounds' becomes 'dio' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'au'+'dio'='AUDIO'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for audio that I've seen before include "in the sound department?" , "Prefix relating to sound" , "- Tape; - typist" , "Recording of acoustic signals" , "Sound, as opposed to vision" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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