Podcast editing advice / Should I use Compression or EQ?

Hi all, this is my first post here.

I’m producing a podcast that is all spoken word with short intro and outro music.

I’m editing my spoken tracks.

I’ve studied http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/index_of_effects_generators_and_analyzers.html and have read many blog posts and watched many videos on editing, but I’m struggling to understand the necessary Effects for spoken word podcast editing.

I don’t want to overproduce this, and many of the effects appear to damage more than help.

Most guidance out there might tell me what to do based on one person’s opinion, but not the why, when and where to do it (and often the advice is conflicting). Much of the advice doesn’t distinguish if one tool is good for spoken word, or if it’s only wise for music, and most lacks appropriate context to help me understand what’s right for me.

I just want my voice to sound its best for podcast listeners.

Everyone seems to agree Noise Reduction is a no-brainer best practice for spoken word podcasts, so I’m doing that. I"ve got the uhms, ahs and pregnant pauses managed, so that’s handled.

But what about Compression or Equalization?

I’ve read Compression helps listeners crank up the volume in noisier environments without distortion (is that true?). But do I lose anything I don’t want to lose?

I’ve experimented with various equalization settings but all seem to make what otherwise sounds like solid audio either sound muffled and underwater (with bass boost) or tinny without base boost. Do you recommend equalization for spoken word?

What about Amplify? Is that a best practice, or is that redundant with Compress?

I’d be curious to learn which effects the experts here consider a best practice to clean up or improve what’s already an otherwise solid recording, and in what order do you apply them in your workflow?

Thanks, all.

If it sounds OK, there’s no need to EQ! EQ is like a more-advanced version of bass & treble control, and if you have a “perfect” microphone, you don’t need EQ.

After using EQ, it a good idea to run the Amplify effect to make sure you haven’t pushed the peaks into [u]clipping (distortion)[/u]. As long as you use Amplify to bring the volume down before exporting the file won’t be clipped.

(Dynamic) compression (and limiting) makes quiet-parts louder, and/or loud parts quieter. It’s mostly used to make “everything louder” by boosting everything except the loudest peaks so that the peaks are not clipped. Of course, it also tends to even out the volume. It generally works “backwards” by “pushing-down” the peaks, and then make-up gain is applied to make everything loud.

One downside of compression is that it boosts any background noise.

Most commercial recordings have some compression and some modern music releases have tons of compression. That doesn’t mean you have to use it, but it can help if your podcast sounds “weak”. There are no magic presets and there are a few settings to experiment with. Limiting is a bit easier and you just try the Hard Limiter preset with various dB settings (with make-up gain). It’s best to have a reasonably-level recording before applying compression, so use the Envelope Tool to adjust any too-quiet or too-loud parts before you start.

I’ve read Compression helps listeners crank up the volume in noisier environments without distortion (is that true?). But do I lose anything I don’t want to lose?

Sort-of… The compression itself makes it louder without the listener having to turn-up the volume… That’s because compression can boost the overall/average volume without boosting/clipping the peaks. For example, if you are listening to classical music with very-quiet and very loud parts, compression can be used so you can hear the quiet parts in a car or other noisy environment. But of course, this destroys the dynamics, which are a part of classical music.

I don’t want to overproduce this, and many of the effects appear to damage more than help.

Isn’t that the most fun?

Everyone seems to agree Noise Reduction is a no-brainer best practice for spoken word podcasts, so I’m doing that.

Everyone agrees on this because they all have noise. Do you? Can you tell if your computer is on without looking? If you can’t (and there are some Windows machines without noisy fans) then Noise Reduction may not be needed.

Just so we’re not flying blind (and deaf), can you announce a 20 second mono voice test? It doesn’t matter what the words are, but do them in your normal, or what will be your normal style. Read the milk carton. Do Not Process it. At all.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html

And while we’re looking at that, you can try Chris’s Compressor. This is a do-everything compressor Chris wrote so he could listen to opera in the car. It automatically adjusts for volume over an entire opera with almost no notice of what it’s doing. I use it to compress a favorite podcast so I can listen while hiking. The raw podcast is crazy because of the two performers, one mumbles in his beer and the other has a thermonuclear laugh. I increase the first value, Compress Ratio from 0.5 to 0.77 and the work sounds exactly like the local radio station.

Please be clear that the original podcast was shot in a studio, so it has no background noise.

Oh, and you might list the microphone, computer, connection type, etc. Part numbers. Pretend we’re going to build your system.

As we go.

Koz

You don’t have to post on the forum. If you have a posting service like Dropbox, you can use that.

It’s nice to think we can give you a standard list of corrections, but it doesn’t work like that. As you found, pre-baked lists are usually pretty awful.

The other thing you can do is point us to a podcast you like. "Make my podcast (post sample) sound like this.

Koz

Thanks, Koz. Let’s give this a try.

My equipment:

ATR-2100 USB connected to a Windows 10 laptop on a shockmount.

My environment: a cluttered storage room in my house, but near a freeway. I have a rooster in the backyard who crows a lot, but in the rare times he appears in the recording I’m not too concerned. I don’t think most people will notice until I do a “the making of” episode for my podcast.

Audio test clip per instructions: 20 seconds was too large to upload so I posted here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ib9by58hq4tdepw/test%20audio.wav?dl=0

I posted it to Dropbox - Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life but just realized that’s stereo.

Here’s Mono: