ACX edits / retakes sound different when cut into audiobook

Hello,

https://audio.com/sterling/audio/edited-clips-retakes-sound-different

Very new to this, so apologies for the misuse of vernacular.

I’ve begun recording an audiobook with my father. I do my best to use punch and roll to catch mistakes live, but sometimes I find them later on. I had him rerecord portions which I thought needed to be redone, and then I clipped them into the track, replacing the original audio.

The problem: The new / retakes sound different than the original recording. Same equipment in same room was used, just a day later. Why is this? How can I create a more uniform audiobook (recording on different days, using same equipment)?

Notes:
Sample attached still needs to be edited for pauses (particularly around the retakes), breaths, etc, but I’m discouraged to continue at all until I figure out why the retakes sound so much different. Also, in general I want all of the chapters to sound the same, not just within a chapter.

AT2020 is equipment used.

All audio run through the same compression, loudness normalization, and de-clicker (copied from a beginners ACX course). No EQ filter yet, as I have not figured out how to best apply that.

They look different too, in spectrogram view …

It’s possible to talk into the wrong side of an AT2020,
also the distance you are from it changes the EQ: aka proximity effect …

Thanks for the input Trebor! And thanks for linking that video. I got the side of the mic part right, but I’m guessing the retakes were at a slightly different distance from the microphone. I’ll work to control that better.

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