The first clip is overprocessed. It’s painful to listen to and I suspect ACX will think so, too. The expressive theatrical leads and tails of each word are just missing.
The gasps later on are actually a relief because it means you stopped trying. You sound more like you—more natural.
Ssssibillance is relatively easy to get rid of, but that could point to a problem. I bought a used AKG Studio Microphone. AKG is normally a very highly regarded maker and I couldn’t understand why I was getting such a good deal. Then I found out. This model had design changes to make it more of a “professional,” “studio,” “modern,” microphone. It was harsh, hard-sounding, and esssy. I used it once and put it in the garage.
Is one of those samples above completely unprocessed? About every third forum post involves us telling the poster to turn off Windows “Enhancements.”
Also, do a Windows Clean Shutdown if you use Skype, Zoom, Meets, or any other communications app.
You may have run out of tricks for gasping. You probably noticed that it’s not just the gasp. You also make word lead-in sounds that telegraph you are going to gasp for air, and you need to get rid of those, too.
Trebor noticed a couple of posts above that your posted work, even though you didn’t do anything to it, had changes and distortions added. We need to stamp that out before we add stuff of our own. See Clean Shutdown.
Yes. 36Audiobook-Mastering-Macro doesn’t do a thing to noise. I wrote it with the idea that you were going to perform in a quiet, echo-free room. By the time Mastering gets done, you may need to add very gentle noise reduction.
As proof of pudding, I recorded a voice test in my quiet bedroom and Mastering gave me a clip that passes ACX-Test and sounds exactly like me. I did it on my phone.
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I don’t know where to go for gasping. That’s hard.
Koz