Audio Feedback request

Fellow NT1A user here and jobbing v/o, piling in with some (non-audiobook specific) thoughts because I don’t get out much lately.

I’m assuming your narrator is using your set-up. If not and she’s just sending you the wavs, some of this may be moot.

Generally, I think you’re recording with too little gain. Currently it’s peaking at -17dB and you’d be better off aiming for a peak around -10 to -6. From your initial post I’m guessing it’s because you find it a bit harsh-sounding when turned up, in which case I sympathise. The NT1A is fantastic for the money, with very low self-noise, but it’s not the mellowest of mics and can sound aggressive in the higher frequencies. Recording with more gain will give more distance between the narrator’s volume and that of the background noise, making it easier to remove the latter if necessary without affecting the voice, plus larger waveforms make it easier to identify those pops and clicks and esses.

The ‘buzz’ at the end of Bob from .7-.9sec is a pop from a slightly overenthusiastic second b. You can quick-fix it by zooming in, highlighting from the second b to the end of the pop then applying the Fade Out effect and repeating with ctrl+R (cmd+R on Mac) until vanquished to your satisfaction.

I’m only hearing the odd mouth click tbh but if they’re really doing your head in, perhaps try Paul L’s DeClicker plugin, which has saved a great many of my takes. It’s miraculous but takes a while to do its thing and may not be suited to long audiobook recordings - prob best to apply it to a couple of minutes at a time if you’re going to use it. It’s very much not part of the Audiobook Mastering template though.