Dropping first syllable of first word

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

3.2.1
Windows 11 home

Hello Everyone,

Here is my problem.

I record a podcast and am having an issue with dropping the first syllable of the first word of a sentence. Think of a very rapid fade in effect in the recording. I cannot locate the issue so I am turning to you for help. It often happens when there is dead air for over five seconds in the recording, most noticeable as the recording starts.

Of course, the software is Audacity 3.2,1 on Windows 11 Home machine. (I updated to see if that was the problem, no joy)
Shure M7B mic
Behringer 1204USB mixer (no gate on this board) Turned compression off, no joy.
Cloudlifter preamp

troubleshooting…
changed cords
changed USP ports
changed Mic (Shure M5) to see if effect was still there… it was.
added preamp

I have been recording on this setup for almost two years, and earlier recordings with this setup did not do this. It started about three months ago.

Help me Obi Wan… you’re my only hope!

Thanks for letting me join the forum and thanks for the help.
BTSW Engineer

2

  1. Check that “micro-fades” is not enabled in “Edit menu > Preferences > Playback”.

  2. Check that all “Windows Sound Enhancements” are disabled (See: “Why do my recordings fade out or sound as if they were made in a tunnel?”)

3

+1
A noise-gate, (rather than echo/noise reduction enhancements), can chop off the start of words,
(particularly if they are preceded by silence, e.g. the first word in a sentence).

There may another layer of audio-enhancements in addition to Windows, e.g. MaxxAudio.