I am new to the audiobook world and I am having issues with some clicks. I have used de-clicker and click removal but I still have some. I have also found a setting on the equalizer that solves higher pitched ones as well.
I am unable to find these on the waves and am not sure what to do. I am putting up samples of myself and they all meet ACX requirements but still have the clicks that I can’t get rid of. Can anyone help??
Here is a sample. The ones I have these issues are at this lower pitch.
To ACX? I thought they stopped allowing sample submissions.
Did you search the forum for clicks and pops? What solutions have you tried—I mean to stop making them in the first place? I know getting rid of them from speech is amazingly hard.
Can you change them or make them worse? Do they seem to be completely random?
What’s your microphone and how is it connected? Has it always done this?
To ACX? I thought they stopped allowing sample submissions.
There is a relatively new automatic Audio Lab function on ACX where you can upload a file and it automatically checks for “RMS, peak levels, bitrate, bitrate method, sample rate, mixed channels, and duplicate files.” It doesn’t check floor noise level, and as far as I can see, it wouldn’t check for clicks at all.
In short, everything that can be automatically checked without a human.
You can check Peak, RMS, and Noise at home with ACX-Check. If you’re in the recommended mono (one blue wave) instead of stereo, you won’t have channel mixing problems.
Bitrate Method should be Constant. The bitrate itself can be a little magic. I know you started out at 192 which is the standard recommended bitrate for submission. But if you decided to make a correction to the MP3 at the last second and then make a new MP3, that new MP3 is going to fail.
You can’t change the MP3 at all once you make it. That’s why we recommend strongly that you make your chapter Edit Master a WAV (Microsoft) 16-bit and then burn the MP3 from that. Corrections should be made to the WAV and then make a whole new MP3.
Sampling rate should be 44100. Some people may run into this if they’re using a microphone system which loves 48000, the video rate, instead of 44100. The rate in the lower left of the Audacity window should always be 44100. You may read of people that make presentations that run at the wrong speed. That’s what happens when you cross the sample rates. Voice speed and pitch problems.
You’re problem is theatrical—audio quality. This is where Human Quality Control listens to the work, makes a sour face and bounces the chapter. Unfortunately, that can be after you finished all the chapters and submitted for publication. They used to do a mini version of Human Inspection on small samples. That’s the one I failed. They don’t do that anymore.
Do you have the address of the Audio Lab function on ACX?
Have you tried anything to get rid of the clicks in the computer? It is possible to generally fix most of the noise in post-production processing, but as you’re finding, you may not be able to fix everything. Each chapter can take weeks to get right, and that’s before getting rid of stuttering, plain mistakes, and English Word problems.
You probably didn’t intend this one book to be a retirement project.
In short, everything that can be automatically checked without a human.
You can check Peak, RMS, and Noise at home with ACX-Check. If you’re in the recommended mono (one blue wave) instead of stereo, you won’t have channel mixing problems.
Absolutely. I think the ACX check on Audacity is better, as it checks for background noise as well.
And it is just automated- as you say, without human checking. I only mentioned it as it is a new feature, and I assumed that is what the OP was referring to.
Aside from doing a better job in the initial recordings to minimize clicks. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to remove things that declicker doesn’t find and that I can’t find manually?
The ones I haven’t been able to remove are lower tones.
Audacity is better, as it checks for background noise as well.
We went to great effort to do that since Noise is what home recording artists fail most often.
There’s another item in the checklist. MediaInfo On-Line. It will rip your sound file apart and tell you everything about it.
If that gives you a funny, queasy feeling in your tummy (they ask if they can share your data), you can download Media Info to your machine and use it there.
It will tell you the MP3 Bit Rate or compression quality. ACX demands 192 or higher.
Since I haven’t posted this yet today. I created my technically correct ACX Audition on this setup, moved to my quiet bedroom. Yes, that’s the actual script. No buzzing, squealing, or other electronic interference.
That’s a Zoom H1n Sound Recorder. There are posters on the forum using H1 through H6 to capture sound for production. All without computer shortcomings and damage—or clicking.
Once a good voice file is created, then yes, edit and master in Audacity.
In the interest of accuracy, I did not use a paper towel roll for the actual shoot. That wasn’t tall enough, so I used three toilet rolls instead. Much better.
