Hi all! As always, thank you ever so much to everyone who shares their knowledge on this forum 
Okay, so this might be a bit of a hail mary but I’m wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks for me.
Basically, after completing principle recording on an Audiobook we moved. My space is a different size (smaller) although I had hung blankets in the last closet space to make it about the same size of space I’m in now.
What’s happening is that there is a fairly noticeable difference in the sound when I make corrections re. notes from the author.
I would describe the difference as a flatter sound. Both were closets with lots of stuff in them and in both, I hung thick blankets and have carpeting…but I can’t quite seem to match the sound.
I’m able to get correction audio that sounds maybe %75 close to what the original was, but of course, I want to give my author the best book possible and don’t want to jarr listeners.
Any thoughts would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks so much!
First of all, did anything change other than the recording space?
Microphone?
Placement of microphone relative to you?
Recording equipment?
Post processing steps?
Either way if can please post a samples of your sound from both spaces, preferably samples before any post processing steps that you might be applying, the gnomes here may be able to help further.
Nothing changed re: equipment or processing. I did move the mic a bit higher but in this sample, I’ve moved it back down to where I recorded the whole book and I still hear the difference.
So, another layer to this…prepare to eyeroll…
I also recorded my book at different gains. I know, not an ideal or wise move. Suffice to say I’m very new and was trying to find the ideal gain level. I inquired on this forum if this was okay and asked if I could even it all out in post and the response I received was that yes, I can totally even it all out using the RMS Normalize step and overall, I’ve found that effective.
In some cases, however, the gain was quite low and when I go back to make changes on these chapters its tough to get a strong listen as to whether I am matching tone. I believe I am, but later when I run the mastering recipe I use which is:
1- RMS Normalize to -18
2- Limiter to -3.5
3- LF Rolloff for Speech
…I hear jumps in the levels.
Any ideas??
New Studio Sample.aup (2.66 KB)
Chapter 9 Sample.aup (2.08 KB)
“.aup” files don’t contain any audio.
Instructions on how to add audio to posts in this forum are here …
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-post-an-audio-sample/29851/1
Step 3, “LF Rolloff for Speech”, should be step 1,
as “RMS normalize” can be influenced by inaudible infrasound.
( “LF Rolloff for Speech” will remove infrasound ).
i.e. if tracks have different levels of infrasound, RMS normalize will produce audibly different volume levels.
The higher the level of infrasound the lower the audible volume after RMS normalization.
You really want to get those steps in the right order. They clean up after each other.
https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audiobook_Mastering
I applied 5dB of simple volume boost to Chapter 9 with Effect > Amplify: Amplification 5 > OK, and they seem to match. I can’t tell which I’m listening to any more.
This is an old stereo store trick. Make the music system you’re promoting slightly louder and watch the purchases roll in. Usually volume is the only difference.
Koz
As Trebor above, many home microphones have thunder and rumble you can’t hear…but the software can. Use the recommended process.
So that’s how to patch what you have and how it’s most likely not to have this problem in the future. If you export WAV copies of your raw readings (as is recommended) you should be able to just pull them off the backup drive, remaster them correctly and go home. You do export WAV sound files after a reading, right?
I know this is no mystery now, but it’s very strongly recommended you do not change anything during a book reading. We’re very firm that you settle on a studio, process, volume and mastering technique for a whole book. ACX is too. They demand chapters match.
This is an extreme example, but these people recorded promotional work for their company at a studio. They cranked out terrific, broadcast quality work and were very happy. They needed to change up some of the script, decided the studio was a waste of money and they would recorded the changes at home.
http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/EchoSample.mp3
Jury’s out whether they recorded it in the kitchen or bathroom.
Nothing they did matched.
Koz