I am unable to open the Niquist ACX check plug in. Tried and downloaded the Fffeb still will not open. Transferred the file into effects unable to open…The plug in system on this DAW is rubbish…I do not want to narrate a whole book then fail submission requirements due to a rubbish plug in transfer system…I am using Windows 10… Can anyone help??
What’s “Fffeb”?
Do you mean “FFmpeg”? If so, that has nothing to do with Nyquist or “ACX Check”. FFmpeg is an optional component that enables Audacity to Import / Export additional file formats (such as AAC and AC3).
What exactly did you do to install the plug-in?
It certainly leaves something to be desired 
Tried and downloaded the Fffeb still will not open.
Please check the accuracy of your post before you send it. We can only go with what you tell us and we’re guessing most of the time. Typos are not welcome.
Niquist
It’s “Nyquist”
A note here. Even if you do get ACX Check in the right place, it’s not an Effect. It shows up under Analyze and then only if you enable it with Add/Remove Plugins…
Which version of Audacity are you using? In Windows I think it’s Help > About?
We don’t want you to read the whole book without certification either. When you get that far, we offer comments and publish an Audiobook Mastering suite of tools.
Also, ACX hosts a sample submission where you publish a minute or longer finished work for their evaluation.
Koz
I am using the latest version of Audacity so that should not be a problem. The downloading is fine, the importing into audacity is smoothy as it shows up next to my recorded tracks. The problem lies when I try and activate it under the add/remove effects box where it has appeared… I get a message saying effect not recognised? The ffmeg thing appeared as a option to try and open… That failed totally… There is no information on why the file will not open and no intel on how to open it…
Is that 2.3.1 or 2.3.2 alpha or some other version? (look in “Help > About Audacity”)
What are you referring to? Are you talking about “importing” the “ACX Check” plug-in?
Have you seen these instructions for how to install a Nyquist plug-in: https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/installing_effect_generator_and_analyzer_plug_ins_on_windows.html#nyquist_install
Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\audacity\Plug-Ins
Where is this? I cannot find this at all on Audacity? Having looked… I downloaded the latest version of Audacity so all this should not have any compatibilty issues… Ifr this does not get resolved soon I shall just send in my 15 minute sample and take it from there as I am not going to waste any more time on a plug in that fails to load, is unreliable anyway judging by the feedback on this forum and quite frankly does what common sense should do anyway…
The “” part will be the log-in name on your computer. For example, if your Windows log-in name is “Garry”, then the location is:
Users\Garry\AppData\Roaming\audacity\Plug-Ins
This would be the location where the plug-in “.NY” file needs to go.
Unfortunately, Windows hides many folders, including this one.
This article by Microsoft says how to make hidden folders visible: Show hidden files - Microsoft Support
I downloaded the latest version of Audacity
Please stop doing that. We live on rich information and specific numbers and data, not metaphors or opinions. The current Audacity is 2.3.1. There are fake versions who scramble the version number and it’s good to know if you have one of those. There is no Version 2.31.
I shall just send in my 15 minute sample
Did someone tell you that was the requirement? As far as I know, the test should be between one and five minutes.
If you have contradictory information, please post back.
We have had people fail the test because of incorrect room tone placement, not voice quality.
Koz
Missed a step. Those are taken from the ACX recommendations here:
https://www.acx.com/help/acx-audio-submission-requirements/201456300
The top part of that is an overview and features links to details on the bottom. That’s where I got the graphics.
Koz
Thanking you for your constant feedback and help with this problem.
My idea is that if your noise floor is okay, RMS okay, volume etc all set surely you do not need this plug in anyway. Even if it does fail the feedback recieved will give you issues that need to be fixed so you can address and fix… I appreciate all the comments and help I have recieved and I know that you were trying to help.Thanks for that but this plug-in can go and screw itself…
The point of the ACX plug-in is to alert you if your noise floor or RMS or peak level appear to not be OK. Thus giving you an opportunity to fix the problem rather than waiting for ACX to get back to you about your submitted test sample.
You are correct that the ACX plug-in is not infallible, but in the vast majority of cases it gives a pretty accurate guide. Whether you want to use it or not is entirely up to you
Home recording is not that easy and many performers go through multiple cycles of performing and testing before they hit a process and technique that works. Also, it has to be stable, reliable and work over multiple days and multiple book chapters.
Yes, you could submit and wait for ACX to get back to you and try to explain what you did wrong. Current wait times are between one and two weeks, and they don’t always hit it either, particularly if you have multiple problems.
You could also do this testing thing with older, legacy, conventional tools. You don’t have to use ACX-Check.
Manual testing looks like this:
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/ACXTesting/ACXTesting.html
Koz
You can record a 20 second test and post it on the forum. We will do an evaluation and post the results.
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html
Koz
I’m just reading over that again. ACX Check doesn’t affect the sound. It’s just the measuring service. We publish a Mastering suite, but ACX Check is part of that process, so if you can’t get it to work now, the larger tools aren’t going to do you much good.
Are you using someone else’s mastering process? Nobody can read right into ACX except by accident. So some processing is usually required.
Koz
Hey Koz.
Dude you may have just solved the riddle of the pyramids for me…By advising me on using the tools already in Audacity…
The hiss I have been trying to eradicate is just persistent.I don’t know if it is cosmic radiation, SETI, or the big bang?? However I followed your advice and analyzed the noise floor following the advice and procedure on the link you sent me then set the gain on my pre amp till it read -63 dcb…. Happy.
However to analyze the volume level for ACX acceptance I follow the same procedure. Now here if I am too low and amplify the waveform surely the noise floor would be amplified too, negating the previous pass test on noise floor?? Can you help?
Thanks a zillion.
Gary
We publish a Mastering Suite of tools that guarantee Peak and RMS (loudness) no matter where you start. The only variable after that is noise and that’s where most home users fall over.
If you have ordinary, spring rain in the trees hiss, it’s likely coming from the microphone system. Microphones, the actual thing your voice hits, produce audio signals that are insanely low level. It’s not unusual to need to boost them 1000 times just to make them useful. That boosting step is critical and it creates noise. When you buy a sound mixer, right up there at the top of the ad is the Special Mic Preamps it uses.
That’s the booster. Good quality preamps keep the hissy noise down.
Now the bad news. One of the tools in ACX Mastering is RMS Normalize and that has to be installed. If you couldn’t make ACX Check work, you won’t be able to install RMS Normalize, either.
I don’t think there is a good replacement for RMS Normalize like that long thing I wrote on manual testing.
Koz
I have RMS normalise on Audacity and have used it… But the question was. I used the analyze procedure to measure my noise floor and would the next step to analyze my RMS level negate my noise floor… Would normalise help with this… I cannot afford a Neumann or Rode Mike and have to do with the condenser that I have.
I have RMS normalise on Audacity and have used it.
How did you install it? The process is exactly the same for ACX Check except it shows up in Analyze instead of Effect. You need to resolve this because if you have a home condenser microphone, it’s likely you may need other, additional tools.
I cannot afford a Neumann or Rode
Most microphones can be made to work. You can’t “credit card” your way out of recording problems other than hiring a studio.
What is the microphone? We can offer use tips and other recommendations. We are trying to help you by building your system in our imaginations over multiple time zones. The more detail and specific numbers you can offer, the better.
In general, you should be about a Hawaiian Shaka away from the microphone.
Or a power fist if you have one of those round vocal pop and blast filters.
Note that royal blue background. That’s a heavy furniture moving pad, recommended to keep room echoes and noise down.
When you get your setup running, record a 20 second test for the forum. Doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect. Do Not Process Anything. We want the raw reading.
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html
ACX Mastering was designed to make the first two technical requirements, Peak and RMS (loudness), vanish. Once you do that, resolve noise and the technical standards are met. There is no bouncing between the standards trying to make all three work at once (although there are some mastering techniques which try to do that).
This is the Mastering process. Don’t let the posting throw you. That’s the exhaustive, detailed description for the manual. Scroll down to “Process.”
This is what I’m going to do with your test posting from above and see how it comes out.
Solving Technical Requirements is the first step. That’s the hard one and it’s automated, so that one usually comes first in product testing. It’s Trial by Robot.
Then Human Quality Control kicks in and they evaluate you for pleasing voice, mouth noises, echoes, and other theatrical problems. We can do some of that on the forum to avoid that extended ping-pong effect for an actual ACX posting. Get good at posting that sample sound clip. A lot of evaluation is going to happen from that sample.
Koz
other than hiring a studio.
There have been several posters who started out their careers in studios and decided to do the second or third book at home. They’re going through the same juggling acts you are. They have the advantage of knowing what it feels like to walk into a super quiet studio with a recording engineer. They have a point of reference.
Others only have the microphone manufacturer’s assurance that you can park their product on the kitchen table and crank out the work.
That’s what happened in this case. The company recorded promotional and publicity work in a studio and decided “How hard could this be.”
So then they did this at home.
Jury’s out whether it sounds more like a kitchen or bathroom. The echo is too long for a bathroom. I’m going with kitchen.
There’s a Current Fashion thing here. Do you have beautiful polished walnut or rosewood floors? Kiss of death. Bare floors are considered hostile recording environments. It’s almost impossible to turn out good quality voice in one of those rooms. You’re better off in the garage with the bicycle, lawn mower and cardboard boxes. No, I’m not kidding.
Koz
That’s the exhaustive, detailed description for the manual.
There’s actually a joke about that. See: the four volume set, “How To Ride A Bicycle.”
Google that. The hits go for weeks.
Mastering is only three tools, Equalization, RMS Normalize and Limiter.
Koz