So I am using Audacity to record Audiobooks. I am brand new to all of this although I have done my research and watched a lot of the ACX how-to videos. At the moment I am waiting on my mic and mixer to arrive in the mail but am practicing with just some headphones (I know not good but it is for practice!!) So I can get the hang of roll and punch recording, finding the proper peak volume, noise floor, RMS Level, editing and mastering. I am doing this so that when my gear comes in I am already efficient and don’t make any big mistakes when sending in auditions and audiobooks.
I know that the headphones with a mic are not going to cut it BUT, what does it mean and how can I adjust if I keep getting low RMS (-45 TO -35 range (supposed to be between -23 and -18)) and sometimes I get peaks that are way too high almost 0 or 1 DB (should be hitting -10 but no higher than -3) - the noise floor is not a problem.
What can I do to ensure the raw recording is better:
Increase gain?
increase mic volume?
a combo of both?
mic position? distance?
other??
Start With :
Effect > Filter curve… > Manage > Factory Presets > : Low roll-off for speech > OK.
Effect > RMS Normalize: Target RMS Level -20dB > OK.
Effect > Limiter: Soft Limit, 0.00, 0.00, -3.50dB, 10.00, No > OK.
Analyze > ACX-Check :
Noise Reduction (6, 6, 6)
So basically I think its the original recording is not good enough - but what can I do BEFORE mastering to fix this issue. I want to have the best raw recordings as possible and I know this is a common issue even with actual microphones.
Home readers never pass noise. It’s really hard to get your room quiet enough to read straight into ACX. I do really well with my quiet, echo-free bedroom, but even I have to wait for the Metrobus to go by.
We can analyze it. Record a ten-second test file according to this.
I bought a SUPER starter set and will be purchasing better equipment as I go. What I bought sold out so I cant send you a link on amazon but here are the items:
Aokeo AK-80 Condenser Microphone
X7 Live Sound Mixer
AK-35 Suspension Scissor Arm Stand
Shock Mount
Pop Filter X7 Live Sound Mixer
Mounting Clamp
This is workable. I applied Audiobook Mastering and moderately stiff noise reduction and the piece will pass ACX Technical standards—just barely.
This shows the mastered waves.
Note the blue line on the left is clean and thin.
This is your original reading. Some of the blue waves are too tall and the line on the left is thick and fuzzy. That fuzz is your background noise.
You read a bit too loud. You can find this yourself by turning on View > Show Clipping.
There shouldn’t be any red marks in your reading. That can indicate serious permanent sound damage. You got lucky in that I can’t hear any damage after mastering.
There is an insane amount of rain-in-the-trees shshshshsshsh noise in the background. I can force this to work, but I should not need high noise reduction to get it to follow audiobook standards.
This is the suite of tools I applied to your piece.
Followed by noise reduction 12, 6, 6.
Any more reduction than that and the process will start to damage the sound.
The reading may seem melodramatic to you, but it sounds fine to me and all you have to do is keep that up for a whole book.
What’s the current microphone? How did you record that?
all you have to do is keep that up for a whole book.
That’s a New User revelation. The first time you hear yourself as others hear you, you say to yourself, “How flat and boring I sound.” You have the other extreme where you went nuts with theater, swing and emphasis and it turns out that’s a perfect announcing voice.
There’s a reason I want to know how you did this current clip. That can be the backup if your fancy-pants microphone coughs up blood. You still can’t just take over in the middle of the book, you do have to start over because they look for quality differences as you read. The chapters have to match, and the beginning and end of the book has to match.
There’s another New User Phenomena. You get to the end of the book a seasoned professional and discover what a hatchet job the first few chapters were when you were learning how. And read them again.
And since I haven’t been Debby Downer for at least ten minutes.
Your microphone, the AK-80.
Has a striking resemblance to the BM-800.
We’ve had complaints about that microphone series. Somebody in the world made a bunch of these with no nameplate and people put their own name on and sold them as their own brand. I know of at least three companies who did that. You’re number four.
Listen carefully to the YouTube reviewers. Yes it’s possible to get presentable performance out of it, but you can’t use the computer soundcard cable that comes with it. You have to use a mixer or other interface that supplies the right power. It says that in the instructions. I’m not making that up.
At least one of the reviewers was speaking in to the wrong end during the review. It’s a side-fire microphone. Speak into the company name. Read the instructions carefully.
There are errors in the microphone description. No, it doesn’t have big magnets inside. It’s not that kind of microphone.
And it’s not a Professional, Studio, Broadcast, Recording microphone. That’s just Promotion and Publicity seeing how many buzzwords they could squeeze into the ad.
I believe it’s been discontinued. They’re vanishing under all their company names.
Wow thank you so much, you are extremely helpful. So like I said I am just trying to go through the motions of doing an audiobook so I’m just using an iPhone headphones mic. I wanted to get the best possible recording from the crappiest mic, so if I do have any issues later I know how to fix them. Also, don’t judge my voice I have strep throat right now Also, I just want to become as efficient as possible.
I watched a video where a “sound guy” reviewed a product on amazon and he said with the mixer it wasn’t bad for the price - although it was a little tin-ey - and he explained some of the BS Marketing lingo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBUoy5k1xlg). Oh! I found the exact package that I had bought on Amazon(but on another website):
So it does come with a mixer - do you suggest also getting a phantom power supply, or does the mixer have that in it? I know that if the power supply is too low it increases microphone hiss and contributes to the noise floor problem
And yeah I definitely could hear the “rain/trees” at normal volume when playing it back on the original. At what decibel level should the raw recording be to sound good? (not after mastering/editing - I know it should be lower than -60db) because even if it is right under -60 it still sounds awful.
Also, you put the noise reduction up to 12, why not 6 or 9? Sorry if this is a lazy question - if you have a link to an article that explains this I would be happy to read it.
don’t judge my voice > > I have strep throat right now
Can you have strep throat for a whole book?
I just want to become as efficient as possible.
Good idea. As efficient as possible is to finish your reading, edit out the mistakes, run Audiobook Mastering, Export a protection Edit Master Sound File, I use WAV (Microsoft) 16-bit, and Export the MP3 to ship off to ACX. No Noise Reduction or any other processing.
There is a sister forum posting where I got the voice work to pass ACX Standards, but it took me 8 or 9 different tools and corrections to do it. That’s not reading an audiobook. That’s a career move.
also getting a phantom power supply
Look if your purchases have +48v or something with the number 48 in it. That’s phantom power for your microphone. It’s phantom because the system sends 48 volt battery voltage up the cable to run the microphone at the same time that you’re sending your voice down the same cable.
I’m just using an iPhone headphones mic.
It’s not dreadful. You could read a book with that. It has the advantage that you can’t bob and weave in front of the microphone. It goes with you.
Of course, if you lose that smooth contralto when your regular voice comes back…
I have strep throat right now 
Also, I just want to become as efficient as possible.
> I have strep throat right now