Startup (Audacity recognizing microphone)

Audacity Help Forum
1

I am entirely new to voice recording. I have a laptop, a microphone with an XLR-USB cable connection, and a Focusrite Solo interface device. I loaded Audacity and started on the steps to “Recording Your Voice.” My input device option was the Focusrite device, which I selected. But when I tested my connection, while the Focusrite registered the tapping of my finger on the microphone, Audacity did not. I did the troubleshooting (“Rescan Audio Devices”), but Audacity still isn’t registering the microphone. What’s next?

BTW - I am/was attempting to use a wireless headphone. Is this a non-starter when using an interface device like Focusrite Solo? ie.- does the interface device demand a plug-in headphone to work?

2

Check your Permissions/Privacy Settings.

And while you’re at it, make sure Windows “enhancements” are turned OFF.

3

Most Mac people will say they have a “Macbook.” Can we assume Windows?

You may be experiencing the Forum Delay. Forum Elves are located all over earth and it may take a while to get to you.

Wireless Headset? Earphones and a microphone? Or really Headphones? Wireless seems to be a terrific idea, except It is strongly recommended that you listen to yourself while you’re presenting. You can’t do that with the sound from the computer and you need the computer sound to make the “Wireless” part work.

Use over the ear, wired headphones connected to the Solo. Example:

H1nStudioConfig_1467
H1nStudioConfig_1467990×1000 278 KB

I wrote a greatly simplified “how to read” document.

Read your chapter with wired headphones in a quiet, echo-free room.

Stop.

File > Export the work, errors and all, as a WAV (Microsoft) file for protection.

Edit the work to get rid of word-o’s, stumbles, stutters, tongue ticks, lip smacks, and other errors.

Tools > Apply Macro > 36Audiobook-Mastering-Macro.

ACX-Check. If it passes and you like the way it sounds, Export a WAV (Microsoft) file Edit Master and go on to the next chapter.

“How To Read” normally goes on for page after page but nobody wrote the simplified version. What do the instructions look like if nothing goes wrong? There is a follow-up explanation of each step. Shortly.

Koz

4

Read Your Chapter Notes
I’m not done with this yet, but there is enough to be useful.
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— Read your chapter with wired headphones…

Highly recommended. Once you get accustomed to your own voice coming back to your ears, all your volume, emphasis, and expression errors go away—or give you obvious notes that you need to fix them.

— a quiet, echo-free room.

Echoey, Recording In The Bathroom Voice can’t be fixed, and the noisy Metrobus going by can’t be removed.

I can do very respectable recordings in my garage. The boxes make terrific soundproofing, but I have to do it at night for best neighborhood background sound and I still have to pause periodically to miss the Metrobus.

— Edit the work…

Edit the work to get rid of of reading noises. ACX told me my submitted test file was Practically Perfect in Every Way, but they couldn’t deal with my mouth noises. Tongue Ticks and Lip Smacks are hard to fix and have the story still sound natural. Good luck.

There’s a Post Production editing job that should not be post production. If you make a mistake, stop reading, leave the recorder running, look back to the next even sentence or phrase, and read the whole thing again with the correction. When you get to the end of the chapter, then roll the performance back and remove the broken sentence. If you wait until next week to correct the error, you will never get a matching tone, pitch, emphasis, and rhythm.

— Tools > Apply Macro…

36Audiobook-Mastering-Macro is a one-step collection of tools that includes a rumble filter, a loudness setting tool, and tip and peak corrector. It’s possible your chapter will come out the other end sounding OK and passing the ACX audiobook sound standards. I actually did this once with a test I recorded on my phone.

— ACX-Check

ACX-Check will tell you your chapter sound standards: Peak, RMS (Loudness), and Noise. Note, last I looked, the ACX on-line tester will not measure noise.

Noise can get you into trouble. ACX-Check does not like Blackness of Space zero Noise. ACX uses that as an indicator that you have over processed your chapter. Stiff noise reduction can cause vocal tone distortions.

More Later,

Koz

5

I should hit this before I go on to Monday Stuff.

Yes, AC requires that you submit your chapters as 192, Constant Bitrate, MP3 files. You can’t ever edit or correct those. Once you make one, the only things you can do are listen, submit, or delete. That’s why your Chapter Edit Master is a WAV (Microsoft) sound file.

ACX will accept either mono or stereo as long as the whole book matches. Mono is recommended.

Also note nowhere did I save an Audacity Project file. Count the times in the forum somebody posts “My Project file won’t open, please help me!!” Projects can be brittle.

Koz

6

When you get that far, you can post a voice test on the forum. Do this before you get to the last chapter.

https://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html

Koz

7

The OpenVINO™ Noise Suppression effect in Audacity does a pretty good job of reducing unwanted background sounds on a fairly new computer. I would say it is good enough for most podcasts and audio blogs. Especially with the large models.

I wouldn’t use it on audio book recordings, but I bet most people aren’t using Audacity for that.

8

All true, but. The poster’s phrasing suggests they are reading For Hire, not just a podcast voice track for their trip to the beach. We note that if you can pass ACX, you can submit almost anywhere else.

In any event, they will post and correct us.

Koz