Sample track #3 in this post. This is with my speaking at about 2/3 of max volume. I can have an extremely loud and penetrating voice that, were I to cut loose, would likely enrage my neighbors. I know it enrages people when I’m cheering at sports events. I can literally be heard quite clearly on the other side of stadia.
You’ve fixed the sibilance, and the mains hum isn’t too bad.
But there is still the sizzle from 6Hz-10kHz which is noise generated by the electronics.
The headset-microphone is adequate for the purpose it was designed : live Voice Over Internet communication.
It can’t be converted into a studio microphone via post-production, not even if I throw all my paid-for software at it …
I used Mastering Suite 4 and added Noise Reduction 6, 6, 9.
This is highly not recommended because you applied corrections and then I applied corrections and Trebor has advanced different corrections yet.
This is the kind of thing that happens when the microphone and recording system isn’t up to scratch. The microphone has high volume frying noises and hum. It’s peaking the SS sounds in your words and may be uneven in it’s positive and negative waves.
The only up side is the volume (in the clip you posted) which is just about right.
If you’re using the built-in soundcard in your computer, I think I’m pretty safe in recommending you stop doing that. We can probably force this to work, but you will get a laundry list of different effects and corrections and you will need to be careful to apply them all to each and every chapter forever.
If you’re reading for audiobooks, ACX recommends strongly that all your chapters match, so there is no upgrading in the middle of a book or publication.
Koz
Ok.
Trebor & Koz, let me make sure I have this aright: My voice and delivery are mostly adequate, and possibly trainable to become better. In other words, if I were doing this in a professional studio, it would be all good, or mostly so. I thank both of you for your work in helping analyze my situation; I/we couldn’t have come to these conclusions without your assistance. 
But here at home, my hardware and “studio” environments aren’t what it would take to do this easily. Come January, I’ll be starting a new job, and this PC is going to be replaced at some point; it’s getting old and time only flows in the one direction: forward and mercilessly so.
So, what should I be looking forward to, if I want to do this? (And I think I do. Why waste talent, if talent I have?)
A good mic, certainly. A PC with quieter or less fans? A dedicated sound card (i.e. a Creative Labs SoundBlaster) instead of the chip-on-board that I currently have? Would a laptop fit the bill?
A better/quieter recording environment: As in some kind of purpose-built studio of some size or type? I can’t at this time, afford a dedicated studio room, so some sort of compromise would have to be made.
I have personal backstory that should be mentioned, if only briefly. I’d sent you a PM the other day, Koz, but your box is apparently full. So I’ll be brief, here, and please understand that I’m not fishing for sympathy or looking for ANY kind of charity.
I was in a bad accident back in summer of 2015 that left me with a TBI, among a couple of other minor physical injuries. It’s been a long row to hoe, and, cognitively speaking, I’d say I’m operating at 90%-95% of where I was pre-accident.
So I’m ready to get back into the workplace, full-time. Before, I’ve been a fairly successful salesman and technical writer for all my professional life. That is the direction I will probably be gravitating back towards.
As far as the voice work goes, again, any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I want to make my voice work for me, even if only in a supplementary capacity.
Thanks much, again, for your hard work in helping me out! 
Best Regards,
-JH
How about stop using the computer?
That is a centuries-old Zoom H4 sitting on a roll of paper towels (available at any Piggly Wiggley). The whole thing is perched on a furniture moving pad to avoid desk surface distortion.
You can get a nice Zoom H1n $120 usd which compares favorably in price to a Yeti USB microphone $150 usd. You’ll be missing the “Yeti Curse” and all the other computer and USB problems (skipping and stuttering) and the recorder will fit in your pocket.
Connect the recorder to your computer with a USB cable, transfer the sound files and master in Audacity.
If you do go the USB microphone route, remember you can never get more than 6 feet (2M) away from the computer.
Set up your paper towel and recorder and launch the script of your choice: Tablet (completely silent), Smartphone (completely silent) or (gasp) Paper.
Koz
Josh Turner did the whole first third of his musical career on a Zoom H2. That’s it on the rock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcVec_RPwuc
It could be said that the H2 was the high point of Zoom development The Legacy H2 is still going on eBay for new unit prices. The new H2n reflects the sales team involvement (Now!! With 37 microphones!!).
They have to eat, too.
Zoom isn’t the only company making stand-alone recorders. Tascam comes to mind. Olympus works, too, but in their case you have to avoid the phrase “Voice Recorder.” That’s their code for note-taking and nothing else.
Koz
+1 on the dedicated-recorder idea.
They’re designed for professional-quality sound-recording.
Can run on batteries, so no mains-hum. No USB electrical-noise. No fan noise.
You can then transfer the recording to the computer for editing in Audacity, (e.g. de-essing).
A closet full of clothes can be an effective sound-booth.
Heavy curtain / thick blanket, (thrift store ?), will reduce reverberation from the room.
Wow! This might be just the ticket for my needs, at this point.
I’ve seen digital audio recorders in various stores before now, but I didn’t know their capabilities until I did a little research this afternoon.
Seems to me that for my price-point, the Zooms are the best of the bunch.
I saw some Tascam, Olympus, and Sony product out there, but they didn’t seem to be of the same quality.
So it seems there’s a LOT of upside to this…
…is there any downside?
Although they will plug into the wall for power (at least mine will), that’s not recommended because that connects you do all the problems wall power can have. If you stick with batteries, somebody has to buy them and I have no idea what the life term is. I understand there was one Zoom model that went through batteries like a wildfire. I wouldn’t be shocked if it was taken off the market.
I didn’t check the H1n. Typically, they use two AA or AAA batteries. You can get rechargeable units and continually cycle between two or three sets.
I can’t see my sound meters while I’m performing. I could record at different spacing and volume, inspect the results and get close that way. I got lucky first time out.
I transferred my performance to the big Mac, shot it through AudioBook Mastering 4 and applied very gentle noise reduction of the beast (6, 6, 6). That’s what you’re listening to. I really sound like that. The obsessives will immediately correct the word timing just a bit and take out my congenital tongue smacks. I would not remove the breath sounds. I don’t know of ACX ever bouncing anybody for natural breathing sounds.
Do you know the product review trick? Ignore the reviews that say the unit will bake bread and cure cancer. Look at the negative reviews with a bad spelling or two. Those are probably real, especially if there are two or more that say about the same thing. Obviously ignore the reviews that hate the paint color.
I think the age of my recorder is showing in the voice quality. It’s mellow and pleasant to listen to. It does not have the modern “Professional Microphone” sharp, overly-crisp, harsh, annoying quality. Trebor notwithstanding, it probably doesn’t need DeEssing. Newer units may not be so lucky. I don’t know.
If you’re considering the H1n, I’ll pull down the manual and see if there are any obvious gotchas.
Koz
There’s websites which rate the legitimacy of Amazon reviews, e.g. https://www.fakespot.com/
[ Someone is trying real hard to shift those whining Yetis ]
Oh yeah, it’s pretty easy to spot the sketchy reviews. I usually bypass the 110%s and the <20%s. Or at least read them with a gimlet eye.
So I need to do some research on this “Yeti curse,” I suppose…I’m guessing their product has some sort of actual systemic problem?
What about these two Amazon deals:
I’ve got an old version of the Zoom H2.
Pros:
Silent operation.
Good recording quality.
Reasonable price.
Very portable.
Built-in mics OK.
Can take an external mic.
Can record in WAV format.
Reasonably robust (but don’t drop it onto a concrete floor or stand on it).
Can be used as a stand-alone recorder, or as a USB (stereo) microphone.
Includes wallwart PSU, mic stand adaptor and foam “pop shield”.
Can “drag and drop” recording onto a computer (requires the computer to have a flash card reader).
Can transfer files to computer via USB (if computer does not have a flash card reader.
Can run on standard “AA” batteries.
Cons:
Plastic case and “bubble buttons” (don’t drop it onto a concrete floor or stand on it).
External mic connector is mini-jack (can’t use a “professional” mic with it directly - though could use a mixing desk or external mic pre-amp).
Batteries not included.
No 48v phantom power.
Recording “gain” is only a 3 position “High/Medium/Low” switch.
If you want that “warm, intimate, close-up” voice sound, then really you need to be using a reasonably good vocal recording microphone rather than the (stereo) built-in mics, but the lack of phantom power and “XLR” microphone input means you can’t do that without additional equipment. Nevertheless, the Zoom H2 does give good, clean recordings with the built-in mics, so it is a cost effective solution as a general purpose, truly portable audio recorder.
So I need to do some research on this “Yeti curse,” I suppose…I’m guessing their product has some sort of actual systemic problem?
That’s my name for it. It (and microphones in this group) don’t filter or process the five volts of USB battery coming through the USB cable. They just use it to run everything inside the microphone. If the USB service is “dirty” or mal-formed, the error ends up in the sound.
We generated a filter to get rid of it (most times) in post production, but the filter works by killing certain pitches and tones in the show. Nobody wants to hear the only sure way to cure it short of electronic surgery (take the microphone apart) is to change the computer.
The Yeti Pro® doesn’t apparently have this problem because they do process the USB service, and they do it at twice the price.
One question I didn’t answer was whether you can use your headphones to live monitor your voice while you record. I can check that later. That’s desirable because self monitoring can give you a more even volume in the performance.
I have a different recorder that can recharge batteries while they’re inside the recorder. That isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Zoom H1n instructions, so I assume not.
We should note that the forum gets all the equipment failures, so while it looks like a massive product failure to us, should be taken against the thousands of microphones sold to apparently happy customers.
More later.
Koz
you need to be using a reasonably good vocal recording microphone rather than the (stereo) built-in mics
I got my sound by summing the two microphones rather than splitting the stereo channel and deleting one side. That should also reduce the microphone internal noise.
My H4 has XLR connections on the bottom, but the opinion of the original owner was not to bother. They’re not that good.
Koz
I found the H1n always sells for $119.99 no matter where you buy it.
Koz
I’ve got an old version of the Zoom H2.
A Legacy H2. You win.
I just missed buying one on eBay by one of those services that bids a dollar more 3 seconds before the bidding closes.
Koz
I read that they are better on the new (“N” version), the “H4N”.
Then again, the built-in mics are pretty good in both the old and new versions.
The Yetis are USB mics, not standalone recorders, they often produce continuous mosquito-like whine.
It’s a bad-sign when most of the Amazon reviews are 'bots (i.e. faked) …
Amazon Reviews for https ://www.fakespot.com /product/zoom-h1n-handy-recorder-2018-model get a “D”.
Amazon Reviews for https ://www.fakespot.com /product/zoom-h2n-handy-recorder get an “A”
The fakespot pages are a review of the legitimacy of the reviews for a product, not a review of the product.
Hadn’t known about the Fakespot before today, thanks for the info.
So, for my purpose (voice audio recording for transfer to PC-based Audacity for post-processing, and assuming I stick with the Zoom line), I have three choices that are reasonably priced:
H1n, H2n, and H4n, yes? The “legacy” H2 being probably never available. 
In other words, the recorders will work fine for the actual recording of my voice, and I shouldn’t have any of the noise artifact issues from my PC when I’m doing post in Audacity?
What else do I need, besides a lot of scripts to read and getting my voice out in the marketplace for exposure? I know this means grinding my butt off.
Batteries aren’t a problem, really; I keep a lot around. I’m a flashlight freak. At least one in every room, all Maglites, and typically one within one or two arms’ reach.
ETA as a requirement: A quiet recording environment.
Anything else I’m missing here?
Thanks so much as always,
-JH
The “legacy” H2 being probably never available.
That’s safe. The “new” ones in a box are going for original list or higher prices.
In other words, the recorders will work fine for the actual recording of my voice, and I shouldn’t have any of the noise artifact issues from my PC when I’m doing post in Audacity?
That’s what we expect. You avoid all the pages and pages of problems people have connecting a microphone to a computer. Do get it from someone to whom you can return it if there’s something wrong.
Please be clear nobody in this whole message thread found any room problems. No echoes or trucks going by, so if you straighten out the microphone, you should be good to go. As usual, there is no “talented performer” button in Audacity. The performance is as good as the actor.
As way at the top, I know people with your voice and they do very well telling stories. I would probably avoid fancy-pants, classic English novels in favor of home-grown American stories.
“We almost made it off the farm with our stash of fresh apples when Josh, never a twinkle toes at the best of times stepped on a branch and made a crack that could be heard in three counties. We were depending on the failing hearing of Bobby the sheep dog to cover our tracks, but even Bobby figured out there was something wrong and made it out of his shed barking enough to wake the dead and flying low the whole way.”
I can hear that in your voice.
Koz