Trying to upload an audio book and facing what seems to be a unsolvable problem

[joaoviana]

Hello, everyone; maybe someone can help me here.

I have been trying to fix a file for an audio book that keeps giving me the same problem.
It seems that the tracks are louder than -3db and that the RMS levels are also incorrect, above 23 decibels.

Every time I fix the db level the RMS level gets out of range (above 23decibels). Every time I fix the RMS levels the db get louder than -3db. Did anyone here faced the same situation?

Thank you in advance,
Joao

[Trebor]

@joaoviana

above 23decibels

The acceptable RMS range for audiobooks is between -18dB and -23dB …

acx. wrote …
“Each file must measure between -23dB and -18dB RMS”.
https://help.acx.com/s/article/acx-audio-submission-requirements

NB: -18dB is louder that -23dB

How To Meet ACX Requirements Using Audacity

[christop]

If the peak level is too high when RMS is at the right level, you may need to apply some compression. That will gently “squash” the highest peaks down to an acceptable level. See Audiobook Mastering - Audacity Support for a guide on that.

[DVDdoug]

@joaoviana

Every time I fix the db level the RMS level gets out of range (above 23decibels). Every time I fix the RMS levels the db get louder than -3db. Did anyone here faced the same situation?

FYI - Linear volume adjustments make the same change to EVERYTHING. If you reduce the level by 3dB, the peaks, RMS, and noise level all go down by 3dB. (3dB more negative.)

Limiting (and other compression) is non-linear. You can “push down” the peaks with very little-or-no effect on RMS, and zero effect on noise.