ACX Dang that noise floor

[kozikowski]

Behringer C-1U Studio Condenser Microphone with USB Interface

I have a plain C-1.



But I have a USB interface (on the left) which comes built-in with yours.

(Dynamic would have been better, right?)

Dynamic microphones can have their own problems. I'd be more in favor of finding out where your noise is coming from, particularly since your current setup has been successful. I don't think you can buy your way out of this problem.

Koz

[fredericamg]

Quick update--I'm up to Ch 20, and so far only Chs 6 & 7 have the noisy Noise Floor (say that three times fast). The others are OK.
Mysteries of the Audio Universe.

[kozikowski]

so far only Chs 6 & 7 have the noisy Noise Floor so far only Chs 6 & 7 have the noisy Noise Floor so far only Chs 6 & 7 have the noisy Noise Floor so far only Chs 6 & 7 have the noisy Noise Floor

And the only real shortcoming to doing is this way, assuming ACX accepts your work, is Voice for Hire. You can't just tell a client you're going to present their work. It will always be: "There's an 80% chance I'll present your work because sometimes my system does something funny."

Being obsessive, that would make me insane.

Koz

[fredericamg]

I never was able to figure out a way to get into the Voice For Hire racket. So I only have to please myself; I record only my own books.

But because people always told me I have a nice voice, I recorded books for the blind for many years. Maryland (and I was told, every state) has a closed-circuit radio station where volunteers read the newspaper, TV listings, novels, magazines, all kinds of things. Reading novels was fun.

[fredericamg]

Well, I uploaded all the files to ACX today, and we'll see what happens. I had to record new Chs 6 & 7, and they pass the ACX Check (like all the other chapters), but they do sound somewhat different since they were recorded in my new house. Hopefully it's close enough to pass. Thanks for your help. I will be back, if they give it thumbs down.

[kozikowski]

Hopefully it's close enough to pass.

I don't think anybody at ACX is going to sit and listen to every word of every submission (in my opinion). It's a much better business model to inspect new users in great detail and back away to casual spot checking as the ability and fame of the reader improves. It's possible they won't catch it, but plan what you would do if they do.

Again in my opinion, an inspector would spot check each chapter which would show the quality shift immediately.

Koz

[fredericamg]

Hi there. I opened this thread in November while trying to prepare files to re-submit to ACX. I've passed ACX approval quickly in the past and have 7 audiobooks for sale at present.

With this new book, "First Fruits," I recorded most of it at my home desk in MD, and the rest of it after moving to TN--a new location, but same equipment.

I submitted it and received a Review that the noise floor was too high, and my voice was too low / soft. With your help I worked everything over (using Amplify, Notch Filter, and Limiter if necessary) and tested each file on the ACX Check; they all passed.

So I submitted these new files on Dec 3, and yesterday I received a Review stating:

<<Issue: All files contain excessive background/ambient noise and do not meet our noise floor requirement. Please revise all files.>>

I guess they think voice volume is OK, and dramatics etc are all right. I'm relieved that they didn't notice a distinction between the MD and TN recordings.

(They do also say some files are not quiet enough at the beginning and end. Wish they'd said which ones! I'll take a quiet patch and stick it on the beginning and end of every file.)

I am attaching a sample from a chapter I submitted to ACX. This was recorded in my new home office. ACX did not differentiate between the new recordings and the older ones from my last home.

I might just have to re-record the whole thing. 9 hours! Bummer!

[kozikowski]

They do also say some files are not quiet enough at the beginning and end.

Can you post the exact response?

You may be the second reader that moved houses in the middle of a book and ran into troubles. Unless you moved from a soundproof studio to another soundproof studio, the recordings are always going to pick up some of the room flavor. ACX hates distractions and having the chapters change background is a distraction.

It would be really good to read their exact response. Having your voice change volume through a recording can indicate Windows settings problems.


Are you following the Audiobook Mastering suite of tools? Does that ring a bell? You didn't say that anywhere in the post and you have problems and errors the suite was designed to fix.

Can you record a test? I know you're not a New User, but you did move houses and ACX started rejecting your work. Something happened.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/Test ... _Clip.html

Read down the blue links. They're very short.

Koz

[kozikowski]

I know I moved from Maryland to California and my voice recordings are very different now.

... ??

Mostly because the California place has a sound studio. Hard to beat that.

Koz

[Trebor]

I might just have to re-record the whole thing. 9 hours! Bummer!

Attachments
Ch 7 2020-1-7.mp3 (338.1 KiB)

It's possible squeeze down the noise using noise-reduction & an expander ...

''puvlicans [sic] & sinners'', before-after.flac

"after" is ACX compliant.
(also a De-Esser has been used).

(991.1 KiB) Downloaded 6 times

I submitted it and received a Review that the noise floor was too high, and my voice was too low / soft.
With your help I worked everything over (using Amplify ...

Rather than using Audcaity's amplify, have you tried turning-up the mic-gain/boost in Window's recording devices ?
Doing that maybe could also improve the signal-to-noise ratio, (worth a try).

Behringer C-1U Studio Condenser Microphone with USB Interface

That mic currently costs less than $40 : it's not really a professional spec item.
A stand-alone recording device will have lower-noise, (they can be hired by the day).