Passing RMS on Audacity 2.1.1

[bbrady32]

I'm using a borrowed microphone, but have ordered my own.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075K ... UTF8&psc=1

My set-up is essentially a blanket fort built with PVC pipe "walls". I'm using the heaviest blankets I have for now. I've ordered some (hopefully) better ones for this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HN ... UTF8&psc=1

It's frustrating because when I was recording yesterday, although I still had things to work through, I was passing ACX every time (filter curve, RMS Normalize, Limiter). Tonight, I've been playing around with some new recordings (same steps) and I'm failing noise every. time. I even turned off my furnace and unplugged the freezer (no worries, I have a timer set to plug it back in...) and still failed. I was passing yesterday not having done either of those things.

[kozikowski]

Rather than bedding blankets, I used furniture moving blankets.

I bought my really heavy ones from a moving company in East Los Angeles. They're 17 pounds—two gallons of milk.

viewtopic.php?p=369938#p369938

I bought these later.

https://www.harborfreight.com/72-inch-x ... 66537.html

They're not as heavy, but they do work OK for echoes and reverb in a live room, the exact problem you have.


There is one odd downside to the Audiobook Mastering Suite. It's a gift from the angels as long as your studio or recorder doesn't change. If your voice level goes up and down by accident or there's something wrong with the computer, it will drive you nuts.

Remember the original complaint was you couldn't meet RMS. Now you do.

I need to go back and read your posts.

Koz

[kozikowski]

Dueling Posts.

Next time you get the urge to spend money, post what you're going to do on the forum first.

The goal for soundproofing is to be heavy. The Star moving blanket in the Amazon post weighs 3.2 pounds for shipping. That's what the ordinary blanket on my bed weighs. The moving blanket from Harbor Freight weighs 9 pounds and the one I got from the East LA transportation company weighs 17 pounds—two gallons of milk.

How many did you order? You may need to use both old and new blankets.

You didn't post a picture of your fort, but keep it away from the walls by six inches to a foot or so. That will force the echoes to go through the blankets twice. Do you have fashionable bare-wood floors and plain ceiling? That's good for one echo right there. Put something on the floor. I've posted before you can dumpster dive behind a carpet store at night and pick up scraps that might work. My local store routinely overloads their dumpster and there are pieces lying around.

I was passing yesterday not having done either of those things.

There is one bookkeeping thing that could be happening. When you pass, write down the three numbers. Write them down again when you fail. Post both sets. ACX Testing is a Go/NoGo thing. It's dramatic. You either pass or your don't. The limit is -60dB. You could be announcing at -61dB on one day which would pass and -59dB on the next day which will not. You can get that kind if change by just leaning forward slightly when you talk. Or having too much coffee one day. So it's good to know those numbers.

Also you never posted about the result of the scratch or tap test. The wrong microphone can pick up noise and echoes.

Koz

[kozikowski]

Are you starting to get a good idea what the recording engineer would be doing?

Koz

[kozikowski]

Do we know which Mac you have? Some of the smaller Macs do have fans that go on and off. We need to know where the microphone is if you have one.

Koz

[bbrady32]

Thanks for the help with the space, I understand how important it is. After reading your post, I added a layer of the heaviest blankets I have and honestly, I can hear a difference inside already. The fort is made of PVC pipe with the blankets slung over. It has a blanket ceiling and carpeted floor. The room it's built in has painted drywall walls. I tried to upload a photo, but the file was too big. Thank you for the link to the blankets also.

The computer is a 21.5" imac bought new around 2012. The camera is on the top edge of the computer, smack in the middle. I'm attaching the scratch test -- found my usb mic. I wasn't talking into the mic when I did it, BTW

I got my new microphone and will post samples from the old and new to see how you think they compare.

Best,
Beth

[bbrady32]

Ok, here we go. I hate to add in yet another element, but I'm going to have to return "my" mic eventually. Before I do though, Here is the old and the new. If we like to old better, maybe my friend would be willing to let me buy it from her and I could return the new. I think it's sounding pretty good though. What do you think?

[Trebor]

Here is the old and the new ...
Attachments
OldMic.wav (692.04 KiB)
NewMic.wav (802.04 KiB)

The new mic is much better: a night & day difference ...

Old Vs New.png (288.06 KiB) Viewed 2203 times

You've also successfully managed to silence the room reverb.

The new mic will pass ACX without any processing to reduce the noise-floor,
but still I'd be tempted to use a hint of couture to take the noise-floor down to -70dB.

[bbrady32]

Woo! I’m so happy. Thank you. I ran an ACX check with no processing and it passes noise, but not RMS. The mic has volume and sensitivity controls (I have everything set to mid-point). It’s also set to a cardioid pick up pattern (also has bi or Omni directional). Is the cardioid best?

The company I’m doing work for now wants their clips really short - like .1 seconds of room tone before the audio starts. Is there an easier way to set that in Audacity rather than manually clipping each file?

[kozikowski]

If New Mic is the G-Track, then that may be all you need. I got very low noise level and a passing ACX Check noise of -69dB. No noise reduction.

Screen Shot 2019-12-23 at 18.15.30.png (40.17 KiB) Viewed 2195 times

This is after just the three mastering tools. It took me 20 seconds. Everything passes. No other corrections. Given your recent history, we need to see if you can keep doing that through a whole book or a job.

If you're just steaming for voice correction, try DeEsser at these settings after mastering.

Screen Shot 2019-12-23 at 18.25.19.png (48.1 KiB) Viewed 2195 times

You're listening for sharp SS sounds to go away.

Koz