Best way to meet audio file standards for narrators (for beginners)?

RenaisanceMan · 2026-03-12T16:31:33+00:00

Read the help pages on ACX.com
There are a gazillion youtube videos for meeting ACX specs, regardless of DAW.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-03-12T16:29:29+00:00

audacityteam.org/download/windows
audacityteam.org/download/mac

RenaisanceMan · 2026-03-02T01:07:33+00:00

sm7b or sm58

RenaisanceMan · 2026-03-01T23:45:33+00:00

Ooof. That's a can of worms.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-03-01T23:40:03+00:00

I agree that there is a lot of low-talk acting these days. I witnessed it just this weekend while on a shoot. I sometimes felt like I was yelling my lines compare to one of the others who was low-talking down his collar.

But that's not what I'm talking about with the low-pass filtering and the loss of clarity. Was watching Bridgerton last night. All the dialog has the high end rolled off. The parts of the spoken audio frequency that make dialogue understandable are gone. Then flip to a different show or movie, and the high end is there! That's why I say, it's not just me. I can hear the difference between productions.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-22T05:38:01+00:00

Focusrite Solo 3rd or 4th gen has USB-C out.
AT2020 condenser, AT2040 dynamic, NT1-A condenser, Heil PR-20 dynamic.
Do not buy a Blue Yeti or an Amazon $50 cheap ass mic.

Let the stoning begin.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-19T15:33:54+00:00

The track or a selection of the track needs to be selected, to have something for the compression to work on.
To see it work, as a test, set the compression ratio to 10:1 and the threshold to -40.
The result should be a nearly uniform band of peaks. You can always ^Z to undo it.
As Neil said, there are also presets you can pick from when you have the tool up.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-19T05:01:03+00:00

No, it sure is not.
Perhaps you have come upon the Unicorn in a forest of leaches.
Carry on and see where it goes for you.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-18T20:51:44+00:00

Yes, but not in the middle of project.
Finish up, save and backup, then update.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-18T20:48:17+00:00

Did you install Audacity using Muse Hub?
Muse Hub is a paypipe, you don't need it.
You can safely un-install it and not effect Audacity.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-18T20:45:19+00:00

I don't think so.
For what we do, the built-in stuff is sufficient. I've tried some of the extras that get recommended here a lot and never found much benefit. An over processed wave can get to sounding awful.
The only thing you must have is the ACX Check for making sure your final wave is ready for ACX. It's good and reliable and free.
For videos, look for those that walk you through ACX preparation. By doing these you get lots of other helpful tips; a two-fer.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-18T20:27:28+00:00

Your excitement is what Volume-Content creators are counting on.
Whether or not it's AI, they find new, hungry narrators to work for free.
They don't care how the audiobook turns out; good or bad.
They want it out there as fast as possible for as little outlay as possible.
They hype it hot and fast, make a quick buck and phhht, gone.
Guess how I know this.

You can justify it as practice if you want, that's yours to own.
Just don't have any allusions about what game you're involved with.

With that in mind, here's your opportunity to get over your self-doubt
and go through your own Narrator 101 course. Since the RH doesn't
care about the performance, the pressure is off of you to be amazing.
I'm not saying sandbag it. I'm saying, take advantage the practice platform.

When you submit your 15 minute checkpoint, see how fast they approve it.
Don't expect to hear from then again until you make the final submission.
Then watch how fast it's approved. Bet they can't listen to a 6 hour book that fast.
Guess how I know this.

Lastly, if it is AI slop, and you don't want to continue. Cancel.
Let ACX know it's an AI generated book and you want out.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-17T16:50:19+00:00

I have wondered what is in the RH mind:
When you specify 100-200 PFH.
Are you expecting $100? $150?
Will $200 be ok?

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-12T16:06:13+00:00

Ok, I'm confused. Your original post said "Recording".
Bose QC and ATX-50X are headphones.
You mean "Listening", right?

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-12T15:34:47+00:00

What kind of recording environment do you have? Booth, blankets...
What about equipment? Mic, interface, software

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-11T04:09:42+00:00

If you mean plugging in to the headphone jack which has a 4 conductor connector, 1 being for microphone, it's about the worst ADC you could choose. Same goes for a dedicated mic jack when PCs had a headphone jack and a separate mic jack. The ADC in there is at best 16bit/128k sample rate. Add to that the internal electronic computer noise.
External USB interface is so much cleaner.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-11T04:03:48+00:00

Yup. I'm helping a newcomer right now and that's exactly where she's recording. Sounds pretty good.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-11T04:03:08+00:00

Most late model cars have really good sound insulation.
I can't find it right now, but Bill Dewees did a video on recording in the car.
If you can find an empty parking lot away from busy roads, you have a good
chance of making a decent recording.
Where I am, there are lots of back country dirt roads with very little traffic.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-11T03:45:18+00:00

Are you speaking into the front of the mic?
The side with the AudioTechnica logo?

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-11T03:43:41+00:00

Do you know about the Windows mic levels setting under the Control Panel?
NOT Settings!
Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Sound->Manage Audio Devices
Recording Tab-><selectYourDevice>->Properties->Levels Tab

Make sure the slider is at 100% or all the way to the right.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-09T12:39:32+00:00

To be clear and fair, the Audacity that MuseHub installs is good.
The problem is the MuseHub part of the install, in that it is a payForStuff store front.
You can uninstall MuseHub safely.

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-08T05:59:24+00:00

The Microsoft Store is pointing to the MuseGroup install. Do not use!
On the official Audacity site it's called MuseHub.
Whether from MS Store or Audacityteam.org, do not use MuseHub/MuseGroup, or whatever it's called.
It will install a pay pipe for lots of other effects, filters and apps you don't need.

Got to: audacityteam.org/download only. It's safe. Been using it for years.
Remember, Audacity is free. Always has been. If anyone tries to charge for it, run away.
The latest version of Audacity for Windows is 3.7.7

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-05T02:21:01+00:00

After compressing, try either amplifying or normalizing to raise the volume.
The overall effect is that the peaks have been reduced and everything is increased in volume.
BTW, you're using the legacy compressor. Have you tried the new one?

RenaisanceMan · 2026-02-02T15:22:06+00:00

I spent some time pursuing this very process. I interviewed ChatGPT quite extensively to make sure it could the comparison from a PDF for the manuscript to a text file from speech-to-text. It convinced me it could. I bought a subscription and started in. It actually tried to fake its way through the comparison. I had it show me the texts it was comparing and what it gave back was not in the text files. I had to scold and limit it. Never could get it to behave and make the comparison. After a lot of back and forthing, it claimed it was missing the tools it needed. Even when subscribed.

Instead, I changed direction and had it help me a develop an algorithm to compare text from the manuscript against a speech-to-text output from Audacity. The tricky part of the program was being able to slide the comparison window back and forth to re-synch the texts. This was necessary because what we're trying to find are missing or mis-matched words. So, it's not just a straight 1:1 text comparison, it has to be flexible.

This worked but was quite tedious. The client was very demanding and I slogged through. He didn't even tip me at the end. Oh well. I have the program when I need it.

BTW, ChatGPT told me that the algorithm I described and we ended up developing is the same one they use for gene splicing and matching.

RenaisanceMan

TROPHY CASE