Audiobook Narration Equipment & Software | Secrets from Findaway Voices

About this video

In the second part of a two-part interview, Roberts talks with Wes Ingram, an audiobook expert and specialist from Findaway Voices, about equipment and software for authors who want to narrate their own audiobooks, including cost-effective options. Ingram says step one is a microphone matched to your voice, warning that with audio equipment you generally get what you pay for and advising against the cheapest option — go a step or two up and climb gradually. He suggests paying a local studio $50 an hour to record your voice and assess its frequency response so you can choose a microphone that suits it, for example whether your voice needs more high end or low end. Beyond the mic, you need an interface, a computer, and a digital audio workstation (DAW); he says DAWs largely do the same thing, so comfort matters, but self-producers need to check plugin compatibility for compressors, EQs, and mastering specifications, while those handing files to a post-production engineer need less. Findaway Voices uses Adobe Audition. He stresses recording environment over gear, and names free Audacity as a fully capable DAW.

Key takeaways

• Ingram says to start with a microphone matched to your voice, avoid the lowest-end option, and step up gradually, because with audio equipment you get what you pay for.
• He suggests paying a local studio $50 an hour to record your voice and assess its frequency response before choosing a microphone.
• A setup also needs an interface, a computer, and a DAW; Findaway Voices uses Adobe Audition, and Ingram says DAWs largely do the same things, so comfort and needed post-production features should drive the choice.
• Environment beats gear: Ingram says an excellent microphone in a horrible environment produces a horrible recording, and to work from the source outward — performer, equipment, then environment.
• For a no-cost DAW, Ingram recommends Audacity, saying it is capable of the full production and mastering process with plugins, so budget is not a restriction on the software side.

Episode details: published November 4, 2019 · 6:54 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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