What are
/r/ACX's
favorite Products & Services?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The most popular Products mentioned in /r/ACX:
The most popular Services mentioned in /r/ACX:
LibriVox
Reaper
Anchor
Upwork
Project Gutenberg
The most popular reviews in /r/ACX:
My wife and I just bought these (I bought the slightly taller stool model) and they're remarkably quiet. Our old chairs were very squeaky -- these are downright stealthy.
"Flash Furniture Mid-Back Black Mesh Swivel Ergonomic Task Office Chair with Flip-Up Arms" https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KUPS3JU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Plus they're available in fun colors.
Plopping down $750 for a beginning foray into VO/ VA work is, in my opinion, not a good expenditure. If you have work lined up that'll cover the costs, that's one thing but if you don't, you're basically buying a vintage Stratocaster before you've even gotten a gig.
I'll let you read the reviews and decide for yourself but I can say that my Scarlett setup sounds amazing. Does it get me work? No. My voice gets me work. But the biggest deciding factor in my getting work is how often i audition for things. I would get a lot more work if I tried out for more things but no one complains about the quality of my recordings.
Oh- i'll just throw this in here. I do my noise removal in Reaper then my edits and filters (compression, in particular) in Audacity. Reaper is absolutely amazing at removing room noise.
I bought the Presonus 24c and I love it. It came bundled with Studio One 5 Artist. I hope you can still get that deal.
As far as heaphones, I'd suggest a neutral model from Sony. They're legendary. https://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR7506-Professional-Diaphragm-Headphone/dp/B000AJIF4E/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1HQJVGZWYXZ4D&keywords=sony%2Bstudio%2Bheadphones&qid=1651723710&sprefix=sony%2520studio%2520headphones%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-3&th=1
Get the Rode NT1 package and a Hercules mic stand:
A music stand to put your reading material on is also a good idea.
Why the Rode? It’s a high quality mic for the price and will last you years. You won’t need to upgrade for a long while. You’ll also be competing against artists with really high end equipment and treated spaces so you want to get the best bang for your buck.
Why this mic stand? It has a hand latch for easy adjustment in seconds. You can use it sitting or standing.
Why a music stand? You don’t want your mic to be in front of your computer while you read off the screen. The sound bounces off the screen and gives a hollow echo-y sound to your audio. also electronics will raise your noise floor the closer your mic is to them. Music stand let’s you move further away from your electronic equipment.
Do you absolutely need to do this. No. But I can always hear when a narrator is using equipment too close to their mic. The layman might not hear it, but I always recommend aiming for the highest standards possible within your budget, not the lowest.
Once you've made a basic investment in some acoustics and a good condenser (not USB) microphone, be prepared to spend north of 40 minutes for every 10 minutes of finished product.
ACX is not a scam. It's the producer/ narrator branch of Audible which was bought my Amazon some years ago.
As for what to do for your sample, there are thousands of books that are now in the public domain. You can always start your search at Project Gutenberg.
Honestly, I stand. I have better breath support standing and also I do move around a little bit, especially when getting into different character voices.
It the past I’ve used a saddle stool or leaning stool sort of like this one:
I’ve also used one of those 1980’s style kneeling stool.
Basically, anything that forces me to sit upright. But, to each their own. That’s just what’s worked for me.
I would suggest getting a sense of what it takes to record, edit and compile a project first. I got my start at librivox.org which taught me that: 1) a USB mic was not going to cut it and 2) for every 10 minutes of finished audio, there was about 50 minutes of work to do first. In time i brought that down to 40 minutes but even with experience, 30 minutes for 10 minutes of finished audio is a pretty good ratio.
Two things:
You're sharing the rss feed link for your podcast. That doesn't work very well. This link is better: https://anchor.fm/ravenheart
This is a subreddit about ACX, not podcasts or poetry.
This site is not the best for a beginner. Audiobooks are a specific niche of voice over, combining acting skills (if doing fiction) and really long form narration. I don't recommend audiobooks for beginners, because they're marathon projects.
Look for a general voice over site here. You want to begin with short projects, such as explainer videos. Take a look at Edge Studio or Gravy for the Brain. If looking for projects, Fiverr or Upwork.com.
Nine days and still getting the message:
Pending Audio Review
Submitted on 21 Jun 2021 GMT-04:00
BUT... I just looked at the Amazon page and it is live!
https://www.amazon.com/Night-Callers-Terrifying-Peculiar-Tales/dp/B096CW2J7R
tldr; Stats still say nothing is happening but they actually ok'd my book in 9 days!
(It sounds so distorted unless you turn the volume way down, on my system. Is that normal?)
Scott Brick uses a bakers rack: https://www.amazon.com/VASAGLE-Microwave-Kitchen-Industrial-UKKS019B01/dp/B08HWTQNYS?ref_=Oct_mh_s9_apbd_onr_bFi05&pf_rd_r=E3GMB4C1N1X5TR6JF5R0&pf_rd_p=f92874bb-8458-58e5-91c9-bc31243173f4&pf_rd_s=mobile-hybrid-19&pf_rd_t=BROWSE_AN...
This is not the exact one, just posting so you know the style.
I only buy refurbished Dell business workstations. I will have had this one for 2 years, come April and haven't had a single problem. It was under $200. The only thing I would do different, is to spend a few hundred dollars more and get a machine with at least 32 or 64Gb of RAM. With my current 8Gb of RAM, Reaper starts bogging down when I have added FX. I will soon be adding additional RAM, to bring me up to this machine's max of 32Gb.
Do you really need to take your computer anywhere with you? By putting a PC on your editing desk and running cables to your booth, your environment will be quieter than having a laptop in there with you. Any cheap LED TV should work as your in booth monitor.
I always hate reading Forums where a person asks the community for help and there is no closure at the end.
Today I found out my book was approved on ACX!
Oddly enough, SAMPLE A above did in fact work. Albeit I did create another version like SAMPLE B but never had to use it for a resubmission.
I have learned so much in such a short period of time.
Thank you to u/mikewoodsays, u/mega_mang0, u/nastyhammer, u/petripeeduhpedro, and finally, u/commentonthat for going above and beyond.
u/commentonthat took a look at a sample file and was able to give me professional guidance that was well needed.
Thank you everyone! If you want to check the book out, it's available here:
Thank you again,
A Friendly Writer
I invested in this Scarlett set- mixer, mic, xlr cable. It's served me well, especially for the price point. You'll want to get an arm ($20'ish) and a pop filter too.
If you're tempted to try and do auditions with a Snowball or a Yeti, be aware that while those are competent mics for streaming, they lack the depth that a higher grade microphone will bring. Some authors might not notice or care but some absolutely will.