0:00 Intro 1:13 RMS for the layman 4:58 Audio Compression 5:57 Threshold and Ratio 7:37 pc instructions 9:41 Compressor 11:29 Normalize 12:26 Audio Discretion Advised - Room tone

Thank you so much for your video! It’s THE BEST explanation - easy to understand- I have seen on KZfaq so far. I’m working on my first audiobook and I watch tons of tutorials, but your video seems the most helpful especially for an amateur, like myself. I wish it had a million views and you had a million subscribers. Thank you!

This is THE most helpful video I’ve come across for rms. You’re a life saver! Thank you so much

This video was exactly what I needed! Was having a hard time with my RMS and your video explained perfectly what exactly RMS is and how to fix it. My audio has lots of peaks and valleys like your test sample and going through the steps to fix it, omg, it's going to save me so much time! Thanks again!

Super education, sir. I even like your personality as opposed to many of the so-called tutors who have to blab on endlessly about who they are and where they come from and unnecessary fluff. Working on audiobook narration using Adobe 3 and uploading to audiobook and you describe exactly what happened after doing it smoothly for 21 chapters, the recent chapter had where a lady screamed and I had to voice it, louder than the rest of the track for effect. You explain that's what threw the whole thing off! Will try and apply and let you know how it goes. Major Props

Thanks so much for this! I was going nuts trying to find a video to explain RMS and after watching waaay too many, I found yours. THE SEARCH IS OVER! Thanks again!

Your delivery was so refreshing. I understood so much more than any other video. Well done.

I've watched quite a few videos on how to change the RMS to meet ACX standards. This, by far, explains it the best. I was able to change the RMS to the correct levels (using other techniques), but it kept clipping the audio. I'm going to try this way later on. Thank you so much!!!

I never make comments on KZfaq but you sir deserve one! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been fighting this for 2 days and was about to give up. I could not get in the rms I needed without making it sound awful! I will be keeping this video for future viewing!

This is one of the best videos I’ve seen on this subject.

THANK YOU!!!!!! I feel like I wasted a day tweaking RMS for my first audio book recording, and this one compressor tip was ALL I NEEDED!!!! I love you.

Thank you ! Finally RMS makes sense on a new level

Watching your videos, and it appears you break things down and make it easy to understand. I use Logic Pro X, and I got it all straight, but hopefully now I can fix this and release my first Audio book. Excellent videos, please keep it up.

This was THE BEST teaching tool for how to understand and fix RMS. Brilliant mate! Thank you!!

AWESOME VIDEO! Really appreciated your simple-enough-to-get-started explanation. I am learning about audio in anticipation of recording my novel, making some tracks and seeing if they can pass the ACX requirements. This was such a huge help!

That’s the first time those terms made any sense thank you

Bro! As soon as you mentioned compression, I immediately had a light bulb moment haha! Thank you so much for this video! I needed it 😅

listened to you for almost 8 min b4 you got to the how to set it. You love your voice

someone literally asked me the other day what rms was and i could not have explained it the way you did. hence i just sent them the link to this video lol thanks bro.

You are a fucking lifesaver right now, bro took me like a week to do a 20 minute book just guessing and changing levels and converting and converting again I had like 40 versions of every file so thank you so much for your explanation. It is helping so much.

Love your content. Full disclosure, what I love most about this video is how clearly it illustrates how hard this stuff is to explain. BTW - check out what you’re saying about threshold settings at around 6:35. You might want to revise that part… Just saying, and please, please, keep up the very good work you’re doing.

Brilliantly explained and demonstrated, thank you so much. I'm just getting into VO work, and had no idea how to fix the RMS error I keep getting using the ACX plugin in Audacity. Now I know! Thanks again

This made a lot more sense to me than any other video I can recall looking at. Thank you!

Literally the guy you described - thank you for your clear and practical answer I look forward to seeing the RMS error disappear after fixing the file. Cheers 🙌

brilliant, thanks, I was banging my head off the walls - I'm using Garageband and for yous out there who were like me its as the man says, there's a COMPRESSOR function in the master and don't forget to turn the switch on LOL!!!

Thanks man! This was super helpful! Just getting into producing my own audio books as a narrator on ACX. Major tools right here! Just downloaded Adobe Audition!

I am now a subscriber- You have made the lights go on! I was able to fix things before doing what was told, but I didn't understand why I went from too quiet to too loud, now I get it and also the differences in checking software with the -3.1db - great tip, I think that is also what I was running into. Thank you for your videos

Thanks for the direct and simple explanation

Excellent explanation especially for a beginner like me.

Thank you so much for making this video - it has helped me out greatly for this audiobook I'm trying to get done. A really well done explanation on RMS and compression as well. Kudos to you good sir.

THANK YOU..!!! Im doing my first audiobook and this helped A LOT.

Thank you for this! Has helped so much - appreciate you taking the time to make this video :)

Thank you so much for this video! It's greatly appreciated :)

Sei un grande 👍, GRAZIE INFINITE!

This was extremely helpful - well done!

You are a lifesaver! Thank you for your explanation!

Nice explanation in terms that even the newbie can easily understand.

Thank you. I am starting out recording my books for audio and this was so easy to understand.

"Threshold is what point it starts doing shit. Ratio is how much shit it does." Now I finally understand these terms 😂

You're a good teacher!

Very high quality video

This was so incredibly helpful. Thank you!

REAPER has a couple of different ways to measure Peak & RMS without actually Rendering (Exporting) a file.

Fab vid. thanks made so much sense

I really appreciate your videos. You make so much. I am struggling with RMS on the short recordings with just one phrase like "Part 1: The Beginning", for example. It seems like no matter how I try to edit, I can't get the RMS high enough and the bg noise low enough. Any special instructions for super short audio like this?

Great video man. Just one question, does the RMS need to be consistent throughout the audio tracks to be accepted by ACX? Meaning, if my introduction track is -19db RMS do the rest of the tracks need to be -19db as well or as long as the RMS is between -18db and -23db I will be fine? The reason I am asking is because I am having trouble keeping all of tracks either -19db or -23db when compressing.

You did not explain the effect of Attack and Release settings while using the compressor. If Attack settings are higher like 30-70ms louder peakes are not gonna be compressed. So keeping attack time short like 1ms helps us cut the louder peakes. And your release setting was 50ms which means compressor will stay active for 50ms after it starts cutting the peakes.

what a great video :) thanks

Thank you, this was really helpful but some files are still giving me problems. I can't seem to get that final 0.2 dB it asks me for on some of the voice tracks. Not sure what else to do. I have about half of the audiobook good to go.

This saves so much time! Love the compressor advice - but i noticed it distorted my "s" sound at one point. So i had to go back and lower peaks manually which is so time consuming...am I doing something wrong (setting at -25 db ratio 2 and attack 1)...I want this to work so badly

Sooo... reducing my noise floor reduces my RMS, which makes me turn everything up and thereby raising my noise floor again?

Can you Narrate with USB microphone for ACX, and how difficult is it to get the audio settings in compliance with their requirements? Is it difficult to learn , I’m hearing that the audio is why people struggle with .

Thank you so much! Quite helpful… Would you happen to know why my recording sounds like I’m recording in a tin can that’s been covered in blankets lol? I use Adobe Audition and I use denoise and remove click option. I don’t change the amounts, just hit apply. I hope Im making sense. Trying to get my auditions out.

Hi, I am using WavePad and see the compressor as dynamic range compressor but how do I know what to set it to? It shows Limiter Threshold dB, Compressor Threshold dB, and Noise Gate Threshold dB.

Does anyone know how to fix RMS in Logic Pro? I found where to switch the Logic Pro setting to 44.1 instead of 48, so now that’s one issue that ACX isn’t flagging. But it still says: “RMS is too low. Raise the level of this file 2.1 dB." Do you know how to do that? I see KZfaq videos for how to raise it in Audacity, but not Logic Pro.

How do you deal with the compression process causing the pauses between words to become much louder?

Thanks for the explanation! Very thorough. I have a quick question, if you don't mind. I'm being asked to deliver a recording that "should measure between -23db and -18db RMS (average)". I've been trying to hit the Average RMS Amplitude on the Amplitude statistics, and it's been a nightmare since it's significantly lower than the Total RMS Amplitude. I noticed that you're using the Total RMS to measure here. Is that what I should be using instead of Average RMS, even though the directions I was given say "(average)"? I can't really find any resources online explaining the difference in Audition. Thanks!

can you produce audiobook ready file with a mic and a computer. I do not have a studio

Logic x noise floor is -54Db can someone help me understand how i can get down to -60??

Your video is SO HELPFUL - but I have a question...Why would a person normalize to -3 before you run a compressor if you are just going to cut everything and boost it using the compressor?

Okay I have watched your videos over and over and every time I get db to 3.0 my rms is too low and when I go back to fix it, it messes with my db. I cannot get the two right. I am nearly in tears as I have my very first audiobook and it has been months overdue and I cannot fix this problem at all. I am about to give up as I have tried everything I can think of.

Is the room noise / non-speaking parts included in the average RMS reading? In other words, I run a fade envelope before and after spoken parts, which zero outs all volume between spoken parts. Is this why my RMS is always too low even after processing?

Negative makes no sense. If 0 is the top level, but quietness can be infinite? In reality the human ear, and even instruments can only measure a specific level or range. Noise meters go up in scale from 0. Why does it have to be negative? I cannot imagine being at ground zero of a nuke and being told that there is noise that is louder? Or, in a vacuum of space where there is no noise, yet what level would that be? No common sense by the people who decided this. Okay. I will have to deal with it. Whatever. Thank you for the information and video.

Explanation was great. But you're an audio tech, not a narrator, right? I can't imagine pronouncing 'three' and 'threshold' and 'everything' as 'free' and 'freshold' and 'everyfing' would be appealing in a narrator

I got so upset I 🦵 kicked a can outside because this is FRUSTRATING