Recording Best Practices

Record in Audacity

Download free Audacity software here.

Save Files

I will soon post a video to take you through my recording process but am listing the steps below as well.

Set Your Gain

While you're recording, you should be peaking around -12 dB, so adjust the gain on your interface so that's the case. Set the gain on your preamp and check the dB levels of your recording in Audacity. They should be between -8 and -12 dB.

Recording, Processing and Saving Files

Record in Audacity. I read from a teleprompter app downloaded from the MS App Store. All audiobooks should be recorded in Mono and not Stereo. Save file as AUP.
Edit as you go. This is much easier than editing in post-production. Demo videos to come soon.
When finished recording, save again.
Export as WAV and save.
Export as WAV and save again so that you will always have a back-up in case of issues.
Open in an audio processing software. I use RX10 Advanced.
I created a chain of the following functions in RX10 (again, video to come). Run the chain by hitting Render.
Save file as another WAV (your processed WAV).
Export to MP3 file.
Upload to ACX.

Processing File in Audio Software

Open WAV file in your audio processing software (not Audacity).
Go to Edit and Select All.
Create a Module Chain with the effects shown in the picture on the right. Once you've created the chain, it will be there permanently and each time you open a file, click on Edit, Select All, then Module Chain. It will do all the selected functions at once.
Files turn out perfectly every time.