inconsistencies in quality checks
I'm referring to a specific project I submitted today (Backup for Kinder Klub - case 2020")
I really don't understand. You have accepted 2 samples from me a few weeks ago, I'm being paid these days. Nothing has changed in my recording environment/tools since, actually, I have added more noise-reducing devices since, and yet, you don't accept the samples because of white noise.
Warm regards,
Chiara Tixi, BA, MCIL, AITI
Freelance Interpreter, Translator, Voice-over artist
Italiano (A), English (B), Français (C)
mobile +44 7951 890078
chiaratixi@gmail.com
translations@chiaratixi.net
http://chiaratixitranslations.wordpress.com/
Chiara Tixi, BA, MCIL, AITI
Freelance Interpreter, Translator, Voice-over artist
Italiano (A), English (B), Français (C)
mobile +44 7951 890078
chiaratixi@gmail.com
translations@chiaratixi.net
http://chiaratixitranslations.
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Hi Chiara! How are you??
Hope this post finds you well :).
We want to thank you for this valuable feedback. We are eager to constantly improve and help that our clients and pros are always super satisfied with us :). Sometimes, when things involve team work such as in the case of our QC team, each person might have different perceptions but we are willing to minimize those differences the most we can.
We will discuss it with our team so that we can be more aligned and consistent when it comes to revisions. Also, we invite you to keep reaching out when you feel this is happening again.
For future reference, you could attach the approved and rejected reads, that will help us make a clear comparison and share it with the whole team. If you want to attach some examples on this post please feel free to do it and we will take a look with our QC team :).
Have an excellent weekend.
Kindest regards,
Gabriel
Hello Gabriel,
thank you for your reply. I'm not sure how to attach any file to this comment. I see I can insert a link, here is one of the accepted projects I mentioned. https://voicebunny.com/projects/#/timeline/219918B1BB4103CFA310?version=default
Another project was accepted around the same time, I don't have the link now.
Noting has changed in my recording environment/technology since then, so I don't understand why you would accept these 2 and not the most recent ones.
Thank you.
Hi Chiara!
Thanks a lot for sending out the information of your projects :).
I checked both projects, the one that was approved and the one that was rejected. However, I do notice a difference between the two. On both there is hiss/white noise. Nevertheless, on the audio that was rejected for the hiss/white noise, the issue is far more noticeable and distracting. Unfortunately, from my point of view, on the first one (Backup for Kinder Klub - case 2020) the quality was in fact compromised by this noise. On the one that was approved, the hiss was not really evident so that's the reason why it was approved.
If all your setup is the same, I'm thinking that maybe the difference could be on the way you were printing the signal on each case?
The best way to prevent any hiss/white noise problems is to lower the gain level on your recording equipment (preamp/interface) in a way that you should select a level that prints a signal of -9 to -6 dB maximum while recording. After that, you should normalize your best recording to -3 dBFS Peak Level. You should not hear any noise (like a balloon letting air out [hiss]), your echoes should be minimal, and there shouldn’t be any presence of plosives or excess sibilance.
If you want, please submit a sample on this thread following the guidelines stated above so we can detect if perhaps that was the problem that caused the rejection.
Looking forward to hear from you.
Have a nice weekend :)
Gabriel
Dear Gabriel,
thank you for taking the time to check my complaint. I am not sure how to apply the changes you have signaled. I have requested help from a sound engineer and I hope I'll be able to fix them.
Hi Chiara,
No worries :). It is my pleasure to help you. Please let me ask, which DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) are you using to record?
What you should do is to make sure that the signal that you are recording hits the levels mentioned above on the channel strip that you are recording. This should be done setting up the volume knob on your audio interface.
Then, depending of your DAW, when exporting the audio, you should select the option for normalization.
Hope you have a nice day :)
Gabriel
Thank you. I use Focusrite scarlet https://www.gak.co.uk/en/focusrite-scarlett-solo-studio-pack-3rd-gen/927815?gclid=CjwKCAjwt-L2BRA_EiwAacX32YLodJpwFg63QEcjYAj2rypjsrBF_luMacd8xmcH734bRNqcxvvRcRoC6dEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
and as a software, I use Ocenaudio.I can certainly raise the volume on the interface, but I'm not sure about the normalisation stuff.
I have tried to normalise the file that had been rejected. Could I send it to you? I'm writing in the community page, following the thread, but I cannot find the button to attach files, I used to before, but it does not appear now, for some reason.
Sure!! Please post it here through a Drive or Dropbox link and I'll listen to it :).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnu2t5x3il4wbgo/Backup%20for%20Kinder%20Klub%20-%20case%202020sample2normalised.wav?dl=0
I have tried another recording today.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1e9o0tnhzen8eh9/voicebunnytest0506.wav?dl=0
Hello Chiara, how are you??
Thank you for submitting your samples. On the first one that you were telling me you tried to normalize, I think that you did it correctly. The normalization makes more evident the hiss/white noise problems that the QC agent noted for the rejection. Also and unfortunately, there is still hiss/white noise on the second sample you submitted.
Please record a sample doing the following:
When you are recording, please be aware on how many dbs you are reaching on the channel strip of your DAW. If there is no problem with you, you can attach a screenshot of the DAW you are using so I can tell you at which level your voice should peak while recording :) and we can start figuring it from there what's happening that might be causing this issue. Also, if it's possible for you, please send me a picture of your setup so I can be aware of the equipment you are using.
Looking forward to hear from you :).
Gabriel
Dear Gabriel, apologies for the late reply. I have made some changes in my recording space and I hope they will appear now.
Here is the latest recording:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xh4m7te5miz0o70/test1006-1.wav?dl=0
A pic of my recording space
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lrmgeu8eji21loq/IMG_20200610_121057.jpg?dl=0
And a screenshot of the recording levels
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uwig0cvu6q2l9ba/Screenshot%202020-06-10%2012.06.52.png?dl=0
please, let me know if you need anything else and if there is an improvement.
Thank you.
Hello Ciara!
How are you?
Hope this post finds you well :).
I was listening to your new audio. Unfortunately, I think that the quality of your audio has decreased in comparison to the audio you submitted that was approved (https://voicebunny.com/projects/#/timeline/219918B1BB4103CFA310?version=default ).
On this one the quality is good enough. Only a bit of background noise but overall it is sounding good. If you compare with the audio you just submitted, those are really different. All your audios should have at least this quality in order to get approved.
Apparently the recording levels are good, so I do think that the problem is related with the acoustics from the space where you were recording this last audio.
Please take as a reference the sample you submitted that was approved and record using the same setup. The background noise issue could be fixed using slightly a noise gate or we can see if a little bit more of padding on that space works to eliminate all the background noise directly from the source.
Please let me know how everything goes.
Have a nice weekend :).
Gabriel
Dear Gabriel,
I'm ok, but would really like to get to the bottom of this.
I have now made another recording, please, have a listen and let me know. It sounds good to me, but I'm no expert.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6csmj3aojjg4vna/test1206.wav?dl=0
Thank you for your help.
Hi Chiara!
Hope you are doing good!
I totally understand that sometimes it could be really frustrating to try to identify the sources of sound quality issues if you are not familiar with sound engineering. Also, it is somehow tricky because there is no one single thing that can be causing the problem. So that's why our job is to rule out things that might be happening.
Now, I was listening to your sample and unfortunately it still has some issues. This one is presenting some background humming noise that was not present on the audio that we are using as a reference (https://voicebunny.com/projects/5eaad9954ef66-200430-test-231-3v-agency-old-website-d4f67d83-8443-4cc1-ab7d-9d03857d8a7e). This audio was not normalized to -3db neither :(.
Please don't frustrate. We really appreciate your commitment and I'll do my best to help you figure out this whole situation. The first thing we need to do is to use exactly the same setup/settings etc. as the ones you were using to record the audio reference. As I mentioned you on my previous posts, this audio has a good quality and this is the one we need to recall for all of your recordings.
Mentioned the above, please let me know if you recall the differences between the two settings/setups.
As a matter of making a checklist, please let me know the following:
1. Were your recordings made using the same equipment (cables, audio interface, microphones, software, etc)?
2. Were your recordings made in the exactly same acoustic space?
3. Do you recall doing something else differently from one recording to the other one?
Looking forward to hear from you. Hope you have an excellent week!
Gabriel
Hello Gabriel,
I must admit, I'm about to give up. The recording that was approved and the one that was rejected, they were done in the exact same space, with the exact same tools, under the exact same conditions.
Since we started this thread, I have changed things in order to improve the recording: I have a new table, to make more room and to keep the laptop further away from the mic. I have then taken the laptop out of the recording space and am using a screen and Bluetooth keyboard. I will put a cloth on the table, since the material might have created the vibration. I have even added more "protection" around the microphone.
I am really about to give up.
I will send another recording as soon as I can.
Dear Gabriel, I have recorded the sample requested by Fineco, even though I arrived late to submit it; so please, find it here and let me know what you think.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6orv9a1jz5kkhfu/Fineco.wav?dl=0
Hi Chiara
Let me join your conversation and try to help here.
Upon comparing your approved project with your latest submission, it seems like both the acoustic environment and the noise present on your recording are different.
You can compare the silence gaps on your approved work, the is no noise there, against your last file and you'll find noise there, for example at 0:09.
We know you say it's the same space, setting and everything, but there seems to be something changing.
Let us know if you can tell the difference.
There is a small but fast trick that might help here, applying a mild noise gate might take care of that noise floor and probably brings us back to what you already had approved.
Do you think you can try, experiment and come back with new audio for evaluation?
Thank you, Jonathan. Since I have no idea what a noise gate is, I went online to read about it and it seems extremely complicated. There are a number of settings to chose and I have no idea what they are talking about.
I am so frustrated, nothing whatsoever changed between the accepted job and the rejected one, but since the rejected one, to try and please you guys, I have changed many things and I can hardly go back to before.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iv8ckp1htwq0np0/test2306noisegate1.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z74sw4zinvqsebc/test2306noisegate2.wav?dl=0
Hi Chiara,
Thank you for those new audios.
Unfortunately, the noise is still present. We keep comparing to your original post and it is noticeable.
Which DAW are you using?
I use Ocenaudio. I have downloaded noisegator and I'm trying to understand how to use it
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z74sw4zinvqsebc/test2306noisegate2.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/crbssze3dvz2gvj/canzone.wav?dl=0
Is there a chance you might get a different DAW?
We ask because it could help you deliver better audio quality, as well as provide you with better tools to improve issues like the noise floor for example.
Some of our Pros use Reaper, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, do you think you can consider changing it?
About your audio, it seems like the noise floor is still noticeable, but it is easily fixable with a noise reduction plugin,
Treated file
Please, listen to this audio, I applied a noise reduction plugin with the stock settings and it took care of most of the noise.
This was done using Logic Pro.
Let us know what you think.