[IMPROVED] - David Copperfield-Ch 36-skipping

blinque · Post by **blinque** » September 25th, 2008, 1:24 pm

Bummer. This recording skips a split second every sentence or so and manifests a weird volume fluctuation throughout the recording. Hard to listen to.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Chapter # 36 - Enthusiasm - 00:33:43
Read by: Matt Warzel

PaulW · Post by **PaulW** » September 25th, 2008, 5:26 pm

blinque, same question as in your other report, which file type did you get (64k, 128k or ogg) and how did you download it? It will help us narrow down where the problem is occurring.

Thanks!

blinque · Post by **blinque** » September 26th, 2008, 10:47 am

Hi PaulW,

Thanks for the response. I use iTunes to download the Librivox files but I am unable to see which file it downloads. I would assume that it's the 128k mp3 file, but I was unable to confirm that. The file size is 15.4MB. Does that help?

-b

Jc · Post by Jc » September 26th, 2008, 11:36 am

Had a listen. Not major issues, although there were a lot of little clicks, maybe editing artefacts. Don't have Audacity here, so can't look at the waveforms. I suspect there has been a lot of editing, since I'd doubt someone can read that fast, and with so little breathing. Some volume fluctuations, some parts are a bit obviously "pasted in". A leveller wouldn't hurt.

blinque · Post by **blinque** » September 26th, 2008, 11:38 am

Hey Jc,

Did you listen all the way through? Both the volume fluctuation and the skipping problem seemed to be more pronounced toward the end of the file when I listened to it yesterday.

-b

Jc · Post by Jc » September 26th, 2008, 12:18 pm

I'll have a look once I get back home and have a good look at the file. I listened to the first few minutes only.

Jc · Post by Jc » September 26th, 2008, 4:24 pm

Yeah, so file does get worse near the end, I'll see what I can do, but it'll take a while.

Post by **hugh** » September 26th, 2008, 4:46 pm

ooooh. karen will not be happy about this! copperfield has been a VERY uncooperative project. very naughty.

Jc · Post by Jc » September 26th, 2008, 4:54 pm

Fixing this will be tricky, though. I ran a HEAVY leveller, and there are still parts that are going to need amplification. It feels a bit like the reader had a desktop mic and was rocking back and forth while reading. It's a bit weird, since you'd have waves that look the same amplitude, but one section will be noticeably louder than the other.
And the little skipping does get on my nerves after a while.
Such a shame, 'cause the reader is really good otherwise.

PaulW · Post by **PaulW** » September 26th, 2008, 4:56 pm

Jc, you might want to double-check the 128k file before contacting the reader...there could have been a problem with the derivation. If it 128k file is OK, all it might take would be to delete the 64k and ogg files and re-derive.

Jc · Post by Jc » September 27th, 2008, 6:10 am

The problems are in the original 128 file

September 27th, 2008, 10:17 am

The original file has a significant DC offset and sounds like it was extensively edited (for instance all the silence between sentences and paragraphs seems to have been removed). When DC offset is not removed prior to editing, each edit can leave a click in the final recording. This is therefore really not a case of a corrupted file. The original file is technically meets the minimum standards for LV. However, I've played with this file a bit and you can see what you think of this version:

http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/xx/davidcopperfield_36_dickens.mp3

kmerline · Post by **kmerline** » October 5th, 2008, 11:44 am

Hi Jo: could you/would you pm and point me to info about the DC offset and how to fix it? Its presence is obvious on the audacity wave form, but aside from that, I'm totally ignorant.

Post by **knotyouraveragejo** » October 5th, 2008, 3:15 pm

Will do.

kmerline · Post by **kmerline** » November 10th, 2008, 2:58 pm

Hi everyone - I replaced the Sec 36 with the one mentioned above edited by Jo. imo, that is the best that can be done short of having a new file read by another volunteer. Though admittedly doubtful, the file meets LV minimum standards.

I listened to the beginning and end of each file on the new zip, and the sections are all present and complete.