How to record an audiobook at home

You don't need a studio to narrate your own book. You need a quiet room, a decent USB microphone, a steady routine, and a way to fix mistakes without losing your rhythm. This guide walks through each.

1. Pick (and tame) your room

The room matters more than the microphone. ACX requires a noise floor below -60 dB, and the usual culprits are things you stop noticing: computer fans, fridges, heating and air conditioning, traffic, neighbours.

• Choose the quietest room, away from the street, and record at the quietest time of day.
• Turn off what hums: HVAC, fans, the fridge if it's nearby (and set a reminder to turn it back on).
• Soften the room. Hard walls make your voice sound boxy. A walk-in closet full of clothes is a classic home booth; blankets hung behind and beside you work too.
• Keep the computer quiet: a laptop on battery, or a desktop moved away from the mic.

2. Choose a microphone

A good USB microphone plugs straight into your computer and is plenty for audiobooks. Look for a cardioid pattern (it picks up what's in front of it and rejects the room) and use a pop filter to tame "p" and "b" sounds. Dynamic microphones are more forgiving of untreated rooms; condenser microphones capture more detail but also more of the room.

Use headphones while you record, especially if your recording software plays back a pre-roll. Otherwise the mic hears the speakers.

For specific models by room type, plus cheap room treatment, see audiobook recording equipment.

3. Set your levels

Speak the way you'll narrate, about a hand's width from the mic, slightly off-axis so your breath doesn't hit it directly. Adjust the mic gain so your loudest lines peak around -12 to -6 dB on the meter. Never let it hit 0 dB: clipping is permanent distortion.

Recording a bit quiet is fine. ACX's loudness target (-23 to -18 dB RMS) is reached afterwards with gain and a limiter. Just don't go so quiet that the gain needed brings your room noise up past -60 dB.

4. Capture room tone

Before each session, record five seconds of silence: you, sitting still, mic on. This "room tone" is used to pad the start and end of every chapter (ACX recommends 1 to 5 seconds of it) and tells you your noise floor before you've read a word.

5. Record chapter by chapter, and fix mistakes as you go

Record each chapter as its own file, starting with the chapter title read aloud. When you stumble, the fastest workflow is punch-and-roll: stop, go back to the last clean pause, listen to a few seconds of what you just said, and pick up right where it ends. You keep your tone and pace, and there's nothing to edit later.

The alternative, leaving mistakes in and cutting them out afterwards, often means hours of editing for every finished hour of audio.

6. Keep it consistent

ACX reviewers listen for consistency across the whole book. Use the same room, mic position and gain for every session, and take notes on character voices and pronunciations. Stay hydrated (room-temperature water, and green apple slices help with mouth clicks), and stop when your voice tires: tired narration sounds tired.

7. Master and export

Each chapter needs to end up as a 192 kbps constant-bit-rate MP3 at 44.1 kHz, with RMS between -23 and -18 dB, peaks under -3 dB and a noise floor under -60 dB. See ACX audio requirements, explained for what each number means.

Then listen to every chapter on headphones before uploading. Automated checks can't hear mouth clicks, page turns or a misread line.