Best software/hardware podcast setup for serialized audio books

After a couple months of trial and tribulation, I have finally come up with the best podcast recording setup for serialized audio books. It's easy! Only eight steps to follow:

1) You must first make sure that your hardware is capable of streaming audio without dropouts. If you are using Windows, install DPC Latency Checker. Follow the guidelines on the Product Sheet for shutting off drivers that are causing unacceptable latency. Make sure you have your recording hardware, like your USB headset, plugged into the computer when you run the latency check. You will probably have to temporarily disable your wireless driver from Device Manager to get all green during the check. You may also have to stop your anti-virus service. Once you find the right combination of drivers to disable for acceptable latency, you will have to disable them each time you make record an episode from your book.


2) I found that my Dell Latitude E6500 laptop failed the latency checker even if I disabled all possible drivers and stopped all possible services. If your hardware does not pass muster, you may need to purchase a different computer. It is almost an impossible to buy a computer, sight unseen, that will have adequate latency. However, NoteBookCheck is a fantastic site that reviews laptops and netbooks, and includes stats from DPC Latency Checker for each one. If you want to track down an acceptable netbook, go to Google and search on this combination:
    netbook dpc latency site:http://www.notebookcheck.net/

3) The best recording software for Windows is Audacity. Limit your recording to less than 45 minutes per episode, usually one episode for each single chapter of the book that you are recording. After you record your voice track, export to a .wav file.


 4) Install CN Levelator. Levelator adjusts the audio levels within your podcast or other audio file for variations from one speaker to the next, for example. Run Levelator, then drag and drop your .wav file onto the Levelator window for automatic processing. Levelator will create an output .wav file.

Rick

5) Then import the .wav file created by Levelator back into Audacity, and mix in separate intro and outro music tracks. A great source for royalty-free music .mp3 files for your podcast intros and outros is Rick’s FREE Royalty-free Music Download Page.

6) From Audacity, export your podcast with the intro and outro to an .mp3 file. Make sure you tag it according to Podiocast's ID3 tagging convention, as given at the Authors Guidelines link which can be accessed from the Podiobook Authors page.


7) Upload your finished .mp3 to a file sharing site. I use Divshare. You will be staging your files there for ultimate delivery to Podiobooks.

Podiobooks.com

8) The best site for distributing your serialized audio book is Podiobooks. The term podiobook was coined by Evo Terra to describe serialized audiobooks which are distributed via RSS, much like a podcast. Listeners to Podiobooks.com can choose to receive the episodes of their books via an RSS feed or by listening to episodes by directly downloading episodes from the Podibooks site. Some listeners keep the audio files on their computers, some transfer the book to CD, but most transfer the file on to their MP3 player so they can listen no matter where they are. See the Podibooks FAQ.

Look for my first podiobook series sometime in 2011!

Marko