Audiobooks discussion

I have listened to many, many audiobooks. But recently, a couple of the audiobooks have had insufficient volume to hear distinctly, over background noise. In my reviews, I mention that the audiobook needs more attention by the audio engineer; either more compression, and/or higher amplitude, even at the risk of some moderate amount of clipping.

There is no single audiobook publisher at fault here; I've happened upon this problem from Random House Audio, Blackstone Audio, and HarperBooks Audio. They really need to pay more attention to consistency in audio quality.

There is a cumbersome work-around that I have used. I have imported the MP3 files into Audacity, a freeware audio editing program. I then added compression and increased the volume, usually at the price of some clipping. The clipping is not noticeable to my ears. It takes a minute or two for each 75-minute-long MP3 file, but it does help me to better enjoy the recording.

As examples, here are some of my reviews of books where I noticed poor quality:
The Games
Stardust
On Stranger Tides

That's really interesting, David. I've had the same issue. Can it even sound out? I recently listened to Harlan Ellison narrating some of his short stories. He whispered & screamed. I spent more time with the volume control than ever before. It was awful.

Jim, that is exactly what compression is for--to moderate extremes I n volume.

Oh. I'm a computer guy, not a sound guy. Compression meant something completely different to me. Thanks. I have a second volume of Ellison's short stories. I'll give this a try & see if it helps.

Good luck on Ellison... he's one of those narrators who chews up the scenery with everything he reads. I had some old cassettes where he participated in reading parts in the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. LeGuin... I gave the cassettes away after listening.