Speech audio quality test

Recording made at the now decommissioned BBC Kingswood Warren test and research facility by Alan Shaw & Derek Hughes.
A high quality vocal recording made without EQ or dynamic compression in anechoic conditions.

[MatSmithLondon]

Very useful. On my airpods pro I can hear the following. (1) a hiss - for want of a better word, it's maybe better described as a continuous warm ambient airy sound (not high frequency as implied by the word hiss, but I don't have the vocab to describe it!) - this is definitely in the original anechoic chamber recording as well as the introduction (two different noise signatures), as opposed to my airpods / laptop sound card / youtube encoding and I know this because there's a very short gap between the two recordings at 0:58 where it completely disappears. Maybe it's just microphone / air noise, which is otherwise removed during mastering / compression of vocal tracks, but not in this case? I am glad if that is true, we are getting the real audio from the microphone with a pre-amp but no annoying signal processing that would further colour the sound. And (2) the airpods very frustratingly add this kind of presence which manifests itself as a kind of doubling-up of the main audio with slight delay. It's really annoying and I have noticed it watching other spoken word stuff on Youtube. I wish I could stop it. Apart from those things, I really like listening to audio through airpods pro, they are great. That's from someone who NEVER liked inserting things into my ears before as I found in-ear headphones uncomfortable. These are pretty nice to wear for longer periods.

[RowlandGosling]

As a hearing challenged adult, speech can be tricky for me. I have high end hearing aids, air pods, external speakers on my workstation. I'm exploring all the things I can do to help my hearing and understanding speech.

[jamiestewart]

Listening on Genelec 8030b's in a small, bad room to check my hearing after listening to some badly recorded youtube videos ( I know, not ideal). I thought my hearing was damaged but this has reassured me ( a little), that it probably isn't. I'm used to BBC voice quality and this is very much in that area.

[ruinfox]

Voice is clear but there is a hiss in the background, i bleive thats normal though maybe. i use DT990 pro's 250 ohm with a Schiit Magni Heresy AMP.

[sjowners]

Yes! Been looking for this. Is it available as flac?

[mariofrankielee]

anyone knows what mic 🎙 they talked about?

[mennoz]

Hi where can I find this recording? This is amazing and so useful. Any chance someone could send this to me?

[KetogenicGuitars]

I have cut my mid basses band to 45-to-235hz. If I play this little bit louder than normal speech say plus 6db am I supposed to hear the natural chest boom of humans. Currently I can hear it and I'm wondering if there was anything other like that in the original recording or if all of it is natural chest tone.

[Sandy-fit]

Voice is absolutely clear but some cracking sounds are coming is it ok

[Orangestardust]

I can still hear a very audible hiss. An iPhone may have done a better job.😢