Designed to support a professional audiobook delivery workflow.
I originally built FirstPass for myself. I wanted an all-in-one audiobook tool to save time on repetitive tasks, give me confidence my audio would pass ACX submission first time, and stop larger projects from becoming a folder management nightmare. It didn't exist, so I started designing it.
Even the first version made a real, immediate impact on my workflow and how much I enjoy the work, by streamlining the parts of audiobook production nobody gets into narration or editing for.
What FirstPass has become is a tool built to the standards I'd want from a good DAW: an efficient workflow, comprehensive metric scanning and full project reporting, displayed in a readable, actionable way.
My own work flips between audio sources, narrators, and projects on a near-daily basis. That's where I lean on FirstPass most — within a few clicks it gets me up to speed on whichever project I've just turned to, making project management much easier. I couldn't go back to working without it, and I think it can help anyone wrestling with the same parts of the job.
“Nobody gets into audiobook narration for the metrics, the file admin, or the submission anxiety.”
If you're auditioning, recording practice reads, or working through your first paid book, getting the audio spec right isn't yet second nature.
FirstPass acts as a companion through that learning curve. Point it at your project's Master WAV or MP3 folder and leave it there — every time you finish a new chapter, one click delivers a comprehensive report: every metric checked, every issue flagged.
When something fails, FirstPass tells you in plain English what failed, what needs fixing, and where to start. It won't treat your room for you, but you'll always know where you stand.
If you're an experienced narrator then your studio setup is dialled in and you're not looking for a tool to fix anything.
FirstPass is a tool that supports consistency by monitoring the project as it develops. Without costing more than a minute, it'll catch easy-to-make errors like incorrect head or tail silence, or accidental MP3 variance — a change in bitrate, or a stereo file slipped through.
And if your workflow has you bouncing MP3s individually or scanning each chapter one at a time, FirstPass's batch processes can save a meaningful amount of time.
If you're an audio engineer you know you receive audio in conditions that are outside of your control, and your job is to mould it into something ACX-passing.
Before committing to the actual edit, you'll typically want to build a treatment chain — noise reduction, compression, limiting — that proves the audio can get there. FirstPass fits at exactly that point: scan a test file, see where it lands, adjust the chain, scan again.
And if you're working on multiple projects over long timeframes, a few clicks in FirstPass gets you back up to speed on whichever one you've just turned to.
“With FirstPass, it feels like having an audio engineer on call.”
Noise floor is measured continuously across the entire file — every pause, not just the head and tail — and any failure is reported with the exact timecode of the problem region. Find and fix it in your DAW without scrubbing the whole file. No other audiobook checker I know of measures noise floor in such a thorough way.
Project ChecksStructural checks that catch submission problems beyond the audio itself.
FirstPass is macOS only right now. If enough people want a Windows version, I can build it. Leave your email below — I'll be in touch if it happens.
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FirstPass
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