Author Topic: Audio issues - volume levels!  (Read 5552 times)

shishkani

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on: February 26, 2010, 05:00:32 PM
I love listening to the episodes, but lately I have been having more and more trouble with the audio.  The intro and outtro are often louder or quieter than the reading.  Sometimes the reading varies in volume from section to section.  And every single time, when the story is over, the music comes on and it's so loud in comparison to the reading that it hurts, if I don't remember to jump for the volume knob before it's too late. 

The other issue is that the whole podcast, in general, is fairly quiet when compared with other audio like music files or other podcasts (especially the reading, but the entire thing is pretty low).  I listen to them at work with my iPod and a set of standard computer speakers, and sometimes I have to have both cranked up to max, to be able to hear it at all.  I do work in a somewhat noisy environment, but it's not anything worse than the road noise you'd hear while traveling down the interstate.

I would really like to see a little more attention paid to this sort of thing - I've done some sound work myself and this is a 30 minute job, tops, to scan through the sound file and make sure things are about equivalent (you don't even have to listen to it all the way through to do this) and then to amplify the whole thing so it's a bit louder in general.  You can get a free program to do this - Audacity - that works great.

I love podcastle; it makes the long hours go by that much faster, and with something that makes me think, and enjoy, the time I spend on mindless tasks.  These issues aren't enough to make me stop listening; it'd take a lot more than that, really.  But they are something that grates my nerves every time, and I'd bet I'm not the only listener wishing these things. 

I'd like to hear other people's views on the subject.  I've been listening for so long and I finally decided I just had to say something about it.



DKT

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Reply #1 on: February 26, 2010, 05:13:50 PM
When you say "lately," could you be a little more specific. The only reason I ask is because I noticed your last story comment was for Daughter of Botu, and we have a new sound editor who came in a couple months after that.


shishkani

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Reply #2 on: February 26, 2010, 05:15:17 PM
That is a really good point, and one I should have thought of before I posted.  I'm going through the backlog - I sort of cycle through phases where I love listening to audio fiction, and ones where I'd rather listen to music.  I'm still back in August 2009 at this point, so I should check out one of the newest episodes and see if my complaints had already been fixed.



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Reply #3 on: February 26, 2010, 05:17:16 PM
Cool. Let us know and I hope you enjoy the backlog in the meantime  :)


Ocicat

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Reply #4 on: February 28, 2010, 05:01:39 PM
Speaking as someone who has griped about audio levels in the past, I think the recent episodes have been a great improvement.

So props to the new audio editor!



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Reply #5 on: March 17, 2010, 12:49:29 AM
Speaking as someone who has griped about audio levels in the past, I think the recent episodes have been a great improvement.

So props to the new audio editor!

Thanks. As someone who has actually not listened to stories on various of the EA podcasts simply because of audio quality I strive to bring as much consistency and quality as I can to the various bits and pieces of the podcast that come to me. If anyone finds themselves tempted to turn off the podcast because of the audio quality, please drop me a line on the forums or through a message because, while I do my best, if something goes out that is unlistenable to even one of you, I want to know about it and try to either fix it or learn from it.

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schmetterling

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Reply #6 on: March 26, 2010, 03:32:06 AM
Speaking as someone who has griped about audio levels in the past, I think the recent episodes have been a great improvement.

So props to the new audio editor!

Thanks. As someone who has actually not listened to stories on various of the EA podcasts simply because of audio quality I strive to bring as much consistency and quality as I can to the various bits and pieces of the podcast that come to me. If anyone finds themselves tempted to turn off the podcast because of the audio quality, please drop me a line on the forums or through a message because, while I do my best, if something goes out that is unlistenable to even one of you, I want to know about it and try to either fix it or learn from it.

My only request is that you not be heavy-handed on background-noise-removal to the point that the voice sounds unnatural or tinny as a result.  That hasn't happened lately, which is a testament to your skill.  I'd just rather hear a little bit more background noise, rather than the reader sounding like they're in a tin can.



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Reply #7 on: March 26, 2010, 02:22:16 PM
My only request is that you not be heavy-handed on background-noise-removal to the point that the voice sounds unnatural or tinny as a result.  That hasn't happened lately, which is a testament to your skill.  I'd just rather hear a little bit more background noise, rather than the reader sounding like they're in a tin can.

The middle of the most recent story "Love Among the Talus" seemed to suffer from this.  Though I thought it was the reader and her settings when she recorded that segment.

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