Audio Quality

[Pedro Palhoto]

Though the linux version of Levelator from Gigavox Media (the guys behind the Conversations Network) hasn't yet been released, have you considered using it for the podcast release?

It's software that runs on Windows or OS X (universal binary) that adjusts the audio levels within your podcast or other audio file for variations from one speaker to the next, for example. It's not a compressor, normalizer or limiter although it contains all three.

[snarkout]

Good god - that stuff looks like rack-mount networking equipment.

[dann]

The only thing I could do that seemed to work was by far the most time consuming. I used the enveloping feature to squeeze the volume in some places and expand them in others. It works impressively well, and would probably take well over 20 hours to do that to the entire two hour show, and that's being optimistic.

I have done this to both TLLTS and LaGER and man is it time consuming and tedious. I'd spend the entire week after the show working to get it all right!

Anyway, when the source is poor to begin with, even using these tools makes it difficult to correct without introducing to much noise into the channel.

[Patrick]

Though the linux version of Levelator from Gigavox Media (the guys behind the Conversations Network) hasn't yet been released, have you considered using it for the podcast release?

Allan has been trying this out on his Mac box. Listening to the file it produced it literally sounds like someone is raising and lowering the volume. I wasn't blown away by it to be honest. Personally I'm not crazy about using an Apple machine to produce the show. I'll definitely check out the linux version when it comes out. Maybe the other guys can weigh in.

[chuck]

What was Linc talking into last night? It sounded like a microphone at the end of a paper cup, as he tends to sound typically. Dan and Pat actually sounded okay.

[Patrick]

What was Linc talking into last night? It sounded like a microphone at the end of a paper cup, as he tends to sound typically. Dan and Pat actually sounded okay.

He was speaking into the Grandstream Budgetone 101 SIP phone we all have :


Which is a pretty decent phone for $40. The mic in the handset is utter crap though. It sounds fine when hooked up through a mixer where you can adjust the volume and tone. Before getting my new mixer I sounded just as bad if not worse. We'll get him setup properly soon enough.

[toddr]

I think what Pat is saying would make a difference. If you had the three PA guys recorded seperately and Dann and the guest into the other channel you would have more control of your signals on the fly. Dann would have to be responsible for leveling out his and the guests signals. Even if you did virtually no post production, I think the overall sound quality with 4 channels would be an improvement. The more you can seperate the individual voices, the better the quality will be.

[allix]

The sound is great to my ears I understand what all four are talking about, even when the jokes are bad

[hellonorman]

I have an observation about the episode 175 ogg file. I listened to the show with headphones for the first time and everything Dann said would "echo". In the headphones it was very distinct although when I played some of it on my speakers it was still there but much less noticeable.

It sounded like whatever Dann said was being listened to by someone else and then being resent through their mic. It was only when Dann spoke nobody else "echoed". I'm not sure if this has been happening all the time or if it just started with this episode. Hearing it clearly through the headphones is what really made me notice it.

For the most part I find that the audio quality has improved greatly since I first started listening. When I first started listening the levels issue was almost a deal breaker. The levels would range from so loud that you had to turn down the volume to so low that you had to turn it up(and then of course blow your ears out when the level was high again). It seems that the guys have figured out how to eliminate the high levels but as has been stated the low levels are a whole other beast.

[dann]

I have an observation about the episode 175 ogg file. I listened to the show with headphones for the first time and everything Dann said would "echo". In the headphones it was very distinct although when I played some of it on my speakers it was still there but much less noticeable.

It sounded like whatever Dann said was being listened to by someone else and then being resent through their mic. It was only when Dann spoke nobody else "echoed". I'm not sure if this has been happening all the time or if it just started with this episode. Hearing it clearly through the headphones is what really made me notice it.

I believe this comes from when Linc is on the sip phone in his house, you can hear an echo. If you listen very very closely, you can hear Pat echo too. You'll also notice the echo disappears when Linc mutes his phone (I believe). We'll get that worked out eventually.

[chuck]

I believe this comes from when Linc is on the sip phone in his house, you can hear an echo. If you listen very very closely, you can hear Pat echo too. You'll also notice the echo disappears when Linc mutes his phone (I believe). We'll get that worked out eventually.

From working with IP phones on a regular basis one of the most common causes of echoes is the volume on the handsets being turned up too high.