5 reasons your podcast technically sucks

Evo TerraFunAnymore.com

5 Reasons Your PodcastTECHNICALLY Sucks…AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT


5 Reasons Your Podcast TECHNICALLY Sucks


December 2007November 2005 July 2008




5 years1 months1 day


5 Reasons Your Podcast TECHNICALLY Sucks#1. You don’t use The Levelator



Voice #1 Voice #2



Arguments against:

• I want to mix effects in real-timeThen get better at mixing in real-time.

• But I lose my dynamic range!I drive a rag-top Jeep. Do you think I hear it?

• I can do a better job on my own manually.You have more time than I.


5 Reasons Your Podcast TECHNICALLY Sucks#2. You are encoding incorrectly



Sample Rate:How “frequent” samples of sound are takento create the file.

~20 kHzx2 = ~40 kHz



Adobe Flash Players:Native sample rate of 11.025 kHz.

48 kHz gives…unusual results.

22.050 kHz44.1 kHz



Adobe Flash Player 10:Only allows a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz.

44.1 kHz…ALWAYS (for now).

Sample Rate:



Bit Rate:Number of “bits” of data per second.

32 kbps = AM radio96 kbps = FM radio192 kbps = Digital radio320 kbps = CD quality



Bit Rate:Number of “bits” of data per second.

128 kbps… for now.



Channels:Mono vs. Stereo vs. Joint Stereo



44.1 kHz | 128 kbps | Joint Stereo



44.1 kHz | 128 kbps | Joint Stereo

Arguments against:• I’m lazy.

I know.

• I forget.Write it down.


5 Reasons Your Podcast TECHNICALLY Sucks#3. You aren’t using ID3 tags properly



<TITLE> of Episode/Post

<TITLE> of Show

Podcast

Download Year



Name/Title: Name of THIS episodeArtist: Host of the show. Keep consistent.Album: Name of the SHOW.Genre: “Podcast”. Always.Year: Year of recording/releaseTrack Number: Sequential number

Grouping: Good if part of a “network”Comments: For “in the wild” files.Part of Compilation: Only if truly needed



Arguments against:• Blah, blah, blah.

I hear your lips moving…


5 Reasons Your Podcast TECHNICALLY Sucks#4. You aren’t using headphones when you edit



1. Put your headphones on.2. Listen to something loud, as loud as you can stand it.3. Listen to your file. Do you have to adjust up the

volume?4. If you did, adjust volume to as loud as you can stand

your file.5. Now -- without adjusting your volume -- listen to the

loud track again.6. When your ears quit ringing/bleeding, normalize your

track’s volume.7. You’re welcome, from all of us with tinnitus thanks to

you & those like you.



Arguments against:• [redacted]

Don’t even try and justify this crap.


5 Reasons Your Podcast TECHNICALLY Sucks#5. You don’t listen

– To your own show• Post-editing• Post-encoding• Subscribe & listen like a listener



– To other shows like yours• Learn & grow• Understand audience’s expectation• Connect with your peers



– To any other podcast• How do you know what to do?• How do you know what anyone wants?• Why the hell are you here?



Arguments against:• But it takes time.

Yes. Yes this does.• And I’m busy.

Aren’t we all.• And I’m just doing this for fun.

And that’s relevant how?



#1. You don’t use The Levelator#2. You are encoding incorrectly#3. You aren’t using ID3 tags properly#4. You aren’t using headphones when you edit#5. You don’t listen



#1. Use The Levelator#2. Encode correctly#3. Use ID3 tags properly#4. Use headphones when you edit#5. Listen


5 Reasons Your PodcastTECHNICALLY Sucks

5 reasons your podcast technically sucks

Technology