posted by toneandcolor on December 24, 2008 | 0 comments
I seem to recall that certain lessons had a separate audio review file called "the fix", but now I can't seem to find them. Was this just an experiment? Do you guys still have plans to produce these? I think they're great, and probably remain Dave's greatest contribution to ChinesePod (no disrespect to Movie Madness intended). Just curious....Keep up the good work!
The code is actually all in place to produce The Fix. We don't have a completely soundproof room for the recording of the word-by-word audio however, so there can be a faint but noticeable low-level difference in background volume between the recordings and the background silence when we stitch the recordings together. Quality of production issue.I don't remember if there were these issues before, but it bothered me when I was setting it up, so we aren't automatically producing them right now until I get this issue sorted out. Perhaps we can put one out later this week and see what people think though. It's possible I'm just being overly-sensitive.
toneandcolor on December 26, 2008 | reply
Yeah, I remember a little white noise in the recording, but that wasn't a huge issue was it? I'm always listening to my iPod on a crowded train or New York City street anyways... I'm surprised you guys get the sound quality you do without soundproofing. I'm impressed!
We soundproof, but the recording environment is different for the podcasts and The Fix and it's the second that matters. I'll generate the fix for some of our stuff next and week and see what people think. I could just be overly sensitive.
toneandcolor on December 26, 2008 | reply
Alternatively, the snippets of "silence" could be composed of the same background white noise so that no one will notice the difference :). Looking forward to hearing it next week.
yeah. the devil is in tweaking the normalization levels. it's a good reminder that we should look at it again though. If we can get something reasonable out the door we should.
on December 26, 2008 | reply
Your sound is generally good, and I love your voices. But I have noticed some problems listening to the podcasts on headphones when I'm in a noisy environment or at home on the stereo. I'm no sound engineer, but it seems some of you (especially Brendan) are talking relatively quietly close to the mic. I suspect that projecting the voice while a little bit further from the mic will produce a better sound.
You nailed it, Hugo -- I talk quietly at the best of times, and I do tend to stand right up next to the mic when I'm recording. This is something I've heard about from a few people now, and I'll be sure to try to bear it in mind the next time I go in to record. Thanks for the feedback!
chinopinyin on January 3, 2009 | reply
I am anxiuos to see the fix back at work. It is a really useful feature. Moreover, if the code is actually all in place, why wait longer?
chinopinyin on January 5, 2009 | reply
Thanks a lot for putting up the fix.You may want to use Audacity 1.3.5(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)as a noise reduction toolPS Apparently, the lesson mp3 is missing and only the fix is availableKeep up with the good work!