Topic: Podcast Change suggestions

[seaotter]

The panel could pick a thread that was interesting and crtique the arguments used by the members. Not only would it be interesting but it would be great for promoting the forum.

Oh and they need a poll for each episode.

[JoelWhy]

The panel could pick a thread that was interesting and crtique the arguments used by the members. Not only would it be interesting but it would be great for promoting the forum.

This!

Oh and they need a poll for each episode.

But, not this!  Sorry, seaotter, but since any poll would almost certainly be completely unscientific, I think it sets a bad example.  (You know, the same bad example every cable news network now sets.)

I'm also fine with dropping the Who's that Noisy bit.  I don't hate it, but I don't love it either.  I'd much rather you use that time to expand your responses to listener e-mails.

[seaotter]

You know I'm usually careful to point out that my polls are completely meaningless. The panel could do the same and in doing so comment on the meaninglessness of most of the polls we see in the media.

[pandamonium]

I'm all for more useless polls

Speaking of which, seaotter, you've seemed to slackened in your poll whoring. What's up with this?

[seaotter]

I'm all for more useless polls

Speaking of which, seaotter, you've seemed to slackened in your poll whoring. What's up with this?

The first thirty or so are obvious then it starts being work. Besides I have to protect my post count position from some people.

[pandamonium]

I'm all for more useless polls

Speaking of which, seaotter, you've seemed to slackened in your poll whoring. What's up with this?

The first thirty or so are obvious then it starts being work. Besides I have to protect my post count position from some people.

Yeah, that skulker, what  piece of work.

[Infinite Monkey]

If you're going to keep WTN (I could take it or leave it), allow the winner to participate in a future Science or Fiction.

Turn "Name That Logical Fallacy" into a game-where we the audience names them.

Guest Panelists from time to time would be good, maybe even with a full boat.

If possible, try to get the interviewees to play Science or Fiction.

I like the witty reparte', so I wouldn't mind more interview-free episodes. Is once a month too much?

[GodSlayer]

I've always thought the intro vocal was waaaaaay too loud, but never wanted to say anything.

up the music 2dB and drop the female vocal 3-4dB and it would be more to my taste. as it is, I just always mute the volume or skip ahead for that first moment.

nothing annoys me more than insane volume discrepancies in a podcast (e.g., The Brain Science Podcast interludes; the intro "WELCOME..." on Point of Inquiry; the beginning/end tags on UCSD courses ...it's fuckin annoying when the valuable/sought after content is at a lower volume than the irrelevant additions (and with a PC as slow as mine it's unfathomable to edit every show so that I can listen to it AFK peacefully)).

[Green Ideas]

nothing annoys me more than insane volume discrepancies in a podcast

I tend to agree. But I don't think the SGU podcast suffers from that problem, quite the contrary.

[GodSlayer]

nothing annoys me more than insane volume discrepancies in a podcast

...I don't think the SGU podcast suffers from that problem...

nor do I, with the sole exception of the female vocal at the beginning.

[studiodude]

Hi, I registered especially to make the suggestion that the volume discrepancies be ironed out and here are the last two posters above me saying there are none!! Sorry guys.  Anyway, now that I'm here I hope to participate in the forum when I can.  I LOVE the podcast - its Nº1 for me and the format is perfect for my tastes, although you guys are all terrible at English accents - lol. 

I am sound engineer/musician and listen to the SGU in bed late at night and so have the volume fairly low so as not to disturb the rest of the house.  When the volume is OK for Evan for e.g. Steve tends to disappear - obviously if I up the volume to catch Steve, the rest can be overpowering.    Some basic compression to level out the overall volume would help and I DO think the intro is generally too loud.  I find Steve hardest to hear over anyone else as he has quite a soft voice but it can get pretty loud when there's a group laugh or everyone is trying to get a point across at the same time, so the headroom is there to level off the sound some more.......but as other posters have pointed out, the SGU podcast is far more in control than most out there.............. have a try and play with a compressor/limiter - or get Steve closer to the mic.

Try listening with the volume low and you will see what I mean.  There is a technique for listening to music you are mixing through a door or wall as it can help highlight if any particular sound is too dominant in the mix. I quote from Bjorn Lynns Recording tips page:-

"When you are adjusting the balance of your mix and the relative volumes of the different instruments... go outside the room, close the door, and listen to the mix through the door! You get a different perspective on things, and this "through the door" monitoring is strangely accurate. If the bass sounds too loud, it probably is too loud. If the snare sounds too loud, it probably is. Of course, you can't do all your mixing from outside the door (you won't hear the hihats, for starters), but it's a valuable extra check. I never mix down a track until I've heard it from outside the room. This is not a joke..!"


One suggestion more I have is


Don't change anything else unless you wanna leave the mic open an hour extra.........it would cut into my sleep time but I can take all the SGU you can throw at me......

[BenBurch]

As it stands, with the current encoding, the episodes are longer than 10 MB and so cannot be downloaded over the AT&T 3G network.

I suggest a "mobile" version of the podcast at a lower bit rate to enable those of us who might be far from WiFi on Saturdays.  Would even be cheaper per person served.

[stands2reason]

As it stands, with the current encoding, the episodes are longer than 10 MB and so cannot be downloaded over the AT&T 3G network.

I suggest a "mobile" version of the podcast at a lower bit rate to enable those of us who might be far from WiFi on Saturdays.  Would even be cheaper per person served.

Actually they use Libsyn, which is unlimited bandwidth. 32kbps is the lowest bit rate availible in the ISO standard. You can have <32 non-standard MP3 (though it would not be standard and no one would want to listen to it anyways). And you would need 16kbps to fit the show in 10MB. If it's being specifically tartet for iPhones, they could try a low bit rate AAC.

[Kim Barron]

I enjoy the interviews.  It is a way to learn about something totally new and the person who is doing the research can explain it so much better than someone just looking into the subject. 
It can also be nice to have a different voice now and again also.

[Green Ideas]

you guys are all terrible at English accents - lol. 

I love the accents, especially the slightly italianized Novella one. I started listening to podcasts to improve my English. SGU has always been the easiest to my latin ears.