Does it really have to be 40/kbps?

[allenpwilliams 168]

This is my biggest issue with Comedy Bang Bang. The sound quality is TERRIBLE. I mean, I can let it slide if it's just going to be talking the whole time but when you have in-studio musical guests (especially the last month or so), the sound quality is so bad that it's not even worth listening to that part. Here are a couple different ways to fix this: make the quality of the mp3s AT LEAST 128/kbps or release the best possible quality recordings of the in-studio performances on compact disc (cd for short) and sell it in the store. I'd buy them. Especially the comedy performances (Garfunkel & Oates, Don't Stop Or We'll Die, Sarah Silverman, etc.) I'm assuming the reason why they are at such a low quality is file size but I'd be willing to sacrifice a couple more GBs (gigabytes for long) on my hard-drive for better sound quality.

Sorry to be such a dick,
Allen

[ChaseRoper 64]

I used to consider myself an audiophile but after reading your post, Allen, I have to wonder if there is something wrong with my ears. I listen to quite a lot of podcasts and I've always considered Comedy Bang Bang of great audio quality. But what do I know, I just have ears.

Now, not to be a dick myself Allen, but when commenting on an online forum for a podcast, explaining that CD is short for coampact disc and GB is short for gigabyte is super condescending and unnecessary.

[DustinMartian 89]

Hey Allen, it's Engineer Dustin.

I agree with you, for the most part. I assure you there are very specific reasons for our mp3 output, but I'd like to point out that it is very commonplace to have this output in podcasting. You are right about the file size issue but more importantly this mp3 output is specifically designed for people to stream on their phones and on mobile applications. Another thing is bandwidth. Very expensive bandwidth. Since we offer our shows for free and have such large numbers, we pay for our bandwidth and are a donation based service.

I have some sample rates for the latest episodes of the following shows:

Marc Maron WTF Bitrate: 40 kbps
Adam Carolla Bitrate: 64 kbps
Nerdist 96kbps
SuperEgo: 142 kbps

And the only reason Nerdist is 96kbps, is because they broadcast in stereo. If it was in mono like us and Carolla, it would be 40 kbps.

I know the SuperEgo guys really try to have the highest quality possible and pretty much do, but as you can see this is nowhere near CD quality. We have a lot of shows, episodes and content going across the world to multiplatform equipment. Ultimately, we have a lot of bandwidth.

When it comes to music, CBB in my opinion, has become a bit larger and more ambitious than the technology and current model it is in. I am sorry if you feel it is un-listenable, these are one of a kind rare performances we've captured. We try in our post-production to make the transition to 40kbps as smoothly as possible.
Surely you'd listen to bootlegs of your favorite band? I remember listening to micro-cassette recordings of mp3s at 64 kbps to hear live Smashing Pumpkins bootlegs when I was a teenager because I loved the band THAT much. That was on Napster. Now look at how far along we've come since 10 years ago...imagine podcasting in 10 years!

We are also very lucky to have artists share their work with us. That goes for comedians as well. Across record labels, managers and artists ownership of their own work; there is no way we are going to sell other people's works on our site unless through the proper channels. Sorry.

Think of it like this; we are on the cusp of a new technology. This really is like the first radios on the 20th century. This comedy scene is no different than the roaring twenties. All the cool photographs of flapper girls and guys on giant wheeled bikes with handlebar mustaches; that's us. We may laugh over a beer at how we used to listen to podcasts at 40 kbps while our kids play in the backyard Allen. Don't rule us doing that out.

You aren't being a dick, those are very reasonable concerns. I am an analog equipment snob, I hear you. I am positive as new media emerges and our company grows, we will have more options than what we currently offer.

Chase, thank you for the compliment!

Cheers,
Dustin

[Bucho 188]

I'm guessing Allen was just goofing with his GB/CD malarky Chase. A playfully ironic lightening-the-mood kind of thing. Of course it's entirely possible you were just playing along in your response, in which case: nice one.
 
As for Allen's suggestion that the live musical performances be available for sale at a higher quality I don't know how that flies in terms of record label malarky or rev sharing with the artists but if they were paid downloads in the store (rather than dealing with clunky olde-timey cds) it may be a winner. It would depend on whether the sales numbers would make up for the extra work that would go into making them available that way.
 
I just count myself fortunate that years of playing in loud heavy rock bands and working on construction sites has left my hearing so battered that I don't hear the imperfections even in the music sections. That's a sliver lining if ever I heard one.

[allenpwilliams 168]

Chase, I was, as Bucho mentioned, kidding around (joking around) to lighten the mood. And, as Bucho mentioned, if you were also joking around (kidding around), well played. But, if Bucho was joking kidding (around around), then I need to lay down, for I am mindblown.

Dustin, thank you for your thorough response. I sincerely appreciate the feedback. Maybe the downloadable high-quality songs, as Bucho mentioned, would be a great addition, especially around Chrimbustime, as they could be donated to the LA food bank.

as Bucho mentioned,
Allen

[ChaseRoper 64]

(I'm not sure how to respond to this thread anymore so I'm just going to put the whole thing in parenthesis (I was goofing before too))

[B Naylor 3]

I understand why they have to be the quality they are, but I'd still hope it would be possible to put out some higher quality versions of the songs. I'd love to be able to get 128kps versions of the songs Yo La Tengo performed. I assume there might be some rights issues with that though, but maybe some of the artists would want to put them out on their own sites.

[Foxtrot1 67]

Can everybody stop with the parenthetical irony? It doesn't work on the internet.

But yeah, CBB has always been pretty good in terms of audio quality (except for the live episodes) - you really can't hear the difference between it and any other podcast that's mostly voice. I'm an audio snob too, but 40 kbps is the best we can get right now.

[jeffullrich 652]

Dustin pretty much nailed it.