The Readers discussion

I noticed in the last two podcasts the audio level between Thomas and Simon is not equal. To hear Simon I need to turn the volume up considerably which makes Thomas too loud. Is there an issue with this in general? The problem is same with head set and blue tooth.

Yes, me three!

Yup. Makes car listening very hard.

Yes this is true! I can't listen in the car either because you are constantly trying to adjust the levels. Even with headphones, it's nearly impossible. Please fix before our Sympathizer read along discussion, I don't want to miss that!

I agree. I listen in the car, too, and it's difficult to keep adjusting the volume. And I really want to hear what Simon is saying!

This seems to have happened since Simon moved, I had to switch to another podcast for gym times as I could not hear Simon

Yes, I have noticed the same thing. I meant to email them but I keep forgetting as I listen in the car and so can't send them a note right away.

Same issue with my listening too.,at first I thought it was the headphones I use in the gym but then listening in the car had the same problem.

Can I ask a question? Does it seem to bother you most when there is some other background noise (road noise in the car, machines at the gym, etc.) that requires high volume to make Simon audible?

I don't dispute that there is a difference in my loud American voice and Simon's soft spoken English, but when I listen, I don't experience the same discomfort that is being described.

Thomas wrote: "Can I ask a question? Does it seem to bother you most when there is some other background noise (road noise in the car, machines at the gym, etc.) that requires high volume to make Simon audible?

..."
Good question, Thomas. I normally listen in the car; I can't remember if I listened to any in a "normal"/quiet environment. I'll do some listening experimentation and get back to you :)
But I have noticed this change just in the last 3-4 podcasts - I didn't used to notice a difference, at least not a big enough difference that it caused me to change the volume each time the speaker changed.

Thomas,

I don't typically notice the background noise you mention on the podcast. You guys will mention a dog bark or a sound outside, but I don't ever hear it.

I experience the same problem as everyone else. Simon always sounds really low. And it only seems like a recent problem.

I don't think it is your loud American voice Thomas, I think it is a technical issue.

I have the same issue with Simon T. and Rachel on Tea or Books, Rachel is much louder than Simon T and I can't listen with earbuds, I have to listen over the speaker.

I agree that is has become much more pronounced lately and I also never hear the background noises

Elizabeth☮ wrote: "Thomas,

I don't typically notice the background noise you mention on the podcast. You guys will mention a dog bark or a sound outside, but I don't ever hear it.

I experience the same problem as ..." I don't think he means background noise on the podcast - I think he means background noise wherever we're listening to it. For example, if we're in the car, that's louder (on our end) than if we were listening in the quiet of our own home.

Ah! That makes sense!

Thomas, I listened to snippets of the last three podcasts at home (as opposed to my normal car listening); the audio for Simon is still quieter than yours, but it's "listenable" (that's probably not a real word) and I can still hear him without turning up the volume. When I listened in the car, I had the volume turned up to the max level and still was having problems hearing Simon, but then your sections were too loud. Very odd. I wouldn't have thought the ambient noise would make such a difference between the levels. So now this will just need to be an "at home" podcast (which probably works out better anyway because then I can jot down all the wonderful book recommendations you guys give.)

All very helpful comments. Thank you.

Ok people. New episode is up. As I listen to it, I don't hear a difference in sound levels.

Is Ep 162 better for you all as well?

I must say I have only noticed it on a few recent episodes. The latest episode on Culling and Curating is however perfect! I enjoyed this episode as ever. Thank you.

One thing I found Skype does (especially if it has recently updated) is that it defaults to "automatically adjust" voice levels. For me, though, that would result in one person's audio being pretty hot because the mic level would go up when the other person was speaking (so ridiculous!). So if Thomas had that checked but you didn't, that might actually be the root of the problem. Something to check for anyway.

I haven't listened to the full new episode yet, but the ~15 minutes or so I did listen to seemed like "normal" audio and I could hear both equally. I'm saving the rest of the episode to try in the car to see if the outside noise makes a difference (since it seemed to on the other episodes where I had a problem.)