JK Audio Broadcast Host: Tips on getting the best quality recording?

[davethackeray]

At great expense I bought a JK Audio Broadcast Host here in the UK to alleviate the struggles I've been having recording podcasts via Skype, with calls cutting out, huge problems with guests and callers not being able to hear me properly (SHOUT LOUDER, ETC!).

I've recorded a couple of interviews with it, in participation with the Behringer MDX4600 gate/limiter/compressor as recommended by the maestro Ravenscraft himself.

The main problem I'm having is with the static and hiss you get whenever your caller talks. I've been able to cut that out when the caller is silent, using the gate feature on the MDX4600. So that at least is good.

So when the caller talks I've tried all the settings on the gate and limiter but the hiss is still pretty pronounced and definitely detracts significantly from the resultant recording quality.

Has anyone been able to make headway on reducing this hiss to an acceptable level? Another audio guru, Phil Jackson, suggested using the frequency domain analysis tool in Adobe Audition. Not had a great deal of luck with that, although admittedly my understanding of this technology is at best, infantile.

"You might also try and run a simple bandpass filter that chops off everything outside of 300Hz to 3,400Hz as that that's the spec of the phone network," he also said. How do I do this?

Thanks everyone. Have a storming weekend!

 

[Cliff Ravenscraft]

Dave,

As someone who has listened to talk radio programs I was a kid.  I can tell you that it is normal for their to be static behind the audio of a interviewee brought in by telephone. This simply happens because the audio quality of an analog telephone line is very bad.  Such old technology. 

We are taking that audio from that call, that telephone line and amplifying it's imperfections.  The problem without the gate is that the static would be there the entire time that the caller's line is open. 

The idea is that you bring the caller in and you can keep EVERYTHING except for the caller in Perfect, HIGH STUDIO QUALITY.  This is the way talk radio with telephone guests have always been.

Now, it is possible to get some callers who have less static on their lines than others.  And of course, you also need to consider your own line phone line as well.

However, despite this static in the back of the audio, the only person this has ever bugged IS ME!  Seriously, I've done A LOT of telephone interviews for my podcasts.  I'll paste two below for you to sample the quality that I've achieved.  Is there static on the line behind the caller? Yep.  The audience represented by the two episodes posted below number over 65,000 people who listened.

Do you know how many people complained of the audio quality of my guests? NONE!!!!  That's right.. NOBODY COMPLAINED!  Why? Because, this is what they expect from a telephone interview.  In fact, I received 100's of emails regarding these interviews telling us how AWESOME IT WAS that we had been able to land those interviews.

So have a listen to the links below and tell me if you are able to get audio as good as it.. If not, it could be your phone line.


12 Minutes Into this episode:
http://biggestloserpodcast.com/interview-with-ali-vincent/


I would suggest listening at 25 minutes into this episode:
http://gspn.tv/pierrechang/

[davethackeray]

So have a listen to the links below and tell me if you are able to get audio as good as it.. If not, it could be your phone line.


12 Minutes Into this episode:
http://biggestloserpodcast.com/interview-with-ali-vincent/


I would suggest listening at 25 minutes into this episode:
http://gspn.tv/pierrechang/

Okay now this is interesting. And reassuring. Quality on the Ali Vincent interview is way too hissy for my sensitive ears, yet the Pierre Chang interview is absolutely spectacular, quality-wise.

So interesting that you probably used the same setting yet had such differing results. As you so clearly point out, this is possibly due to the caller's line quality.

I've discovered a big difference - an understandable difference - between calling mainland Europe and calling the US. I think they should make that big pipe wider under the Atlantic but until that happens, settling seems to be the best option.

Thanks Cliff. You're sensational!

 

[Cliff Ravenscraft]

Yes, my setup is the same on both.  I find that I get A LOT BETTER AUDIO QUALITY when people call in from their cell phones v/s Landlines.

[davethackeray]

I think there are a couple of things you can do here, too.

1. Make sure that the caller has their mouth nice and close to the receiver. I imagine this is why the quality is slightly better on mobiles - the microphone is more sensitive (mostly) and people have a tendency to have their gobs closer to this than on a landline receiver.

2. Use the Notch Filter effect (Audition) to remove the hisses that you get from every non-VOIP phone call. I haven't tried this out yet but I'm reliably informed this can have a good effect if used carefully.

Cliff - what do you think?

[Cliff Ravenscraft]

Not sure about #2... I'm perfectly happy with the audio quality that I received from both samples above.  You know me, I'm a total audio snob.  However, when it comes to a phone interview, I accept the technology for what it is.  With an audience in the 10's of thousands, never had anyone complain about any of the interviews I've done via the telephone.  I don't do them often, but when I've done them, they've all sounded within the range of what I shared above.

My personal feeling is that anything I would do in post production to remove any noise or hiss would only server to alter the original quality of the recording, including my audio.  If I were to consider doing what you are suggesting, I think it would be important to record the caller on the left channel and studio voice(s) on the right channel.  This way you could run the processing you are talking about only on the audio of the caller.

This sort of recording violates my own production workflow desires of ease of use. 

My priority in an interview is that everyone in studio sounds AMAZING and if someone who is being interviewed, if they can't come in on a solid Skype to Skype connection, then telephone would work, but I simply lower my expectation of the quality of their voice during the interview. And I believe that my lowered expectations are still much higher than the highest expectations of the a vast majority of people who listen to audio podcasts.

Those are my thoughts.