Constructive Criticism: Luke's mic on WAN Show too quiet

[YellowJersey]

I wasn't terribly sure where to post this, but I watch the WAN Show every week, but not live due to various reason. I'm in an environment where I can't wear headphones and there's some ambient noise. Linus' mic is usually alright because he has a higher pitched voice, so I can usually hear him (though still not 100%). However, because Luke has a much lower voice and I think he speaks at a lower volume, I often have trouble hearing Luke.

 I know they monitor the audio, but there's a difference between how it sounds in headphones vs how it sounds on my TV speakers.

 I don't want to bitch, but it is very frustrating because I either have Linus' volume fine but can't hear Luke, or crank it up to hear Luke and Linus is too loud. Keep in mind, there's not a lot of ambient noise, but even the slightest just makes it incredibly difficult to hear Luke.

[Jmz_P]

Thought it was just me that had this problem. I don't use headphones either and use tv.

[RasmusDC]

Or... Linus is too loud

[Avocado Diaboli]

They could just invest in a compressor. Or if they already have one, dial it in properly. For stuff like podcasts you want to heavily compress voice audio and add a brick wall limiter so it evens out the differences. That's how radio has been doing it for decades and they do it for a reason.

[Needfuldoer]

Yeah, Linus and Luke's mics could use more compression*, and the volume balance between them needs some adjustment. Bell's even quieter than Luke.

 

Are they recorded as two separate tracks and mixed down in post for the audio-only releases? If so, would it be possible to give us a minute or two of raw multi-track WAN Show recording to tinker with?

 

*Note for people who don't deal with recording audio: we're not talking about "low bitrate" compression. A compressor in this context amplifies the quiet parts and turns down the loud parts so they stay closer to a set average level.

[YellowJersey]

1 hour ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

They could just invest in a compressor. Or if they already have one, dial it in properly. For stuff like podcasts you want to heavily compress voice audio and add a brick wall limiter so it evens out the differences. That's how radio has been doing it for decades and they do it for a reason.

It's funny you should mention radio. The morning show on the station I listen to has a very similar problem. The guy has a very low pitched voice, like Luke, which makes it hard to hear him over the ambient noise in the car whereas the girl has a much higher pitched voice, so I have no problem hearing her.

[Neroon]

20 hours ago, RasmusDC said:

Or... Linus is too loud

Just disable his mic, and you will still hear him loud and clear.

 

That said, as a headphone user, I don't experience any issues myself.