New show: NewsReal with Joe & Niall

[Scottie]

The problem with the mic audio level is that we're not sure what the problem is. We fixed it once, changed nothing, and suddenly it dropped again. We have a physical mixing board and a virtual VoiceMeeter mixer, and they are now turned up as high as they'll go without tons of background hiss - but still the mic audio is too quiet. I suspect a problem with Xsplit, but I'm not sure. But the fact that vids we play come through at a good level is a clue... To us, vids sound like they're at roughly the same volume level (when Joe and Niall are animated and speaking loudly).

 

[brandon]

Just wanted to say thanks for another year of podcasts guys, the weekly dose of news flavoured sanity in my ears does wonders... <3

 

[Benjamin]

I haven't used these programs so my responses are generalized.

We fixed it once, changed nothing, and suddenly it dropped again.

Sounds like a setting that got changed and then switched back automatically to its default.

But the fact that vids we play come through at a good level is a clue... To us, vids sound like they're at roughly the same volume level

So 'in-house' audio is good but as soon as the signal gets sent to the internet it drops? Could it be a low bit rate?

You could also try cutting the mids and base eq's by a squeak. Brighten up their voices a tad.

I also would like to say thank you for the podcasts. It's really helpful to hear a calm, rational discussion.

 

[Talas]

Thank you gents for a Year in Review a great show as usual and thank you Joe,Niall and Scottie be 'excellent to each other.
As for the sound on my end no issue for me on YouTube or indeed other platforms on mobile,Headphones,T.V so not sure I'd it's a codec issue or something but try different web players etc to try and see if it fixes your issues your end guys.

 

[brandon]

I have the same problem as anartist and T.C. - your voices are very quiet, but videos you play during the show are at a normal volume..I turn my headphones up real loud (and scramble to turn 'em down during videos) and it's fine... but one more little data point: the NewsReal opening theme music is also very very quiet...so is presumably going through the same signal path as your microphones..

I listen to the mp3 version, not via youtube but having downloaded the mp3 from sott.net with a podcast program.. I'm guessing @anartist does the same since he mentions loading it into Audacity? @T.C. is listening in his car.. using the mp3 version in a podcast app, rather than youtube? @Talas, when you say the volume is fine on mobile, headphones, tv..are you listening on all of those via youtube (or the other live video streaming sites NewsReal is on)? Or do you download the .mp3, audio-only version?

Basically my question is, is the problem consistent, where for everyone on live streaming the volume is fine, but everyone downloading the mp3, it's quiet?

If so, how is the mp3 made? Is it just a recording of the master output off the mixer while live streaming? (if so, it SHOULD sound the same).. or is it put together internally on the computer - whether manually or automatically by whatever software you're using - combining the separate audio channels of each microphone + the computer used to play videos etc?

On mixing desks (and some software mixers, depends) there are switches somewhere for each channel called something like "pre/post-fade" .. Meaning, the signal being sent through this path is either being taken from before the volume slider ("fader") or from after it, in the signal chain. ie, if you turned a volume fader up loud, but that switch was set to "pre-fade", the audio going through would not be affected by that fader...

If I was mixing a band or something & having this problem with some channels being quiet but others loud, pre/post-fade is the first thing I'd check.. eg if the master output is fine, but I'm also taking audio off some auxiliary sends to record the gig, and those are way too quiet..the sends might be set to the pre-fader signal. (Or, this could be taking place in your recording software rather than on the hardware mixer)..

Anyway this all might not even be a thing with you guys's setup, dunno...(or maybe is obvious stuff that you already looked at)... Just trying to narrow it down a bit... Messing around with sound is fun :)

 

[T.C.]

I use YouTube to listen to news real. I have YouTube premium so I’m able to download vids and watch them offline.

 

[brandon]

Aha, so much for that idea then!

 

[Jefferson]

The sound is a bit low for me, but I can usually hear it with my speaker on my phone no problem if it is fairly quiet. When there is a bit of noise, or if I'm doing some chores around the house, I just connect to an external speaker or use headphones and have no trouble hearing the show. While driving I plug in the jack and hear it through my speakers just fine (with volume cranked fairly high).

 

[domi]

There's always Killer Clowns from Outer Space bad.

 

[lilies]

I have the same problem as anartist and T.C. - your voices are very quiet, but videos you play during the show are at a normal volume..

MPC-HC has the option of old Voice level filters - ffdshow audio processor [which is by now considered old and deprecated to their "Developers of New Formation" (c) Gurdjieff, but still the only thing that fixes this problem -- so apparently Old Professional Code Made by Old Professionals still a Must Have..] -, I always turn that ON and any speaking voice is strengthened. Its a simple EQ, works like your 20-30 year old stereo at home worked.

Quiet speaking voices?
Essentially its how you make the video, with which audio levels. DO you normalize the audio stream?

You quite easily can EDIT the audio channel of your video - its a sound file anyway like uncompressed WAV etc.. - and you can massively increase even the simple VOICE level with a volume ==> 140--200-250% setting and ENCODE = MAKE another video and upload it as a new Newsreal. I doubt it will distort, if the speech was quiet anyway and there is no other noise in the room. [like music, etc..]
Then you can run a NORMALIZE function, which makes everything sounding even usually.

But nowadays increasing audio levels are usually just in a menu with a button in new audio-editing software.
The old knowledge is [made] forgotten to the public.. by the new software makers.

Today everybody really into various video broadcasts making money [I mean those people] does it nowadays, their stupid videos are already at maximum voice levels screaming at me, so I always have to take the audio level to minimal, so that their stupid advertisement videos don't shake the house walls and their speaking voice strengthened by new Audio Auto-Loudifier Softwares don't cause hearing damage...

Because every cheap poor unfortunate desperately peddling their wares thru video on this planet nowadays use all kinds of 'Audio Maximizers' it cannot be called mastering, they just unleash unto their video some cheap idiots-made COMPRESSOR, which:

Compression, as the name suggests, compresses your audio so the quieter parts start sounding louder while louder parts start sounding quieter.

Higher compression will make your audio louder, but will cost you dynamic range which may make it sound weird.

On all markets this has gone way overboard now companies creating "One Button Loudify" software making every stupid advertisement shake the speakers and the house walls as well. Anything that shouldn't scream at you, now does...

Thanks to countless cheap audio-level maximizer and AI-mastering software, bringing you unheard of audio levels "at a push of a button." So the customer doesn't need to be an audio engineer professional.

 

[lilies]

'I was referring to Sound Forge - an old audio editor from 10 years ago, which is still updated, though its interface remains old..
Main menu--Process--Volume and Main menu--Process--Normalize.
Here too is 'DC Offset' if the mic-recorded audio you see in the window is not centered vertically. Main menu--Effects--Dynamics--Compression had the old function, where you could make everything super loud. Then save the audio and encode it with the [synced] video again.

Sound Forge was is a juggernaut of audio editing with many-many functions for those in the Know.

But new audio editing software companies created their tiny softwares taking only small bits and pieces [very limited functions, only covering a couple tasks] of large & comprehensive audio editors, like old Sound Forge [which had everything] and market it as the New Fix.

Then there is the New Kraken iZotope - RX 10 Audio Editor Advanced, which is so very advanced that it can only function on nowadays expensive hardware / PCs, etc.. because it either has advanced functions or is just poorly coded and they are trying to disguise their ineptness by requiring new beefy computers to run their softwares. It has all kinds of AI advanced functions and Spectral Visual Displays, bells & whistles as you can see in the picture.

RX 10 Advanced is the award-winning audio repair suite trusted by leading post production engineers to quickly and reliably prepare recorded audio for professional release. Navigate by speech, re-synthesize missing frequencies, and much more – with multichannel support (up to 10 channels).

Strangely though, old software with knowledgeable audio engineers could do the same without these new AI bells & whistles..

 

[lilies]

You guys have turned down the sound volume sooooooo much that it is impossible to follow your spiel. I usually watch and listen while doing the dishes and cooking and in the past months can't hear shit. What's up with that!

Try this "loudified"-version.

Process:
1. Started Sound Forge Pro 14.0
2. Opened the downloaded quiet 20221218nrw-2022-year-in-review-from-canada-freedom-convoy-to-us-russia-proxy-war.mp3 74MB
3. Main Menu --> Process --> Normalize .. selected preset is = [Sys] Maximize peak value (wait until it finishes)
4. Main Menu --> Effects --> Dynamics --> coreFX 2-Point Compressor .. selected preset is = Vocals - Speak Louder! (wait until it finishes)
5. File --> Save As --> FLAC (no loss of data) = 517MB .. too big to up & download.. okay lets try again..
6. File --> Save As --> MP3 --> .. selected preset is = Highest Quality VBR Stereo Audio 155MB .. "okay" more manageable.
7. Click on Attach Files on this forum = error = The uploaded file is too large for the server to process.
8. Upload to my personal Mediafire account: (wait until it finishes)
click on "copy link"

Here is the Loudified MP3 version of

NewsReal: 2022 Year in Review: From Canada Freedom Convoy to US-Russia Proxy War -- Puppet Masters
​

8. Forum Moderator:
- Sorry, you cannot upload FOTCM Sott Intellectual Property to any other site than belongs to FOTCM Sott.. .. . etc.. etc..
9. Me:
- Couldn't demonstrate increased sound levels in any other way.. except doing the work and presenting the entire enjoyable experience.

This personal mediafire account also has uploads of
1. Dot Connector Magazine graphics
2. FOTCM five different Books graphics
3. Sott Icon graphics
all my works - contributions or fully original creations for Sott/QFG/FOTCM - on above projects
etc.. as you can see.

 

[domi]

DO you normalize the audio stream?

Thanks for bringing it up.
Audacity can also normalize but Soundforge does seem more professional.

 

[Scottie]

Niall post-processes the vids before uploading (or re-uploading). The trick is to figure out what's wrong with the live steaming setup so that:
a) the audio is perfect for streaming
b) then Niall doesn't have to do any post-processing of audio
I'm gonna see if the Xsplit Audio Mixer Extension is any help.

 

[lilies]

Niall post-processes the vids before uploading (or re-uploading). The trick is to figure out what's wrong with the live steaming setup so that:
a) the audio is perfect for streaming
b) then Niall doesn't have to do any post-processing of audio
I'm gonna see if the Xsplit Audio Mixer Extension is any help.

Excellent! I installed YouTube 4K Downloader and as soon as your show comes out I download it from YT (small size 700MB~1.4GB, because prolly YT "optimizes" it)

((WOW! First time I hear here that there is some thing like "Youtube Pro" that graciously allows you to download videos? WOW.. I do it for free man, from anywhere..))

or Odysee = usually large, ~10GB+ download. Then I immediately load the downloaded MP4 into Avidemux or nowadays just VideoProc and hit the MKVMaker button, / save as into the MKV container. This riddles the original MP4 with searchable positions - search keys - and saves it as MKV. This is not any encoding-processing, because that would take many-many hours on my 10 year old computer. Just a straight save (direct-copy), nicely filled with search keys.

So when I open your video, now MKV, in MPC-HC = Media Player Classic, it can now fully fast-seek, fast forward and rewind-backward with astonishing speed - in a fluid / sped-up Chaplin-Like motion / manner - : the sped up video doesn't lag, like in the bad-bad original keyless MP4 mode, but instead it is fully spoolable / windable forward and back WHILE I can see what is happening in beautiful fluid-sped up detail, so I always know, where I'm winding the playback.
In retrospect if I need something - a graph, or look for an old section especially interesting for a post here to quote = key information I need to quote here or on RT, etc.. any article or interview = politicians face or any famous persons face that is shown for at least 1 minute in your video NOW I can see-analyze / fast search forward and back. COMB the video for hunted content I need.

Because the original MP4 I download from you is a slow, laggy, unprocessable, unrewindable, hell. At least on a 10 yr old PC. Above process makes your video superfast for:
1. Analysis.
2. Stop the playback ==> like you see in Hollywood investigative movies
3. - ENHANCE! - remember the famous Hollywood exclamation of investigators? When they want - investigate - find a CCTV camera footage and PAN+LOCATE and ZOOM IN the criminal / sought for person's face and do an [in real world non-existing?] ENHANCE operation on the face or car license plate, so the Movie Investigation can have an AAH-HA!-moment and immediately go forward?
4. This FREEZE and PAN and enlarge function of MPC-HC gives me the infinite advantage of actually being able to see GRAPHS or people's faces or smaller details ZOOMED IN on a FROZEN VIDEO FRAME and look at it, analyze the face / graph - what is written in small letters usually always small letters in videos, name-plates, politicians titles, names, etc... any INFO that can be gotten from a video by freezing the picture and analyzing it!
I always do this.

This needs the above fast-seekable MKV format "conversion".

This is how I get my information, like a "one-man NSA".

In old days of Hardware Video Editing Machines in Studios - do you remember that large Wheel on the video seeking machine that fit the video-engineers palm and he-she could rotate it back and forth - very sensitive wheel - and have the entire footage SMOOTH forward or rewind at various speeds? Yeah.. the technological possibilities of Professional Studio Video Analysis & Creation!

This is why I said that Sott-Chateau needs a Houston-Center like large hall with massive picture screens analyzing Earth Atmospheric Conditions in Real-Time via Live Satellite Footage - a large information analysis center.

In the Best Possible Version of the Timelines. The perfect - maxed Up QFG with Maxed-Up, max-financed latest / top notch technology / for Planetary Atmospheric and Unidentified Flying Object Analysis as well as a real-time display of all airplanes in air with all their License-Plates = Plane Flight Identifiers moving on the large screens shown in real time Picture + Radar + Infrared + UV Camera so we can see the large cloaked UFO motherships as well. Also we can ZOOM-INTO Thailand onto the ground and see the FLOODS / Volcanic eruptions in Real-time and also we can Fast Rewind and Analyze volcano outbreak footage for the last 10-78-256 hours, etc... then do a SOTT Earth Changes Summary from our real-time footage taken by logging into any available satellite flying over and fetching its footage..

This purple section is [the etalon] what I hold before my eyes as a Financial-Technological-Target for FOTCM / QFG. Its nice to have an ideal, where I'm working toward.. to approach / approximate / move forward to.. on a scale of 1%--100% technological-financial [group-possibility] advancement.