The sound quality kinda went down

Especially Ryan's mic. It sounds like they are on a radio station, where as they previously sounded like they were just in the same room as you. Anyone notice this?

Note: I listen to bombcast on fairly expensive headphones, so maybe I notice more.

They are still getting situated. I'm sure in the next few weeks the audio will get better in everything they do as they get used to the new surroundings.

Maybe Ryan was normally actually in the same room as you.

But how was the content quality?

@KarlPilkington said:

Maybe Ryan was normally actually in the same room as you.

I can dream!

You get used to it.

Stop bi**hing!

We got the Bombcast!

Geezus

@kristov_romanov said:

But how was the content quality?

Must you even ask? :)

@SpikeSpiegel: Haha, nope. I assume it is as dumb as always.

....1.21 mins in..... this is hillarious. :)

@Deadmeat said:

Especially Ryan's mic. It sounds like they are on a radio station, where as they previously sounded like they were just in the same room as you. Anyone notice this?

It's definitely down in quality. I assume there's a lot of optimization to be done yet. Just glad we got a Bombcast this week~!

Vinny directly addressed this concern in the first 30 minutes of the cast.

Considering how long it took for them to get it just right in their old setup, I'm sure they'll need more than a few days to figure out how to maximize their new setup. Considering some of the sound tech there, though, they may actually be able to make it clearer than ever. It'll just take time.

I, for one, am just glad there is a new Bombcast. :)

(the opening really cracked me up, as well)

They need some time to get their EQ wizardry up in there. Kinda sounded like a recent Metallica album. I think Rick Rubin is producing the podcast right now.

I noticed it somewhat on normal headphones, however it's nothing to complain about (imo). They're still as great as ever.

That sounds like the exact opposite of the quality going down.

It was definitely worse quality, but I am sure the crew will figure it out in the coming weeks.

Sounds fine to me...

I went back and compared to earlier episodes and the new setup sounds better to me.

Listening now, yeah the old studio mic's are crappy. Much more tinny than the other mics.

I thought it sounded great. Even maybe better than their old setup.

@Hector: Same here, thought it sounded great. The only thing that kept bugging me was the sudden drops when there was a quiet moment. I got used to it though.

I love how well it's normalized (is that the word? I don't know mixing) now. No more rushing to turn the volume up and down all the time.

@ShaggE said:

I love how well it's normalized (is that the word? I don't know mixing) now. No more rushing to turn the volume up and down all the time.

This.

all the sounds I heard were fine.

They just moved in, they need to get everything properly optimized.

I'm waiting until they release it on vinyl.

They're using a potato to record it now.

It sounded different, but not bad - maybe a bit rougher as they're getting used to the equipment. I think mostly though it sounded a bit less reverb-y

It was driving me a bit nuts, but I'm sensitive to super squashed audio. It seems to be extremely heavy on the live compression, which sounds a little distorted and is causing the lows to get boomy. A little EQing and some ajustments to the gear and I'm sure it will be fine.

SOUND!

I think that the heavy compression is what you are responding to, not the microphones or preamps, the compression gives the podcast a far away radio type feel as opposed to the rawer sound of the older podcasts. The microphones are also higher end dynamic mic's ( looks like RE20's and SM7B's ) as opposed to the cheap condenser mics that they used to use which gives a different ( I think more defined ) sound.

Yeah, I didn't like the sound, but I think the problem is superficial. The equipment seems more capable, so they will adjust it. I personally was put off by the similarity of the sound to Howard Stern on the radio. The content was good as always, so I isn't think about the Lund most of the time.

I usually listen to the Bombcast on a cheap set of earbuds while I work, but I listened to it this week at home with a pair of Sennheisers. Other than the buzzing Vinny pointed out, I thought it sounded great.

It sounded different. Someone pointed out it sounded like radio, which would be accurate.

I'm more concerned about the changed music...

the sound is just even. I say this as someone who records/edits audio and video for a living. Ryan mentioned using a compressor during the recording this makes the sound easier to listen to because everything is recorded with the same intensity. The sound dynamic is flat but the overall fidelity is the same. I will say that they may have over compressed it, but to say it sounds like shit is a stretch. Not to mention that this is the first time they have used a professional acoustically tuned recording space in a long time. If you notice, the upside to it was that there was no echo and no sound of the air conditioner like the old mold room. I would say that the quality is better from a technical standpoint. I found it to be a step up but I have a bias as an audio engineer.

I feel like I'm taking crazypills reading this thread! The sound quality most definitely went down the toilet, but it was great having it so heavily normalized. I'm sure they'll get the quality up to snuff eventually. Podcast was entertaining as ever unirregardlessly

Certainly sounds a lot more radio-esque, which is both good and bad. I miss the vibe of the mold room, but I remember when they moved there the sound was terrible and that got fixed pretty quickly. Vinny and Ryan know what they're doing, so I don't think it's anything to worry about.

@Deadmeat said:

where as they previously sounded like they were just in the same room as you.

Who said they weren't?

I don't really think you want range when listening the bombcast. They go from really quiet to really loud... really quickly. It's nice to not constantly change volume. Also it's 2-3 hours of just dudes talking, that's one way to quickly take up a shitload of space, that has to be compressed pretty well to be reasonable .

@MikkaQ said:

I don't really think you want range when listening the bombcast. They go from really quiet to really loud... really quickly. It's nice to not constantly change volume. Also it's 2-3 hours of just dudes talking, that's one way to quickly take up a shitload of space, that has to be compressed pretty well to be reasonable .

I agree completely. I would always find myself tweaking the volume...Not anymore. When my professors taught me about pod casting they told me to crush it with compression whenever possible to make the speech comfortable for the listener. The new space allows them to do that. Also, it baffles me that people would think that they somehow don't know how the space works when everyone but Patrick used to record in that very room during the Gamespot days. Also, the difference in feel and tone will be like anything on the internet. People will complain about it for two weeks or so and then forget that things were ever different

Personally, I don't like the compression. as much as I've never seen the old, apparently horrible, podcasting room, It became a character with their constant complaints. The lack of compression on the old podcasts left an auditory impression of space. People being too quiet or too loud only added character to the show. The new compression makes it feel flat in a purely aesthetic sense. It's not a huge thing. The podcast is there, so I am happy. But it doesn't sound nearly as good to me. It sounds like a FM morning show.

I prefered the old sound, but probably out of habit. No big deal anyway.

It does sound like a radio show now, but I prefer that.

Why is it better if they are in the room with you?