Audio skips on recent podcasts

This started up last week and I've noticed it on the last three podcasts I've listened to. Throughout all of the podcasts there have been small little hiccups and skips. At first I thought it was just my setup but the skips happen at the same spots when I listen to it on my podcast app, when I stream the podcasts on the website, and when I download the file itself. It's only a minor annoyance on the regular podcasts but it was also happening on the last Film & 40s which made keeping the podcast and movie in sync nearly impossible.

For an example of what I'm talking about listen around 7:22 on the non-premium version of this week's Bombcast. It also happens on the premium podcast at the same spot (6:42) (listening to this again, the skip is less pronounced on the premium version but it definitely still happens in the same spot). For another example, check out 17:23 on the latest Film & 40s.

Am I going insane or are other people noticing this too? I'm hoping it gets fixed or I can get a work around soon because I'm really looking forward to the next Film & 40s and it would be a real bummer to have to fight to keep it in sync the whole time.

It's definitely not just you. It seems like for a while now it is rare to hear a Bombcast without some sort of audio issue.

Just checked the non-premium Bombcast from this week at 7:22 and the skip is there. Same with the Film & 40s.

dang, I thought I was losing my mind or that my ipod is dying. I definitely experienced some skips when listening.

Actually, the noise it makes was some throwback, as that's the type of noise that I used to experience when I rip my own CDs with a POS computer.

If I remember correctly Vinny was asking for timecodes on the Beastcast comment thread from last week (when I first remember this stuff popping up, and I definitely heard it at least once on the latest Film & 40s too) to look into it but I don't know what, if anything, came of that. He's definitely aware of the issue though.

Time to type in "Bombcast NO SKIPS" into Limewire.

Wow I cannot recall the last time I heard someone mention Limewire. Bravo.

Yes, I too have been noticing them a lot lately. The audio issues in general have been bumming me out. I know the crew is stretched thin these days, but I'd like to see the quality get back up to snuff. Between blown out mics, fiddling with new cameras, and podcast audio skips, the quality seems to have taken a bit of a dip over the past few weeks/months.

Was having this on every podcast since last Friday. Really hope it gets fixed soon, it's a massive bummer.

The only thing I can say about this is that I checked the MP3 hard copy I exported for F&40 and there weren't any skips there. So if this is appearing on the distributed file, it may mean something's happening on our backend during the upload process. I'll follow up and see what I can figure out.

@alex: Awesome, thanks for responding! FWIW it's also happening on yesterday's Bombcast so it's not exclusively an east coast issue. Seems to be site-wide (but just podcasts so far).

Hello,

I recently have been noticing this across multiple podcasts I listen to from a few different networks. I know I heard it in last weeks Beastcast, Bombcast from yesterday, and Hello From the Magic Tavern and Comedy Bang Bang over on earwolf on monday. From that it feels like this is certainly not a thing on the creator end, but something on the back end between distributors and consumers.

Throwing that out there in case it helps solve the issue. Also glad I am not going mad and hearing blips.

Noticed this on last weeks beastcast and this weeks bombcast. Assumed it was a dodgy cable connecting my phone to my car at first. I'm using the official podcast app on an iPhone if that makes any difference.

It would definitely help if you guys could give me specific timecodes for these skips and let me know where you're playing them from (site player, podcast app, directly downloaded the mp3 from us, etc.) I know there are some in the original post but the more the merrier so I can see if our engineers can track this down.

@rorie: I noticed another quick skip around 56:24 on the premium version of the most recent Bombcast. It appears both on the native iOS podcast app and streaming on the website.

@rorie: Another one at 1:28:57 in the premium Bombcast.

@rorie: downloaded mp3 to tablet/phone and definitely experienced them

Lime wire..... ahh memories.

So I was having issues with BeyondPod and switch over to PocketCasts on Android and that seemed to fix it.

@erikaebatayz: Can you give me the precise runtime and filesize on the Film and 40s mp3 you have, assuming you downloaded it?

@rorie: Length is 1:47:08, filesize is 98MB.

@rorie: There's a skip in the non-premium Bombcast audible at around 2:18:47. I heard it both in my iPod and in the site player.

@rorie : Not sure if you guys still need more examples, but I noticed a bunch more on today's premium Beastcast episode. I was driving, so could only jot down a few of the skip times that I noticed:

• 3:15
• 6:11
• 15:37

Here's the phone/player info:

• App: Podcast Addict
• Phone: Android (Pixel XL)
• Episode Version: Premium Beastcast Episode 96 (Downloaded, not streamed)

Note, the site player had the same skip at 3:15. Didn't check to verify the others though...

Cheers!

Chris

Same with the latest non-premium beastcast. (96) Both on the website player and on the downloaded mp3.

Timestamp: 00:26:01 (hh:mm:ss)

So FYI, we're still investigating this. It's super weird. Raw files on our computers don't have the glitch noise, but keeps popping up in the uploaded versions. The one piece of good news I can give is that it doesn't look like it's actually skipping, exactly. The timestamps between versions seem to be identical on everything we've checked so far. So while the glitches are there and undoubtedly annoying, it's not messing with the timecodes. So if you're watching Film & 40s, it shouldn't mess with it.

We'll keep trying to pin this down. Thanks for your patience.

@alex:

Would it still be helpful for us to track and timestamp when we hear blips, or at this point is it superfluous?

@rhymeasaurus: It's probably superfluous at this point. It seems like it's happening on every podcast now, so we're checking each one. FYI, the Fast Five F&40s has it too. I just checked after I uploaded.

@alex - Thanks for the follow up. Awesome support like this is yet another reason why I pay for a premium subscription :)

I am told that a fix for this is in and hopefully we'll get it working before the Bombcast tomorrow - if not then the rest of the podcasts this week should be fixed. Sorry for the trouble!

@yothatlimp: Were you getting a playback error in beyond pod? Every time I get a blip it stops playback "playback error" when I'm listening to a downloaded mp3. I can stream it and it will keep playing. My bandwidth usage is getting pretty high over the last few weeks.

edit: This week is perfect for me so far about an hour and a half in. Thanks @rorie didn't notice your comment directly above me when I originally left this one.