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jamesdelfresco
05-02-2012, 04:16 PM
I am getting ready to record my first podcast and was wondering what biterate the audio should be at. I know music is good at 128kbps but i am not too sure about audio. thank you

sunkast
05-02-2012, 06:54 PM
If its just speech, 64kbps will do. These days however, people are doing 96 and 128kbps more and more. You may also want to take into consideration where you will having your podcast hosted, and how much storage and bandwidth you are limited to. The higher the bitrate, the larger the file you will have to store, and the more bandwidth it will take.

andrewzarian
05-02-2012, 07:33 PM
I think 96k is a great place to start. You can evaluate where your viewers are coming from. If its mostly mobile you should consider going to 64k. If people are downloading at home 128kbps wouldn't be an issue. We recently upgraded to 96Kbps and have noticed a big difference in audio quality.

It also might be worth looking to having 2 feeds. One for mobile and one for higher quality audio.

mcphillips
05-03-2012, 03:41 AM
Your podcast should be recorded at 16 bit, 44.1 or 48 kHz. When you're done editing it, you can convert it to MP3 at a suitable bitrate. Don't record direct to MP3.

andrewzarian
05-03-2012, 06:39 AM
Mike are you saying that it should be recorded as a Wav File then converted over to MP3

mcphillips
05-03-2012, 08:05 AM
Yes, Andrew. Audio should be recorded in an uncompressed format. For PC, it's wav. I don't know what it is on a Mac. With the file being uncompressed, the quality is higher, and the file can be natively edited in Audacity, Audition, or whatever software is used. When editing is complete, the uncompressed file is converted to MP3.

MyTakeRadio
05-03-2012, 09:01 AM
I agree with Mike on this. I record to my Zoom H2 in Wav then edit and convert to a 96k Mp3. MP3 should be reserved for the final release of your audio.

BatDoc
07-09-2012, 10:04 AM
Mike is exactly right. Recording in a compressed format leads to crappy sounding audio. Record as a wav, then compress to mp3 as the final step.

dasme
07-09-2012, 11:17 AM
I agree with what's been posted here. I record as uncompressed AIFF on my mac. After the show is complete I run it through the great audio tool "Levelator" to add compression to the audio, then import it into iTunes to convert into MP3. Since as long as I've been podcasting (2005) I've released a 64kbit mono MP3. I've never had any complaints, nor has anyone asked for a better quality version.

Donovan
07-09-2012, 01:51 PM
I record to 320kbps AAC on a Mac and then edit and convert to 128kbps MP3.

andrewzarian
07-09-2012, 05:23 PM
the best way to do it is to record uncompressed audio and work your way down from there. Generally spoken word can be anywhere from 64 - 128 kbps . We recently went up to 96kbps with our shows

podcastcoach
07-26-2012, 11:10 AM
Always record at 44.1 wav file. Keep everything uncompressed as you assemble your episode. Then export at 64 kbps mono if you're not doing a music podcast (CD quality), or 128 kbps stereo if you're doing a music podcast. Some people use 96 (FM quality) if they have a mixture of both. With people being considerate of data packages and bandwidth, it seems like most people are going 64 mono, or 128 stereo.

shorter126
09-25-2012, 09:34 AM
Always record at 44.1 wav file. Keep everything uncompressed as you assemble your episode. Then export at 64 kbps mono if you're not doing a music podcast (CD quality), or 128 kbps stereo if you're doing a music podcast. Some people use 96 (FM quality) if they have a mixture of both. With people being considerate of data packages and bandwidth, it seems like most people are going 64 mono, or 128 stereo.

What do you think is best for an audio podcast that will go to itunes Constant or variable.

podcastcoach
09-25-2012, 09:44 AM
I would stay away from Variable. Not every player like variable. I know on one podcaster that I listened to used this, and for whatever reason I couldn't fast forward. I ended up unsubscribing.