International Association of Internet Broadcasters - IAIB

News Updates
October 2, 2013:
Bambuser Adds Restrictions To Free Streaming
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 14

Thread: What Bitrate should my Podcast be

  1. #1
    Senior Member jamesdelfresco's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Philly PA
    Posts
    291

    What Bitrate should my Podcast be

    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

  2. #2
    IAIB Broadcaster sunkast's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    152
    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.

  3. #3
    Administrator andrewzarian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Queens NY
    Posts
    1,702
    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.

  4. #4
    Moderator / IAIB Pro Broadcaster mcphillips's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    599
    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.
    Please direct all questions for me to the forum so that all can benefit.

  5. #5
    Administrator andrewzarian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Queens NY
    Posts
    1,702
    Mike are you saying that it should be recorded as a Wav File then converted over to MP3

  6. #6
    Moderator / IAIB Pro Broadcaster mcphillips's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    599
    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.
    Please direct all questions for me to the forum so that all can benefit.

  7. #7
    IAIB Broadcaster MyTakeRadio's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Queens, NY
    Posts
    176
    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.
    Follow My Take Radio on Twitter: @MyTakeRadio

    My Take Radio broadcasts live every Thursday at 11pm est and can be heard on Blog Talk Radio.

    Become a fan on Facebook,Add us on Google+ and follow our boards on Pinterest

  8. #8
    IAIB Broadcaster BatDoc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    4
    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.

  9. #9
    IAIB Broadcaster dasme's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Winnipeg, MB Canada
    Posts
    13
    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.
    Lloyd Hannesson - @dasme
    Founder of the VGPodcasts Network - http://vgpodcasts.com

  10. #10
    IAIB Broadcaster Donovan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Tifton, GA
    Posts
    297
    I record to 320kbps AAC on a Mac and then edit and convert to 128kbps MP3.
    Donovan Adkisson
    Adkisson Digital
    http://www.adkissondigital.com
    http://about.me/gdadkisson | Twitter: @gdadkisson
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Have you read my books?
    Podcasting: Year One http://www.donovanadkisson.com/pyo
    Fifty and Furious http://www.donovanadkisson.com/fifty

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
© International Association of Internet Broadcasters All Rights Reserved.
Follow Us