Peel Paint Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Usually I am a big supporter of the Fan Network, but I gotta call a spade a spade. Just tried to view the vids from the Beanpot Invitational in Lynn from this past weekend. First, it took almost 5 days after the event to get these up. Now, since it was a holiday weekend, I can actually understand that. My problem is the extremely poor sound quality on the videos. Anything above a mezzo-forte is distorted to the point of being un-listenable. I realize that there was a heavy wind throughout the show, but the occasional wind interference is not the issue. I honestly could not listen past the first hit of the Cadets show. That said, the sound is ok on the Denver videos (though still a bit distorted), and I remember that the sound quality from the show in Quincy MA was also poor. Just hope that this is not going to be a trend throughout, since I have heartily recommended FN to a LOT of my friends... See what other people think about this, but to check out what you're posting, I just watched the Cadets/Lynn show through on FN, and I'm not hearing what you heard. Yes there is a lot of wind noise that interferes with both soft and loud segments of the show. I think some of what you thought was distortion is really wind noise, not distortion of the Cadets' sound as recorded and mixed. Granted my days as an amateur sound engineer are over due in no small part to drum corps-inflicted hearing loss LOL, but just to be sure it's not my hearing loss at work here, I switched on Adobe Audition in monitor mode so I could see the waveform coming across the screen. The waveform as you may know is a visual representation of the recording levels. There is no clipping visible. The sound level was recorded and mixed correctly. If they set the gain too high or mixed it overly compressed causing audible distortion, I would see that on the Adobe Audition waveform, and I don't. The right/left channel balance was wrong--the right channel was mixed too high, left too low, due in part to the mikes being skewed left of midfield (but it doesn't look to me like that accounts for all of the balance issue). I'm not hearing--or seeing--what you report as distortion--EXCEPT the wind noise, which I do hear through much of that show. Wind noise can often be prevented with windscreens on microphones but is hard to fix in postproduction without adversely affecting the sound of the show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcat Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 (edited) I'm pretty sure drumcat last year said something along the lines that they hire different groups when there is more than one show they are taping on one night. I'm pretty sure it was the same group who did both of the shows with the poor audio quality. So it's not the usual video and sound crew. They should try to have standards across the board though... and it doesn't take much to turn some knobs down. It's like they set of the mics set a level and just didn't listen to it once the corps started playing. I feel like things are not running as smoothly though getting videos up... live streams disappearing for a couple of days without the VOD being put up for that show. The live streams so far have been great though... except for some audio issues during Crown's show at Stanford.. and audio issues at Denver earlier on which was fixed asap. Let's hop tonight's live broadcast goes well! My nose itched. Now I know why... I haven't seen said recordings. I'm kinda "detoxifying" right now, so in a strange way, I can still be objective in this case. Yes, the Mass shows are done by contractors. Scheduling requires it. As stated just above here, wind noise is the most difficult audio issue faced by anyone doing this kind of recording. Nothing in post- is going to make it better and retain fidelity. Standards = $. Champagne expectations and beer budgets, and all that jazz. There was a show where the video simply never was posted due to quality. That caused 10x the uproar that bad quality did. Quantity over quality was an ongoing theme. Everyone wants both, but for a majority, it was found that MOAR!POSTALLTHESHOWS!!1 = better value for a subscription, rather than high production in every location. I speculate, but if it comes down to "it was windy and a little grainy", it's more important to put it up in spite of the quality. As for an explanation of why, in a way, video and audio speaks for itself. Trust me; I'm not saying "shut up be happy for what you have" -- please don't take it this way. It's not that AT ALL. I'm just giving this insight so that you might know why lower quality stuff makes it up there. The more the quality goes up, and the more the bandwidth goes up, the more HD, the more it gets closer to a "real" HD broadcast, the more noticeable the quality (or lack of) is. Edited July 12, 2013 by drumcat 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcat Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 See what other people think about this, but to check out what you're posting, I just watched the Cadets/Lynn show through on FN, and I'm not hearing what you heard. Yes there is a lot of wind noise that interferes with both soft and loud segments of the show. I think some of what you thought was distortion is really wind noise, not distortion of the Cadets' sound as recorded and mixed. Granted my days as an amateur sound engineer are over due in no small part to drum corps-inflicted hearing loss LOL, but just to be sure it's not my hearing loss at work here, I switched on Adobe Audition in monitor mode so I could see the waveform coming across the screen. The waveform as you may know is a visual representation of the recording levels. There is no clipping visible. The sound level was recorded and mixed correctly. If they set the gain too high or mixed it overly compressed causing audible distortion, I would see that on the Adobe Audition waveform, and I don't. The right/left channel balance was wrong--the right channel was mixed too high, left too low, due in part to the mikes being skewed left of midfield (but it doesn't look to me like that accounts for all of the balance issue). I'm not hearing--or seeing--what you report as distortion--EXCEPT the wind noise, which I do hear through much of that show. Wind noise can often be prevented with windscreens on microphones but is hard to fix in postproduction without adversely affecting the sound of the show. As a former Quality Engineer on the Audition team, a hearty thank you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Freedman Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 (edited) ... I'm not hearing--or seeing--what you report as distortion--EXCEPT the wind noise, which I do hear through much of that show. Wind noise can often be prevented with windscreens on microphones but is hard to fix in postproduction without adversely affecting the sound of the show. ... How expensive are windscreens for mics? How hard (expensive) would it be for DCI to ensure that all outdoor shows use them? Could DCI invest in a few high quality windscreens (and perhaps mics and stands) and send them along with their masters of ceremonies (whatever they're called) to the shows. Given that there's pretty much two tours at a given time, maybe three, providing the contractor with mic equipment that is selected and optimized for drum corps shows might help maintain standards. What the contractor chooses to use for sound boards, etc, is up to them. But why make each one figure out how to mic an unusual event like ours? Just spitballin' here. Edited July 12, 2013 by Pete Freedman 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashevillemurphy Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 The "SQ" video from last night is no longer available? Both the beta and "HQ" options continue to freeze or skip every 30 seconds or so for me ... anyone else? What's up DCI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 The "SQ" video from last night is no longer available? Both the beta and "HQ" options continue to freeze or skip every 30 seconds or so for me ... anyone else? What's up DCI? If something happens, blame DCI first. Was there even a thought the problem might be on your end? I just ran the HQ replay just to try to help you troubleshoot. SCV's "take me home" solo was fantastic, the sound quality was great, the video was great. No problems. Thank you, DCI . :rolleyes:/> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashevillemurphy Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 If something happens, blame DCI first. Was there even a thought the problem might be on your end? I just ran the HQ replay just to try to help you troubleshoot. SCV's "take me home" solo was fantastic, the sound quality was great, the video was great. No problems. Thank you, DCI . :rolleyes:/>/> How would anyone but DCI be responsible for removing the "SQ" option from the FN? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 See what other people think about this, but to check out what you're posting, I just watched the Cadets/Lynn show through on FN, and I'm not hearing what you heard. Yes there is a lot of wind noise that interferes with both soft and loud segments of the show. I think some of what you thought was distortion is really wind noise, not distortion of the Cadets' sound as recorded and mixed. Speaking from the point of view of someone who was at Beanpot and once lived in Lynn, wind was a factor at Beanpot, especially from Cadets on. Since we were in the middle of a heat wave, it was a welcome enhancement, but it caused some havoc for the corps and the recording. Another factor that wasn't as evident in the recordings but is always a factor in Lynn is the close proximity to Logan Airport. Planes are descending at that point, so much so that when I returned from a trip to Ireland, I could see where I lived from the plane, a bit too close for comfort. I can't recall if it was during Bluecoats show or Cadets that one plane was particularly loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrlandoContraAlum Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Speaking from the point of view of someone who was at Beanpot and once lived in Lynn, wind was a factor at Beanpot, especially from Cadets on. Since we were in the middle of a heat wave, it was a welcome enhancement, but it caused some havoc for the corps and the recording. Another factor that wasn't as evident in the recordings but is always a factor in Lynn is the close proximity to Logan Airport. Planes are descending at that point, so much so that when I returned from a trip to Ireland, I could see where I lived from the plane, a bit too close for comfort. I can't recall if it was during Bluecoats show or Cadets that one plane was particularly loud. I believe it was Cadets. (I was there too). I still maintain that the sound quality on the Lynn videos is sub-par. It's not just wind or other ambient noise. The balance seems off, the electronics seem really loud, and, at least on the three different computers I have watched videos on, there is significant sound distortion at high volume. I guess to each their own, and so many of the other videos this year have great quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Looking to try out a PPV broadcast for the first time this weekend for San Antonio. Are these normally HD/HQ streams? I'd like to hook it up to my TV if I can. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.