Post date: October 29, 2009 - 11:28 am

A few weeks ago we received an anonymous feedback report about static on the broadcast. The listener wanted to listen to the show, but was unable to do so because of a "static problem."

Unfortunately, because the listener filled out the feedback form anonymously, there was no way we could follow up, or contact the person for more information. The listener's problem was a great big mystery to us.

The other problem was that we didn't know how to replicate the problem, as we hadn't experienced it ourselves. We did not know how to respond (even if we could have responded). We thought it could be a problem with the listener's computer speakers or there could have been a misunderstanding about the word static. BlogTalkRadio goes out with a low quality audio, to keep the bandwidth low, so that everyone (even people with slower connections) can listen to the show without issue. We thought the issue could have been an issue of sound quality expectations.

A few weeks later, Connie was looking at a friend's computer and popped over to the site, just to see how it looked on another computer. Lo and Behold... static! It was then that Connie figured out what the problem of static was (at least we hope so):

There is a volume control setting on the BlogTalkRadio widget. Since the widget is so small, it isn't easy to see it (and it isn't labeled). By sliding the volume control level, Connie was able to eliminate the static problem on the computer she was testing. Setting the volume for the show is a combination of the computer's volume and the volume on the widget. If one or the other is too high, static will result.

That solved the problem on the computer Connie was using, but that doesn't mean the static solution is the same for the anonymous poster.

The other way to solve audio problems is to download the show and listen to it using the computer's media player. Shows may be downloaded about an hour after the show is broadcast. Download links are available for each show, by viewing the full listing for the show (clicking on the title of the show on the front page of the site will display the show's full listing). That gets around any issues a listener might have with the streaming broadcast, using the widget. Of course, that only solves the problem for archived shows. Live shows would still be a problem, if the above doesn't solve it.

We encourage the anonymous poster (or any listener with a similar issue) to contact us again if the problem isn't solved by the above.

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