topic Re: Erratic fading in of spoken audio in Content Questions

Erratic fading in of spoken audio

Stockhausen1928 — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 09:12:37 GMT

If I listen to an audiobook (or a track with unaccompanied speech) the audio will sometimes - though not always, hence 'erratic' - fade in after pauses. It doesn't seem to fade out, just in, and though I've had a similar problem with music in the past in seems to be just the spoken word at the moment. I've played with the various settings, to no avail. Really makes for a frustrating listening experience.

Re: Erratic fading in of spoken audio

Eni — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 19:17:27 GMT

Hey there @Stockhausen1928,

Thanks for getting in touch about this here in the Community.

Just to confirm, is this happening across devices or only on a specific one? We'd also like to know if this happens when you're listening to your content directly on your device or when you're streaming via Bluetooth or Connect?

On another note, sending us a short video of the issue happening would come in handy. You can attach it to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. You can also upload it to Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it).

We'll be waiting for your reply.

Re: Erratic fading in of spoken audio

Stockhausen1928 — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 10:22:35 GMT

Hi Eni

Thanks for getting back - I appreciate it. Actually I discovered last night that this is only happening on one of my two laptops, so maybe it's my problem rather than yours.

The sound on the video is not great for demonstrating what is quite a subtle thing (just not what you want if using audiobooks to help learn a language). You should be able to pick it up at 12 seconds in and again at 22 seconds. It's that lack of attack when the voice comes in after a pause.

If you can suggest anything to try, that would be great; I think I've played around with all the settings. I wonder if it's the kind of thing a future update would fix? As I say, I've had something similar with music before but that seemed fix itself and is OK at the moment. That in itself is puzzling to me - why just spoken word?

Re: Erratic fading in of spoken audio

Stockhausen1928 — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 10:27:01 GMT

(By the way, the different user name is a historical thing. Stockhausen1928 was a free account I had back in the day, fin1954 the Premium account I have today. I think it's possible the same email address is associated with both.)

Re: Erratic fading in of spoken audio

Stockhausen1928 — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 10:39:20 GMT

Another PS: I only listen directly.

Re: Erratic fading in of spoken audio

Alex — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 11:46:26 GMT

Hi there @Stockhausen1928,

Thanks for the post.

I tried listening to this Audiobook on two separate computers but the audio on my end works fine, so I guess it must be related to some audio settings on the PC on which you're experiencing the issues.

I'd suggest checking if there are any new audio drivers for your sound card and install those. Something else that might be causing this is outdated video card drivers especially if you have an Nvidia.

You can also try switching the app setting 'Normalize Volume' on/ off to see if that makes any difference.

Keep us posted on how you get on with this.

Re: Erratic fading in of spoken audio

Stockhausen1928 — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 09:34:30 GMT

I've been prompted by email to provide an update. None of the suggestions solved the problem, although as regards the sound / graphics cards (not my area of expertise) I got no further than Windows telling me they were OK ... which I understand is not necessarily all that reliable. I solved my immediate problem by getting an Audible sub and buying the book, but will try and look further into the fading problem as soon as I get time and provide an update if I get anywhere.

Thanks ... Fin