International Calling
Periodically I review the equipment and software I use to produce the EP podcast. And recently I found that the quality of Skype has improved, enough so that I will try using it for international calls. When I started EP, in early 2006, Skype sound quality wasn't up to the standards I'd set. Other podcasters, coming to podcasting from radio broadcasting, had concluded the same thing. But sometime last year Skype recoded the program and now sound quality is not too bad. Indeed, in certain circumstances perhaps actually better than regular land-lines.
Recorded and downsampled into an .mp3 file a Skype connection still sounds a bit flat to me — I prefer the fuller tones of corded land-lines — but clarity is excellent. On all land-line calls there's a trade-off between sound quality, 'naturalness,' and clarity; regarding the latter, I try to edit out as much static crackle as I can because listening to it is distracting, but more aggressive editing makes voices sound unnatural, which is also distracting but in an even worse way. On international calls, in particular, lack of clarity from crackle is a serious problem. So the trade-off on international calls leaves me somewhere within the Skype quality range, with Skype quality maybe slightly better.
And the Skype price is right. Instead of worrying about a monthly EP phone bill of several hundred dollars for a couple international calls, Skype is only a few pennies per minute: that's as much as 50 times less expensive! Which opens the door for many more international guests.
In reassessing Skype something else caught my attention: with other available software it's now easier to record a Skype conversation and I can, without a lot of trouble, patch the signal from my studio mic into one channel and the Skype output, the guest's voice, into another. (Editing on two channels is really the only way to do it properly.) And there's a software product that just came on the market last month which would offer even more flexibility (Wiretap Anywhere), except that it turns out it won't work — yet — with my setup. I was the first to point out a particular set of problems to the company so they've made me a beta tester of the product as they continue to work on it. I'm hopeful they'll sort out the issues because WTA would let me record directly into my regular recording software, thus allowing much more flexibility in making adjustments as necessary. What I'm doing now, experimentally, with Skype is essentially recording blind and making adjustments in post-production. Anyhow, the convergence of Skype VOIP improvements and recording software improvements make for some great possibilities.
For domestic calls I'll still prefer corded land-lines for the foreseeable future. Sound quality will stay the same. If, however, you notice any new sound quality differences with international guests, or that I'm scheduling more international guests, that's what's going on.
And please don't hesitate to suggest international guests if you have an idea!
Posted by George Kenney on November 11, 2008 5:10 AM 
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Comments
Skype's a godsend, my dad and I use it for video calls across the pond all the time. Good luck with your experiments.
If you're interested in a knowledgeable, levelheaded commentator on US/middle eastern issues, I would really appreciate a talk with Rami G. Khouri at the American University of Beirut.
http://www.ramikhouri.com/
keep on keepin' on and thank you
pete
Posted by: muzz | November 11, 2008 8:14 PM