Housekeeping

Hey Value Fiends,

Just a quick update on a couple of LR-related things.

1. Audio levels on remotely recorded shows.

I have gotten some feedback that when I do shows remotely—like when I am at a Pro Tour—that the volume of the podcast can be a bit too low. I am addressing this. I have looked into some alternate recording methods and have put in an order for some new equipment to improve the sound quality whilst on the road.

The audio quality of the podcast is something that I take seriously, as I feel that it’s the initial barrier to entry for new listeners. If the show sounds bad, they won’t listen. It’s that simple. I should have the new stuff up and running for my next trip. Also, it may open up some cool doors for me to be able to do some on-site interviews in the future.

2. Spam in the comments.

I decided to turn on comments for the episodes and posts, as I felt like it was an easy to way facilitate more interaction between listeners. I still believe this is true. Unfortunately, the amount of spam aimed at sites like ours is kind of insane. I went to Valencia, came back 5 days later and found this:

 

 

This is obviously unacceptable and renders the comment sections unnavigable and useless. I have since taken actions to help get control over the rampant spam on the site. I’ll be keeping an eye on it, but hopefully this solution fixes the problem.

That’s it, just wanted to keep you all in the loop!

– Marshall

12 thoughts on “Housekeeping

  1. I appreciate your attention to audio quality levels. There are certain pro players that I adore but simply cannot watch on YouTube because they have such horrible quality audio. I wish everyone had your eye for detail when it comes to audio.

  2. I also find a huge discrepancy between Marshal and Brian’s audio levels on regular shows. I often turn up the volume to hear Brian, only to slam it back down when Marshal jumps back in.

    • Totally agree on the discrepancy between Marshall and Brian. It’s frustrating when listening in the car to have to constantly mess with volume.

    • I definitely agree. Marshall is easy to hear and Brian is very quiet. Sometimes I have to reply sections just to hear Brian clearly.

      • I’ll look into this further as well. It’s pretty tricky getting it perfect, but I will see how close I can get it. Thanks guys for pointing it out.

  3. Pretty awesome that you care about these things. This is just one of the reasons why Limited Resources is the best MTG podcast and one of the best podcasts out there.

    I noticed it but wasn’t going to make a fuss.
    Keep up the good work!

  4. It looks like you’re using WordPress. Do you have Akismet installed? It works really well at killing spam. And I also highly recommend turning on “Auto-delete spam submitted on posts more than a month old” (under Plugins > Akismet).

    Of course, if you’re actually getting 18k spam comments on just your last month’s worth of entries, then, uh, all I can say is “wow”. But I bet Akismet will still do a very good (albeit perhaps not quite perfect) job of separating the spam from the gam.

    • Thanks Michael, I did indeed install Akismet, and it seems to be working well. I did that thing you suggested too when I set it up, so I think it’s good to go. We shall see. I certainly hope so, as I kind of like having comments available.

  5. Hi Marshall,
    I can certainly appreciate spam being a massive problem and it’s really a shame to have to turn off comments all together. We run Akismet too, with (what seems) reasonable success. We also ask people to register onsite…this is a bit of a bummer and reduces the amount of comments made, purely because it’s not an ‘instant-speed’ action…more of a two turn combo.

    On sound quality, I’d love to know what set-up you use – (if you’re willing to share) – feel free to email me directly if you wish.
    We’re using:
    3x Shure SM-58 -> Motu 8Pre -> MacBook running Garageband.
    The room we use creates a lot of echo so I think I need to invest in some foam walls, too 🙂
    Cheers,
    David
    @7LandHand

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