Audio mix on O'Reilly intervew

[Ridiculous]

I have done some audio engineering's before and they mixed the audio with a bias to Bill.

Ron Paul's audio was all highs, and no bass. Whereas Bill's voice was evenly mixed, with a little extra bass. If you listen to the other people that he had on, the audio for the other person more evenly mixed.

Radio shows are sometimes mixed with a little bit more bass in the hosts voice to give the host dominance, but this isn't usually done on TV because you have a visual of both people. But this is usually done in radio morning and sports type shows. Not professional interviews. For example on say NPR or something the voices would be mixed evenly.

They purposely mixed Paul's voice to give O'Reilly the edge.

I don't watch his show often, but I bet that they do this regularly to guests that he is trying to bully.

[Matt Collins]

I am an audio engineer and also work in broadcast as a talk radio producer. I think you are reading a bit too much into this...

[Ridiculous]

I wasn't the only one that noticed this. Someone else just basically said the same thing in the "Official" O'Reilly thread.

[Matt Collins]

I seriously doubt it was done intentionally

[Ridiculous]

You think Fox is above tactics like that?

[Magsec]

He sounded no different than when Cavuto was interviewing him about taxes. In fact, he sounded exactly the same. I think the mix is always like that for field equipment or something......can anyone confirm this for other guests besides RP?

[Korey Kaczynski]

I seriously doubt it was done intentionally

O'Reilly's voice did have dominance, though, and this station (and "journalist!") is known for its scummy tactics; why the skepticism when they've demonstrated the following:

1) The station hates Ron Paul
2) O'Reilly has cut off mics before
3) Both the station and the journalist are scumbags
4) The earlier Republican debate on the station was slanted against RP.

If anything, it was biased by giving O'Reilly a substantially louder volume than the Doctor.

[fletcher]

I seriously doubt it was done intentionally

It's FOX News. It was intentional.

[Shatterhand]

Hey, I was just going to start a thread asking that very question. I thought Dr. Paul's voice sounded higher than usual. Listen to the part when he said, "Now don't misquote me, Bill . . ."

It just doesn't sound like Dr. Paul's usual voice to me. It sounded different! It sounded high and weird. I hope someone will look more into this audio thing.

[EvoPro]

Just listen to Howard Stern. He has major bass added to his voice. BillO's volume was defintely louder.

[Ridiculous]

I was actually going to mention Howard Stern as an example.

[Matt Collins]

Volume and timbre are two very different properties of sound.

Yes I am sure that BO was at a louder level than RP but BO also has a louder voice than does the soft spoken Doctor. Plus he is the host and the producers must make the host sound good at all costs (otherwise they lose their job).

But I don't think there is any reason they would "intentionally make RP sound bad". It doesn't make sense, and it doesn't really happen in a professional broadcast setting such as BO and FNC.

[themanhere]

Do we have to go into conspiracy theories for every event? ITS FAUX NOISE of course they dont give fair and balanced news.

But i dont think they screwed with the audio now if i heard a laugh track i would be pissed.

[AdamT]

I wouldn't put ANYTHING past Faux. They are the worst at underhanded tactics. They don't deserve to have a broadcast license.

[Ridiculous]

I am not talking about volume alone. If you listen, it sounds like they took all the bass out of Paul's voice.

[Harry96]

There's no point in arguing about this because it's unprovable. Even if they did, it seems obvious that BO has a naturally deeper voice than RP.

[Matt Collins]

I wouldn't put ANYTHING past Faux. They are the worst at underhanded tactics. They don't deserve to have a broadcast license.Cable channels don't need a broadcast license. :rolleyes:

[Matt Collins]

If you listen, it sounds like they took all the bass out of Paul's voice.It's quite possible that they may have. But unless we are in the studio that they were mixing it in we won't know for sure.

There are probably 10 or 15 audio processors in the signal chain between the person being interviewed and your ears. There is no telling what any of them are doing.

There is also something called the proximity effect which means the closer to the mic the more low end is present. Also it is possible that there were low-cut filters inserted on the audio chain of RP because of various room noise such as HVAC etc.. Who knows?

But I can tell you that in all probability, as a live audio engineer and radio producer, this was not intentional.

[AdamT]

Cable channels don't need a broadcast license. :rolleyes:

Ha ha yeah you're right. Let me re-phrase that - whatever license they DO have, they don't deserve it.

[Matt Collins]

Ha ha yeah you're right. Let me re-phrase that - whatever license they DO have, they don't deserve it.They don't have any kind of license, nor should they need one. RP wouldn't want anyone to have to have a license to broadcast.

[joshdvm]

When they were speaking simultaneaously, RP's audio was clearly attenuated to make BO's voice the dominant one.

[Matt Collins]

When they were speaking simultaneaously, RP's audio was clearly attenuated to make BO's voice the dominant one.That makes sense for multiple reasons.

[joshdvm]

Well, I wasn't necessarily implying unfair intentions, but it definitely confers the host the home court advantage.

[Korey Kaczynski]

It's quite possible that they may have. But unless we are in the studio that they were mixing it in we won't know for sure.

There are probably 10 or 15 audio processors in the signal chain between the person being interviewed and your ears. There is no telling what any of them are doing.

There is also something called the proximity effect which means the closer to the mic the more low end is present. Also it is possible that there were low-cut filters inserted on the audio chain of RP because of various room noise such as HVAC etc.. Who knows?

But I can tell you that in all probability, as a live audio engineer and radio producer, this was not intentional.

Your views carry a lot more weight than mine, but simply the fact that O'Reilly has cut mics before and talks over people suggests it is intentional.

I remember heated exchanges before on CNN, and you could hear people arguing against Wolf Blitzer and still be understood. RP's voice was aped by Billo's.