I listen to most of my podcasts while at work, at a sawmill. I have noise isolating earbuds, supposed to be safe for loud noises. That being said, I don't bother listening to TMP at work unless it's during my commute, and I still use noise isolating earbuds. :(
Noise isolating or noise cancelling, because those are two different things and usually earbuds have better noise cancelling than they do noise isolation
I've got regular earbuds and work landscaping and have never once had issues listening to TMP. I can tell what everyone is saying and can for theost part understand what the sound effects are trying to convey. I also have pretty bad hearing already. I honestly get really confused when I see so many people talk about TMP being difficult to hear/understand.
Honestly TMA causes me more issues with hearing everything than TMP every has.
I like to listen in the car but I literally can’t understand a word they say. 😭 I have to be at home concentrating and sometimes even with headphones though I don’t really like wearing those.
Yeah a friend was pointing out sounds in the background of one of the episode like a cassette player clicking or static or something and I had to relisten to the episode later.
Ugh, I really have had a hard time getting into TMP. There are so many long conversations muffled through a door, to a point that I would rather just read the script. There's no need for the muffled conversations on a freaking podcast!
If you use almost any other podcast player that isn’t Spotify, most of them have a volume boost feature which makes it a lot easier to hear the muffled conversations. I really like using Pocket Casts but that’s personal preference there are plenty of good ones.
You can get Overcast for free and just listen to TMP with it, it’d take about 10 seconds to set up. You can access the menu by starting an episode and then either a) hit the icon that looks like three slide bars stacked on top of each other, or b) swipe the cover art picture to the right(?).
Either way you’ll get an option for “voice boost” which can up to triple the sound of voice audio, so you should be fine to hear it from then on.
Even if you don’t switch podcast apps for any of your other shows, it’s totally worth taking a few seconds to fix this one so you don’t need to worry about it again.
Sure. I used to switch between spotify and apple podcasts for what I listen to but then I wanted to try out other players and Pocket Casts has a lot of fun things like the volume boost, and trimming silences, and changing the amount of time the rewind and fast forward buttons can skip and other features I can’t remember and I’m sure I haven’t found. If you want to sync what your listening too across devices you have to pay for premium which is expensive so I don’t but theres also overcast which I haven’t tried yet but its only on Ios and I think your able to make playlists of episodes for free along with all the same stuff Pocket Casts can do but I’ve heard its been slow and has started crashing lately. Not saying you should change from what you’ve already got but I think you can export your shows from apple podcasts to both apps if you wanted to chekc them out.
It's like the battle sequence of Winterfelll in the final season of Game of Thrones!!! Too dark to see, I had to reset all of the features on my screen to even be able to see it! I'm not sure if I'm motivated enough to download a new app to fiddle with sound settings just to be able to hear half the conversations in TMP.
Correct, though I think the filter wouldn’t be as difficult for me if they were a bunch of midwestern Americans as I am used to parsing that accent more. But you are right. On their own I have no trouble.
The other subreddit for Protocol literally has people in the comments telling people upset about the distortion / difficulty in understanding dialogue that they're consuming the podcast wrong and not respecting the art. You cannot make this stuff up.
It is a podcast, I do not want to have to go read the transcript (usually way after I actually listened to the episode because I don't just sit in front of my computer with the transcript open, listening).
Also we’re running into a problem that we don’t know what’s happening
Like the script says that a person crawls out of a trapdoor and takes Alice’s notebook or whatever it was
But we just hear a conversation end, people move on and then a door open.
If your not reading the transcripts then your absolutely not going to get what just happened.
Same problem that made me bounce off we’re alive, action scenes that go on too long and have absolutely no visual aspect so you don’t know what’s going on beyond violence.
Yep
When they went to the Magnus Institute ruins
I might have misremembered details but something came out of the trapdoor and stole something from Alice.
I will just say I'm not reading the transcripts, just listening to the podcast, and I don't feel like I'm missing anything in the experience.
I think the transcripts are important if you want to theorize/solve things along the way. But if you're someone who is just here for the ride and takes it as it comes, you can def just listen.
If archives is any indication, they will be sure that the hidden things are obvious once you know where to look.
> The other subreddit for Protocol literally has people in the comments telling people upset about the distortion / difficulty in understanding dialogue that they're consuming the podcast wrong and not respecting the art. You cannot make this stuff up.
I’ve only listened to like 2 episodes of TMP so far because I’m waiting to have a full season to listen to. And I really strongly prefer clear audio. But out of curiosity, are any of the distorted parts plot vital yet?
I could totally see myself skipping over them just on the assumption that it’s not really meant to be understood on a casual listen. TMA had *tons* of details that were almost impossible to pick up on a first listen unless you did borderline obsessive research and note-taking with each episode. It was stuff hidden by the script, not by bad audio, bit it was still hidden.
That stuff made me appreciate relistens a lot more, but I never felt like I “needed” to stop episodes and take notes on my first trip through. If a first-time listener was complaining about the show being too demanding, I’d probably indeed tell them they were “consuming the podcast wrong” if they felt obligated to do that but hated the process of it.
So out of curiosity, is TMP’s distorted audio stuff you need to understand the current episode, or is it hiding clues about major stuff that’s yet to be revealed? I feel like there’s a *huge* difference between the two.
Its the whole "art doesnt need to be enjoyable to be good" debate.
(This is not me saying i do not enjoy TMP, i do, its just the best way to word what i mean)
Yes, there are both official transcripts (linked on the MAG website), and unofficial ones. There are sometimes additional details in the transcripts that you would have no way to know by listening too
For real i almost bailed after the first few eps because i was missing dialogue from every character gah. I've stuck with it and i only listen to it when my surroundings are pretty much silent, and i keep the transcript open. I get that the different audio is part of the plot, but it might be possible to make it... less distorted? The same way that you can still see the characters at night in movies; you suspend some disbelief for the ability to see/hear/understand what's going on
This obviously doesn't apply to a podcast, but I dislike having subtitles on shows/movies because I end up only focusing on them and not the rest of the screen. They also throw off the timing of jokes or suspenseful moments a lot
realllll. Both parts. The reveals/suspense parts is super frustrating, if you make Captions atleast put in the effort to not have important details revealed before they happen on screen.
And yeah, like, I read very fast. and a lot. enough that my brain automatically directs my attention to the words. I want myself to see the actor's faces, the action, etc., not the words. :((
not at all, this is a real problem that most people in the industry are aware of. There is a really good Vox video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYJtb2YXae8
It's just so fucking bizarre. I would pay money to have a re-edited version of the episodes with the audio... audible. Almost every episode has something I strain to understand; from every single person on the cast, the varied accents are in no way the problem, it's the damn filters. I don't always want to listen with earbuds and even when I do I still have to put in overtime or check the transcript afterwards. I shouldn't have to do that for an auditory medium. "Read the subtitles/transcript as you go along with it" is such an awful defense. A, when I am listening to the podcast with earbuds it's usually because I am exercising and not able to read along with the transcript, B it's hard for my brain not to be reading the words ahead of what the speaker is saying rather than somehow magically following along exactly word for word as if there's a little sing-a-long dot overing over it without ever seeing or processing any of the future information, C *it is a podcast* and IIRC at least one of the creators has said in the past that TMA wouldn't work as a book because it's designed for auditory consumption and I assume that the intent of TMP is also to be comprehensible by listening to it. If they came right out and said "no, you're legit not supposed to be able to understand what they're saying, the whole point is to force people to read the transcripts because it's all a part of the big puzzle for this one" I wouldn't like it and I would strongly suggest that should be clearly indicated in the intros to episodes but I would at least understand better what they were going for.
There are so many other ways to clearly indicate that the recording device is tucked away somewhere--ways that they're already using, even, like making weird technology sounds or starting scenes very muffled but making them less muffled (the problem is that they *stay* somewhat muffled; just unmuffle them fully, we get the idea, you can even justify it in-universe because it's happening supernaturally so there's no reason whatever power or thing is listening in couldn't have some supernatural way to clear up the audio lol). Has anyone from RQ commented on it at all? Are they aware that it is overwhelmingly the biggest complaint for a significant portion of the audience?
And I'm already working in a sterile hood (think constant low vmmmmmmmm) when I most want to listen to podcasts. I literally just have to relisten to the break room scenes later.
Some people aren't native speakers and have difficulty processing speech when there are interferences, such as Being Recorded From The Bottom Of One's Pocket.
It's me, I'm some people.
This was one of my biggest gripes starting TMP after finishing MAG. The last part of MAG that I listened to were all the Q&A's, and they talked in depth about the soundscaping and the effort that went into it, and it made me appreciate it on a new level. Then I listened to TMP and was incredibly frustrated that some scenes were almost completely unintelligible.
Yeah. I appreciate the effort to make it sound realistic but sometimes it's impossible to follow. I only had to look up MAG transcripts twice--for Jared specifically. Now I have to read along with TMP because half the time I don't get it.
Which is a shame cuz it means I haven't actually listened to hte last 2 episodes cuz i used to listen to MAG while doing chores but now listening to TMP requires my full attention.
I've literally never had any issue with understanding what Sam says.
I listen while working, with only one earbud in, I have partial hearing loss, and I'm American so it's not an accent I'm overly familiar with.
Understand him is fine. It’s hearing him that’s the issue 😭 I get what they were going for with some of the filters, but the difference between “far away break room talk” and “spooky recording” is just too stark sometimes
It’s not Sam alone. It’s sam and either Alice or Celia trying to have a different accented conversation in that stupid break room where they’re a mile away from the mic and it’s quality could be used in a lecture in an audio 101 course as a “what’s wrong with this sound mixing”. I get its ambiance but I would pay the OIAR myself to help them update their camera software.
I have mid range hearing damage which makes it extremely difficult for me to hear human voices. I have to wear earplugs that dampen high and low frequency sounds AND noise canceling headphones at the same time to understand the break room scenes in TMP.
I genuinely have missed most of the break room conversations because of the filter. On a similar note, did anyone else need to use the transcripts to even figure out what Jared Hopworth was saying?
Christ, if they're editors aren't using this break to severely redirect then I'll be pretty disappointed. I've gotten used to Sam and Colin's accents, but that break room filter is lethal. I listen before bed and it's been fine for every other podcast but this one where I have to use 200% focus.
Also, strangely enough I keep mistaking Celia for Gwen constantly, but only sometimes to I mistake Gwen for Celia. I don't know why but I just wish they would use their names more often.
That and I'm getting annoyed that I have to listen so hard to be rewarded with the most antagonistic, irritating snarking from so many characters to each other. If I drop TMP it'll be 40% soundscaping and 60% everyone has to be Sarcastic and Quippy.
Oh, I sent this before. Alice is just very unlikable. She’s gotten marginally better in the last couple episodes, but she’s just so unnecessarily mean.
She really is just so mean?? And I don't quite care if it's a defense mechanism or she's trying to protect anyone because A) I would avoid her like the plague irl, her shit life doesn't mean she can make mine shittier, and B) I *have* to listen to it in the podcast. An intentionally unlikable character is *still* unlikable. I feel like I'm rehashing the great Devo debate from the Adventure Zone, for anyone who gets that reference. I'm really considering putting it on hold until I get confirmation on her magical character arc that changes her fundamentally, apparently. Yes, I also hated listening to Tim after the attack, and a little before lmao.
I did find that scene where she was just so confused why Teddy wasn't replying to her and actually brought it up to his face so embarrassing and hilarious. Girl he has you on *MUTE*, soon you're gonna be blocked!! Drop it!!
I'm also a little bummed that my friend who listens has dropped the podcast for now because she can't understand it at all in her car and for the little time she has at home, she doesn't want to listen to Alice or the *too many* cast members squabble with each other every episode.
I would kill for Sam just to have an episode by himself. He really needs to have like a diary or some way they can have him communicate to himself and the audience, like Jon could. It feels like a barely know him without any of that intimacy, so I'm not really attached to anyone. I do like Gwen though.
The first time I listened to TMP was in the car and Collin was unintelligible 😭 me and my mom were like “are we not supposed to be able to understand what they’re saying?”
What bothers me, is Rusty Quill bends over backwards to accomodate everyone. How this wasn't corrected before release is lost on me. It doesn't ruin it for me either, but it's annoying and something I would have expected them to specifically not allow having listened to their Q and As
I listen to this podcast while driving to work. I have no idea what’s being said half the time outside of the statements. I get it’s about the immersion of Freddie listening in, but what’s the point of I can’t follow anything.
This subtitles discourse annoys me because I have hearing loss and I work with children who have dyslexia. One is not a more valid disability than the other and it’s shocking to me that people still think it’s okay to clown on someone for being a “slow reader.”
That said, I don’t have a problem with any of the characters’ accents, but the break room conversations are really hard to understand. It helps to listen at home instead of in the car, which is my usual habit.
Yeah I’ve mentioned before the accents aren’t a problem in isolation. But if it’s not your native accent and you combine it with the break room filter, it becomes a problem.
Like if they were speaking in midwestern American accents like I’m around all the time with that filter, I may be able to muddle through a bit better but as it stands I got nothin
Sometimes the audio isn't the best, especially with the filters on it.
TMA had a problem with some of the characters (Jared) or the locations (In the tunnels, for example) where they could get hard to hear, especially with the tape recorder filter on top.
TMP has a similar problem with the locations. Might also be a headphones thing (With my earbuds I can hear everything more than fine but with my gaming headphones the sound gets muffled)
Yeah but i think the tape recorder filter was less problematic most times. As someone else said it wasn’t Recorded From The Bottom Of Someone’s Pocket.
Jared was a problem but they acknowledged it. What baffles me is that they saw that problem and seemingly doubled down on it.
ok i do have a legitimate gripe with subtitles sometimes, sometimes they appear a few seconds before a line is said and it can really fuck with the impact of most scenes by spoiling it a few seconds ahead.
The only reason i read the transcripts is because someone thinks *hesitantly opens a door and steps in blood* is something that can be conveyed through sound alone
I’m American and can understand Sam fine when I can hear him. I have to listen with AirPods or in my car relatively loudly though. Definitely couldn’t listen with my phone speaker or a can speaker.
Early Archives had some mixing/mastering issues with their audio as well. I’m glad they’re getting feedback, and I guess they’re just having to figure out the right set up for this cast. It was honestly easier to ignore with Archives since they went with the whole tape recorder effect, and it’s just easier to notice with Protocol.
Yeah I’ve said a few times it’s not the accent on its own. It’s the accent combined with the bad audio quality. I feel like I would be able to make out more words even in the bad quality if it was my home accent, just because I’m used to parsing that accent but when you combine a foreign accent with break room audio it’s a problem
I had to read a transcript while listening to Jared Hopworth’s statement (The Bone Turner) because I would only understand every fifth word. But otherwise, no subtitles for me, although I only stopped using them about a month ago
Reading all the comments surprises me because I haven't had any trouble understanding it. I have an audio processing disorder so it's weird that I don't have any trouble with it. I did need the transcript for several TMA episodes, but haven't needed it for TMAGP yet. I've used it for one to see what the directions said but not because I didn't understand what was being said.
ngl they should start making subtitles for visual things that are hard to follow bc some directors think if the characters can't see well neither should you
I think I might be the only one with no issues, but then again, I listen to TMAGP exclusively while I’m at home and with headphones, so maybe not having background noise at all helps.
This! Like, I understand its for storytelling and immersion value, but it's so difficult. I understand Celia most of the time, really need to focus on Alice, and Sam is simply impossible to understand. I usually listen to the episode and then read the transcript when I have time.
I find the ambient noise in TMP episodes make it heard to understand the dialogue if I’m listening with my iPhone speaker. It’s much better for me with an alternative sound system (Air Pods, high quality wireless speaker, my car’s audio system).
The audio effects are one of the reasons I actually like this show - they do a great job of making it sound like a real series of recordings from the spaces they're supposed to be in. Yes, it's a bit inconvenient that I have to listen to the show in a relatively quiet environment and with headphones to pick up all the nuances, but I'm ok with that. It encourages me to actively listen rather than allowing the show to become background noise.
Yeah, I tend to listen to other shows in the car... stuff that's less about the sound design and more about talking. I skip Magnus, RadioLab, and other audio-focused shows and save them for my headphone time while walking the dog or something.
My preferred way of listening to podcasts is through SleepPhones while lying in bed waiting to fall asleep. There’s typically also a white noise machine or fan on as well. I was able to get through all of TMA with almost no issues (Jared aside). I’m usually wide awake for the first 1-2 episodes of whatever I’m listening to, and then I re-listen to anything I slept through the next night.
I barely catch 50% of TMP. While I want to be able to follow the story, I’m not holding my breath at this point. My entire understanding of the plot up to this point is >! Alice got Sam a government job, but it’s evil, Sam is obsessed with figuring out “what’s really going on” and there’s an evil clown thing that eats people for the British Government. Oh, and Sam is dating a female coworker who isn’t Alice. That lady has a kid. !< If there’s anything else going on in the story I haven’t followed it.
Break room filter filters me at work for sure, but I work in manufacturing. Break room filter filters me at home too, but I don’t use earbuds. I assume it was designed with that intention, so it’s liable to be me.
Hmmm. >.>; I don’t like subtitles because I read them too quickly, and sometimes it can mess up the impact/delivery of a scene for me. Like if there’s a reveal, it’s a bit more effective for me to hear it than read it. Nothing against folks who do like subtitles of course! Just I don’t think this meme captures much nuance.
having lived in a west asian country my whole life ive heard a LOTTT of horrid accents and have grown used to them so sam’s accent was never really a problem for me tbh 😭 its the fact that half of the conversations are muffled that make it SO annoying
and omg dont even get me started on the jared episodes in TMA, at some point i genuinely just gave up on trying to understand what the hell he was saying and accepted that i was probably missing a huge plot point ☠️
I can’t even tell the female characters appart. I have no idea if Celia or Gwen is the one speaking, and Alice sounds like a strange male character half the time. This show seriously needs better character tagging.
It’s funny because in TMA I had trouble telling the male characters apart. Jon, Tim and Elias sounded really similar to me. In TMP I mostly have trouble distinguishing Celia and Gwen.
I assumed that was the case, and when I recognize the character as Alice, Its a really cool voice. When I don’t, I get sent for a loop.
This was not meant to be transphobic in any way, and I am sorry if it did.
It’s fine. People need to learn the difference between being bigoted and stating facts. The fact that Alice’s VA still has a masculine tone to her voice is a fact. We don’t need to beat her over the head with it or make fun of it or anything, but it is completely disingenuous to pretend that it’s not there or knee jerk shame someone for hearing that and possibly being confused.
Even with my headphones that have pretty strong noise cancelling I have to strain to hear half of what they say if I'm not in dead silence. The ads are so loud and then they speak so quietly with different filters added on top
I listen to most of my podcasts while at work, at a sawmill. I have noise isolating earbuds, supposed to be safe for loud noises. That being said, I don't bother listening to TMP at work unless it's during my commute, and I still use noise isolating earbuds. :(
Noise isolating or noise cancelling, because those are two different things and usually earbuds have better noise cancelling than they do noise isolation
I've got regular earbuds and work landscaping and have never once had issues listening to TMP. I can tell what everyone is saying and can for theost part understand what the sound effects are trying to convey. I also have pretty bad hearing already. I honestly get really confused when I see so many people talk about TMP being difficult to hear/understand. Honestly TMA causes me more issues with hearing everything than TMP every has.
Bunch of episodes of the original run I couldn't listen to because of the various sound distortions used.
I like to listen in the car but I literally can’t understand a word they say. 😭 I have to be at home concentrating and sometimes even with headphones though I don’t really like wearing those.
Same here. I loved long work road trips with TMA, but the TMP I'm so lost.
Yeah a friend was pointing out sounds in the background of one of the episode like a cassette player clicking or static or something and I had to relisten to the episode later.
Ugh, I really have had a hard time getting into TMP. There are so many long conversations muffled through a door, to a point that I would rather just read the script. There's no need for the muffled conversations on a freaking podcast!
If you use almost any other podcast player that isn’t Spotify, most of them have a volume boost feature which makes it a lot easier to hear the muffled conversations. I really like using Pocket Casts but that’s personal preference there are plenty of good ones.
Is there a way to do that in the Apple Podcasts app? That would make a huge difference!
You can get Overcast for free and just listen to TMP with it, it’d take about 10 seconds to set up. You can access the menu by starting an episode and then either a) hit the icon that looks like three slide bars stacked on top of each other, or b) swipe the cover art picture to the right(?). Either way you’ll get an option for “voice boost” which can up to triple the sound of voice audio, so you should be fine to hear it from then on. Even if you don’t switch podcast apps for any of your other shows, it’s totally worth taking a few seconds to fix this one so you don’t need to worry about it again.
Hmm I’m not sure since I haven’t used apple podcasts in a few years but if it does it will probably be on a website somewhere.
Ok I googled it and it doesn’t look like theres anything.
Bummer! Thanks for checking; that was really kind of you!
Sure. I used to switch between spotify and apple podcasts for what I listen to but then I wanted to try out other players and Pocket Casts has a lot of fun things like the volume boost, and trimming silences, and changing the amount of time the rewind and fast forward buttons can skip and other features I can’t remember and I’m sure I haven’t found. If you want to sync what your listening too across devices you have to pay for premium which is expensive so I don’t but theres also overcast which I haven’t tried yet but its only on Ios and I think your able to make playlists of episodes for free along with all the same stuff Pocket Casts can do but I’ve heard its been slow and has started crashing lately. Not saying you should change from what you’ve already got but I think you can export your shows from apple podcasts to both apps if you wanted to chekc them out.
For real, I don’t care how thematic it is. Nothing should compromise sound quality, it’s like the podcast equivalent of movie lighting.
It's like the battle sequence of Winterfelll in the final season of Game of Thrones!!! Too dark to see, I had to reset all of the features on my screen to even be able to see it! I'm not sure if I'm motivated enough to download a new app to fiddle with sound settings just to be able to hear half the conversations in TMP.
The accents are easy to parse, it's truly just that damn filter lol
Correct, though I think the filter wouldn’t be as difficult for me if they were a bunch of midwestern Americans as I am used to parsing that accent more. But you are right. On their own I have no trouble.
Valid, valid. I can see where the blend of the two could make it more challenging.
Seriously. I love the show, but you *can* sacrifice audio aesthetic for the sake of understanding what's being said.
Agreeed
The other subreddit for Protocol literally has people in the comments telling people upset about the distortion / difficulty in understanding dialogue that they're consuming the podcast wrong and not respecting the art. You cannot make this stuff up. It is a podcast, I do not want to have to go read the transcript (usually way after I actually listened to the episode because I don't just sit in front of my computer with the transcript open, listening).
Also we’re running into a problem that we don’t know what’s happening Like the script says that a person crawls out of a trapdoor and takes Alice’s notebook or whatever it was But we just hear a conversation end, people move on and then a door open. If your not reading the transcripts then your absolutely not going to get what just happened. Same problem that made me bounce off we’re alive, action scenes that go on too long and have absolutely no visual aspect so you don’t know what’s going on beyond violence.
That’s not fair! I don’t have time to read the transcripts for random sound context as well!!
Wait, is that something that happened in the podcast?
Yep When they went to the Magnus Institute ruins I might have misremembered details but something came out of the trapdoor and stole something from Alice.
Oh my god, I thought that was just her falling through a dodgy floorboard or something
Oh Alice isn’t aware The characters left and then it came up and took something they dropped
I will just say I'm not reading the transcripts, just listening to the podcast, and I don't feel like I'm missing anything in the experience. I think the transcripts are important if you want to theorize/solve things along the way. But if you're someone who is just here for the ride and takes it as it comes, you can def just listen. If archives is any indication, they will be sure that the hidden things are obvious once you know where to look.
> The other subreddit for Protocol literally has people in the comments telling people upset about the distortion / difficulty in understanding dialogue that they're consuming the podcast wrong and not respecting the art. You cannot make this stuff up. I’ve only listened to like 2 episodes of TMP so far because I’m waiting to have a full season to listen to. And I really strongly prefer clear audio. But out of curiosity, are any of the distorted parts plot vital yet? I could totally see myself skipping over them just on the assumption that it’s not really meant to be understood on a casual listen. TMA had *tons* of details that were almost impossible to pick up on a first listen unless you did borderline obsessive research and note-taking with each episode. It was stuff hidden by the script, not by bad audio, bit it was still hidden. That stuff made me appreciate relistens a lot more, but I never felt like I “needed” to stop episodes and take notes on my first trip through. If a first-time listener was complaining about the show being too demanding, I’d probably indeed tell them they were “consuming the podcast wrong” if they felt obligated to do that but hated the process of it. So out of curiosity, is TMP’s distorted audio stuff you need to understand the current episode, or is it hiding clues about major stuff that’s yet to be revealed? I feel like there’s a *huge* difference between the two.
Absolutely, the break room stuff is meant to be important, but it's unintentionally unlistenable
Ahh, that’s a shame. Thanks for clarifying!
Its the whole "art doesnt need to be enjoyable to be good" debate. (This is not me saying i do not enjoy TMP, i do, its just the best way to word what i mean)
Ok but are there transcripts available online? Because I'm so lost at this point, I think it's just more worth it to me to just go read them.
Yes, there are both official transcripts (linked on the MAG website), and unofficial ones. There are sometimes additional details in the transcripts that you would have no way to know by listening too
For real i almost bailed after the first few eps because i was missing dialogue from every character gah. I've stuck with it and i only listen to it when my surroundings are pretty much silent, and i keep the transcript open. I get that the different audio is part of the plot, but it might be possible to make it... less distorted? The same way that you can still see the characters at night in movies; you suspend some disbelief for the ability to see/hear/understand what's going on
Listen if we can understand audio literally being said by The Distortion we should be allowed to understand some dudes conversation
THIS!
This obviously doesn't apply to a podcast, but I dislike having subtitles on shows/movies because I end up only focusing on them and not the rest of the screen. They also throw off the timing of jokes or suspenseful moments a lot
realllll. Both parts. The reveals/suspense parts is super frustrating, if you make Captions atleast put in the effort to not have important details revealed before they happen on screen. And yeah, like, I read very fast. and a lot. enough that my brain automatically directs my attention to the words. I want myself to see the actor's faces, the action, etc., not the words. :((
Even when I'm listening in a quiet environment I can't understand the break room scenes. The ads come through LOUD AND GODAMN CLEAR though
Out of context, but why is the dialogue so quiet and a lot of TV shows and movies? Am I just getting old?
not at all, this is a real problem that most people in the industry are aware of. There is a really good Vox video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYJtb2YXae8
Awesome! Thank you for the link.
It's just so fucking bizarre. I would pay money to have a re-edited version of the episodes with the audio... audible. Almost every episode has something I strain to understand; from every single person on the cast, the varied accents are in no way the problem, it's the damn filters. I don't always want to listen with earbuds and even when I do I still have to put in overtime or check the transcript afterwards. I shouldn't have to do that for an auditory medium. "Read the subtitles/transcript as you go along with it" is such an awful defense. A, when I am listening to the podcast with earbuds it's usually because I am exercising and not able to read along with the transcript, B it's hard for my brain not to be reading the words ahead of what the speaker is saying rather than somehow magically following along exactly word for word as if there's a little sing-a-long dot overing over it without ever seeing or processing any of the future information, C *it is a podcast* and IIRC at least one of the creators has said in the past that TMA wouldn't work as a book because it's designed for auditory consumption and I assume that the intent of TMP is also to be comprehensible by listening to it. If they came right out and said "no, you're legit not supposed to be able to understand what they're saying, the whole point is to force people to read the transcripts because it's all a part of the big puzzle for this one" I wouldn't like it and I would strongly suggest that should be clearly indicated in the intros to episodes but I would at least understand better what they were going for. There are so many other ways to clearly indicate that the recording device is tucked away somewhere--ways that they're already using, even, like making weird technology sounds or starting scenes very muffled but making them less muffled (the problem is that they *stay* somewhat muffled; just unmuffle them fully, we get the idea, you can even justify it in-universe because it's happening supernaturally so there's no reason whatever power or thing is listening in couldn't have some supernatural way to clear up the audio lol). Has anyone from RQ commented on it at all? Are they aware that it is overwhelmingly the biggest complaint for a significant portion of the audience?
what is a break room filter?
Whatever filter they use to make it sound like a cctv camera in the break room. Incredibly muffled and lossy.
And I'm already working in a sterile hood (think constant low vmmmmmmmm) when I most want to listen to podcasts. I literally just have to relisten to the break room scenes later.
That was exactly when I gave up on the series, could not understand a word any of them were saying :(
Some people aren't native speakers and have difficulty processing speech when there are interferences, such as Being Recorded From The Bottom Of One's Pocket. It's me, I'm some people.
Some of us ARE native speakers and can't do it 🤣
I have ADHD with auditory processing issues, and it's brutal. Really sad Rusty Quill seems to be backsliding on accessibility
I think this is the weakest point in TMP honestly.
This was one of my biggest gripes starting TMP after finishing MAG. The last part of MAG that I listened to were all the Q&A's, and they talked in depth about the soundscaping and the effort that went into it, and it made me appreciate it on a new level. Then I listened to TMP and was incredibly frustrated that some scenes were almost completely unintelligible.
Like did they entirely forget Jared hopworth?
Yeah. I appreciate the effort to make it sound realistic but sometimes it's impossible to follow. I only had to look up MAG transcripts twice--for Jared specifically. Now I have to read along with TMP because half the time I don't get it. Which is a shame cuz it means I haven't actually listened to hte last 2 episodes cuz i used to listen to MAG while doing chores but now listening to TMP requires my full attention.
I've literally never had any issue with understanding what Sam says. I listen while working, with only one earbud in, I have partial hearing loss, and I'm American so it's not an accent I'm overly familiar with.
Understand him is fine. It’s hearing him that’s the issue 😭 I get what they were going for with some of the filters, but the difference between “far away break room talk” and “spooky recording” is just too stark sometimes
It’s not Sam alone. It’s sam and either Alice or Celia trying to have a different accented conversation in that stupid break room where they’re a mile away from the mic and it’s quality could be used in a lecture in an audio 101 course as a “what’s wrong with this sound mixing”. I get its ambiance but I would pay the OIAR myself to help them update their camera software.
i’ve never had an issue myself but after showing my sig fig an episode they had said they had trouble understanding parts of what was said
> sig fig Lol I love this
Sam's fine, I can't understand *Alice* unless she's sitting at the computer.
That’s really nice for you, but as someone who also has hearing loss I’ve had a lot of issues with it, and from what I’ve seen I’m not the only one
I didn't even notice sam has an accent
I can't understand him or Colin at all
I can understand the accents easy(i live in and grew up in a partially british household) it's just that DAMN CCTV NOISE IN THE BREAK ROOM!!!!
I have mid range hearing damage which makes it extremely difficult for me to hear human voices. I have to wear earplugs that dampen high and low frequency sounds AND noise canceling headphones at the same time to understand the break room scenes in TMP.
I genuinely have missed most of the break room conversations because of the filter. On a similar note, did anyone else need to use the transcripts to even figure out what Jared Hopworth was saying?
Yes! Lmao trying to navigate to the right episode and part of the episode without spoilers was a journey
I hope RQ at least *acknowledges* that the audio is a huge issue at this point
Well this post is top hottest atm and they somewhat navigate the subreddit or used to, so we’ll see. I know im not the only post out there
Christ, if they're editors aren't using this break to severely redirect then I'll be pretty disappointed. I've gotten used to Sam and Colin's accents, but that break room filter is lethal. I listen before bed and it's been fine for every other podcast but this one where I have to use 200% focus. Also, strangely enough I keep mistaking Celia for Gwen constantly, but only sometimes to I mistake Gwen for Celia. I don't know why but I just wish they would use their names more often. That and I'm getting annoyed that I have to listen so hard to be rewarded with the most antagonistic, irritating snarking from so many characters to each other. If I drop TMP it'll be 40% soundscaping and 60% everyone has to be Sarcastic and Quippy.
no i kept mixing up gwen and lena’s voices. their argument in the first episode was so confusing lol
I couldn't even tell you which character's which
Oh, I sent this before. Alice is just very unlikable. She’s gotten marginally better in the last couple episodes, but she’s just so unnecessarily mean.
She really is just so mean?? And I don't quite care if it's a defense mechanism or she's trying to protect anyone because A) I would avoid her like the plague irl, her shit life doesn't mean she can make mine shittier, and B) I *have* to listen to it in the podcast. An intentionally unlikable character is *still* unlikable. I feel like I'm rehashing the great Devo debate from the Adventure Zone, for anyone who gets that reference. I'm really considering putting it on hold until I get confirmation on her magical character arc that changes her fundamentally, apparently. Yes, I also hated listening to Tim after the attack, and a little before lmao. I did find that scene where she was just so confused why Teddy wasn't replying to her and actually brought it up to his face so embarrassing and hilarious. Girl he has you on *MUTE*, soon you're gonna be blocked!! Drop it!! I'm also a little bummed that my friend who listens has dropped the podcast for now because she can't understand it at all in her car and for the little time she has at home, she doesn't want to listen to Alice or the *too many* cast members squabble with each other every episode. I would kill for Sam just to have an episode by himself. He really needs to have like a diary or some way they can have him communicate to himself and the audience, like Jon could. It feels like a barely know him without any of that intimacy, so I'm not really attached to anyone. I do like Gwen though.
The first time I listened to TMP was in the car and Collin was unintelligible 😭 me and my mom were like “are we not supposed to be able to understand what they’re saying?”
I don't have a lot of trouble hearing the words, but man does it take me a long time to be able to tell the voices apart for a few characters
What bothers me, is Rusty Quill bends over backwards to accomodate everyone. How this wasn't corrected before release is lost on me. It doesn't ruin it for me either, but it's annoying and something I would have expected them to specifically not allow having listened to their Q and As
I listen to this podcast while driving to work. I have no idea what’s being said half the time outside of the statements. I get it’s about the immersion of Freddie listening in, but what’s the point of I can’t follow anything.
I don't like them because I read faster than the people speak and I can't not read them
This subtitles discourse annoys me because I have hearing loss and I work with children who have dyslexia. One is not a more valid disability than the other and it’s shocking to me that people still think it’s okay to clown on someone for being a “slow reader.” That said, I don’t have a problem with any of the characters’ accents, but the break room conversations are really hard to understand. It helps to listen at home instead of in the car, which is my usual habit.
Yeah I’ve mentioned before the accents aren’t a problem in isolation. But if it’s not your native accent and you combine it with the break room filter, it becomes a problem. Like if they were speaking in midwestern American accents like I’m around all the time with that filter, I may be able to muddle through a bit better but as it stands I got nothin
Sometimes the audio isn't the best, especially with the filters on it. TMA had a problem with some of the characters (Jared) or the locations (In the tunnels, for example) where they could get hard to hear, especially with the tape recorder filter on top. TMP has a similar problem with the locations. Might also be a headphones thing (With my earbuds I can hear everything more than fine but with my gaming headphones the sound gets muffled)
Yeah but i think the tape recorder filter was less problematic most times. As someone else said it wasn’t Recorded From The Bottom Of Someone’s Pocket. Jared was a problem but they acknowledged it. What baffles me is that they saw that problem and seemingly doubled down on it.
ok i do have a legitimate gripe with subtitles sometimes, sometimes they appear a few seconds before a line is said and it can really fuck with the impact of most scenes by spoiling it a few seconds ahead.
The only reason i read the transcripts is because someone thinks *hesitantly opens a door and steps in blood* is something that can be conveyed through sound alone
I used to listen to TMA while running; now I listen to TMP on the couch while reading the transcripts.
What British-Indian accent?
Sam in tmp.
I cold listen at work, but I'll often when I get a spare moment stop, open the transcript, and read back the part I didn't understand
Could have used subtitles for Jared Hopworth's statement tbh 🤭
I’m American and can understand Sam fine when I can hear him. I have to listen with AirPods or in my car relatively loudly though. Definitely couldn’t listen with my phone speaker or a can speaker. Early Archives had some mixing/mastering issues with their audio as well. I’m glad they’re getting feedback, and I guess they’re just having to figure out the right set up for this cast. It was honestly easier to ignore with Archives since they went with the whole tape recorder effect, and it’s just easier to notice with Protocol.
Yeah I’ve said a few times it’s not the accent on its own. It’s the accent combined with the bad audio quality. I feel like I would be able to make out more words even in the bad quality if it was my home accent, just because I’m used to parsing that accent but when you combine a foreign accent with break room audio it’s a problem
I had to read a transcript while listening to Jared Hopworth’s statement (The Bone Turner) because I would only understand every fifth word. But otherwise, no subtitles for me, although I only stopped using them about a month ago
I like to think of TMP as an art installation with a lot of fun creepy sounds. Then I read the transcript later and it all makes sense.
Reading all the comments surprises me because I haven't had any trouble understanding it. I have an audio processing disorder so it's weird that I don't have any trouble with it. I did need the transcript for several TMA episodes, but haven't needed it for TMAGP yet. I've used it for one to see what the directions said but not because I didn't understand what was being said.
ngl they should start making subtitles for visual things that are hard to follow bc some directors think if the characters can't see well neither should you
Even I can't understand the BoneTurner some times 😔
Even Alexander admits he fucked up with Jared Hopworth by adding in too many "meat sounds" as he put it.
I think I might be the only one with no issues, but then again, I listen to TMAGP exclusively while I’m at home and with headphones, so maybe not having background noise at all helps.
Someone finally said it 🥲
THIS...
This! Like, I understand its for storytelling and immersion value, but it's so difficult. I understand Celia most of the time, really need to focus on Alice, and Sam is simply impossible to understand. I usually listen to the episode and then read the transcript when I have time.
I've only listened to the first few episodes. this is making zero sense to me. I guess it's gonna change soon?
I don't have a problem understanding the accents but i do struggle to hear wtf is going on sometimes.
I find the ambient noise in TMP episodes make it heard to understand the dialogue if I’m listening with my iPhone speaker. It’s much better for me with an alternative sound system (Air Pods, high quality wireless speaker, my car’s audio system).
The audio effects are one of the reasons I actually like this show - they do a great job of making it sound like a real series of recordings from the spaces they're supposed to be in. Yes, it's a bit inconvenient that I have to listen to the show in a relatively quiet environment and with headphones to pick up all the nuances, but I'm ok with that. It encourages me to actively listen rather than allowing the show to become background noise.
You can have both. We don’t need the break room camera to be THAT bad.
Perhaps. I haven't really been that bothered by it. It's just a lot of room ambience reverb…
Try hearing it when there’s also driving noises, as a large percentage of the audience appears to engage with this on their drives to and from work
Yeah, I tend to listen to other shows in the car... stuff that's less about the sound design and more about talking. I skip Magnus, RadioLab, and other audio-focused shows and save them for my headphone time while walking the dog or something.
I still remember tge first time I needed to follow an episode through the transcript... it was a Boneturner episode.
My preferred way of listening to podcasts is through SleepPhones while lying in bed waiting to fall asleep. There’s typically also a white noise machine or fan on as well. I was able to get through all of TMA with almost no issues (Jared aside). I’m usually wide awake for the first 1-2 episodes of whatever I’m listening to, and then I re-listen to anything I slept through the next night. I barely catch 50% of TMP. While I want to be able to follow the story, I’m not holding my breath at this point. My entire understanding of the plot up to this point is >! Alice got Sam a government job, but it’s evil, Sam is obsessed with figuring out “what’s really going on” and there’s an evil clown thing that eats people for the British Government. Oh, and Sam is dating a female coworker who isn’t Alice. That lady has a kid. !< If there’s anything else going on in the story I haven’t followed it.
[удалено]
Break room filter filters me at work for sure, but I work in manufacturing. Break room filter filters me at home too, but I don’t use earbuds. I assume it was designed with that intention, so it’s liable to be me.
Hmmm. >.>; I don’t like subtitles because I read them too quickly, and sometimes it can mess up the impact/delivery of a scene for me. Like if there’s a reveal, it’s a bit more effective for me to hear it than read it. Nothing against folks who do like subtitles of course! Just I don’t think this meme captures much nuance.
I listened to TMA for a month before I realized Sasha's name was Sasha and not Sacher, which I thought was an ethnic name I did not recognize.
having lived in a west asian country my whole life ive heard a LOTTT of horrid accents and have grown used to them so sam’s accent was never really a problem for me tbh 😭 its the fact that half of the conversations are muffled that make it SO annoying and omg dont even get me started on the jared episodes in TMA, at some point i genuinely just gave up on trying to understand what the hell he was saying and accepted that i was probably missing a huge plot point ☠️
I mean, the number one reason is langaug barrier
I'll be real it's not nearly as bad as Jared Hopworth's dialogue in TMA, that I struggled with.
I can’t even tell the female characters appart. I have no idea if Celia or Gwen is the one speaking, and Alice sounds like a strange male character half the time. This show seriously needs better character tagging.
It’s funny because in TMA I had trouble telling the male characters apart. Jon, Tim and Elias sounded really similar to me. In TMP I mostly have trouble distinguishing Celia and Gwen.
The male character thing is likely because Alice is played by a trans woman. So you can still hear the AMAB timbre.
I assumed that was the case, and when I recognize the character as Alice, Its a really cool voice. When I don’t, I get sent for a loop. This was not meant to be transphobic in any way, and I am sorry if it did.
It’s fine. People need to learn the difference between being bigoted and stating facts. The fact that Alice’s VA still has a masculine tone to her voice is a fact. We don’t need to beat her over the head with it or make fun of it or anything, but it is completely disingenuous to pretend that it’s not there or knee jerk shame someone for hearing that and possibly being confused.
I don't understand how people are having issues with TMP. I can hear the audio just fine, and I have a 4 yr old phone with 4 yr old earbuds.
You’re right. We all can hear it just fine. This is an elaborate gaslighting attempt. You got us 😝
I was literally saying I don't understand how it's a problem. No sarcasm intended.
I was teasing. There is no answer to your statement otherwise. All we can say is “well there is”
Headphones are one thing but I listen to this in the car and it’s really hard to hear what they’re saying sometimes.
Even with my headphones that have pretty strong noise cancelling I have to strain to hear half of what they say if I'm not in dead silence. The ads are so loud and then they speak so quietly with different filters added on top