[podcasters] iTunes changes RSS feed?!
edwardv2
days ago when I published episode 9) that my feed within iTunes had started including
both versions of my podcast; one standard mp3 and one enhanced AAC. In looking into
it; it seems Apple has changed my feed URL from the original:
http://www.qdinformation.com/searching/?feed=rss2&category_name=podcast
which was only the mp3 version, to this URL:
http://www.qdinformation.com/searching/?feed=rss2
dropping the "&category_name=podcast". The problem is this feed is the main feed set up
by Wordpress and includes all categories (hence two versions of each podcast). I only
want the mp3 version there. I typically only advertise the mp3 feed and tell people if they
want the enhanced version, there are instructions for subscribing on my blog.
I wrote iTunes and included the orginal message from Apple stating the exact URL. They
weren't of any help (standard form reply pointing to the iTunes spec) and they basically
replied that since I was the publisher, I needed to change the feeds on my end. It had
been working without problems since April and then just this week, it got screwed up.
I'm wondering why this happened and what I might do to fix the problem. I set this up
based on the advice of another podcaster on this list using categories within Wordpress to
keep the feeds separate. I like the idea of using Wordpress to keep the feeds separate but
it seems iTunes doesn't like the category specification in the URL.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Ed
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todddani2000
Please tell me if this is correct or if I've been eating too many
mushrooms (or, perhaps, licking too many toads):
1) If you are using Garageband to produce your podcast, it saves it as
m4a file.
2) Thus, you must take it into iTunes and convert it to mp3?
That's crazy. Is it really true? Am I hallucinating?
So, when I turn it into mp3, what terrrible things happen? Do I lose
the enhanced features, like the bookmarks and slide show?
Thanks for any help,
The Humbled Goose
"One Goose, One World - Helping Humans To Evolve Past Self-Destruction"
John Federico
recording/mixing in GB. iTunes appears to be the best way to accomplish
this.
And if you didn't bring enough mushrooms/toads for the whole class, then
don't bring any at all, ya know?
;)
Regards,
-jf.
--
John Federico
c: 201-259-3309
ho: 888-696-1768
j...@newrules.com
AIM: jfgadgetboy
Skype: jfgadgetboy
Gizmo: jfgadgetboy
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfederico
Stephen Eley
>
> 1) If you are using Garageband to produce your podcast, it saves it as
> m4a file.
If you tell GarageBand that you want a podcast, yes, this is true.
That's because GB is set by default to produce "enhanced" podcasts,
with chapter stops and embedded images -- which play great on iPods
and iTunes, but nowhere else. You can guess what strategy Apple is
pursuing here.
> 2) Thus, you must take it into iTunes and convert it to mp3?
There is a slightly more direct way. Delete the 'podcast' track from
the project, then export *that* to iTunes. It'll export as an AIFF
file, which you can then turn into an MP3 much more cleanly and with
no extra compression loss.
> So, when I turn it into mp3, what terrrible things happen? Do I lose
> the enhanced features, like the bookmarks and slide show?
Yes. But you gain compatibility with all the non-Apple devices out
there. It's not a bad idea to release both, if you feel like it; but
I believe it is a bad idea to *only* release those .m4a "enhanced"
files.
--
Have Fun,
Steve Eley (sfe...@gmail.com)
ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine
http://www.escapepod.org
Les Posen
On 14/08/2006, at 8:07 AM, Stephen Eley wrote:
>
> Yes. But you gain compatibility with all the non-Apple devices out
> there. It's not a bad idea to release both, if you feel like it; but
> I believe it is a bad idea to *only* release those .m4a "enhanced"
> files.
Unless your podcast is, "Adavancing the use of iPods in business and
education"
Les
podcast411
bookmarks. Those items only work as a M4A (AAC) file. MP3 format does not supports
Enhanced podcasting.
So if you want / need the enhanced podcasting features - you need to keep it as a M4A
file.
Rob @ podCast411
Stephen Eley
> On 14/08/2006, at 8:07 AM, Stephen Eley wrote:
> >
> > Yes. But you gain compatibility with all the non-Apple devices out
> > there. It's not a bad idea to release both, if you feel like it; but
> > I believe it is a bad idea to *only* release those .m4a "enhanced"
> > files.
>
> Unless your podcast is, "Adavancing the use of iPods in business and
> education"
I'm not familiar with that podcast. But presumably its producer
wouldn't have to ask about GarageBand's export habits and their
connection with hallucinogens. >8->
todddani2000
Now that I have revealed my secret identify as a Podcast Dummy (even
AFTER reading the book), I may as well come forth with another novice
question:
Okay, so I make my audio files in mp3 so that non-Mac/non-iPod users
can listen to them too (we must not exercise prejudice against lower
life forms).
So, my question is - is there an industry mp3 podcast standard for:
Bit Rate?
Sampling Rate?
Thanks for any help.
The Goose
Shawn Thorpe
Bit rate usually varies, depending on content. For example, music-heavy
podcasts are usually at 96 kbps or higher. Talk-only podcasts can go as low
as 48 kbps and still sound good.
-Shawn
On 8/13/06, todddani2000 <tod...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Thanks everyone for your excellent answers to my Garageband questions.
> Now that I have revealed my secret identify as a Podcast Dummy (even
> AFTER reading the book), I may as well come forth with another novice
> question:
>
> Okay, so I make my audio files in mp3 so that non-Mac/non-iPod users
> can listen to them too (we must not exercise prejudice against lower
> life forms).
>
> So, my question is - is there an industry mp3 podcast standard for:
>
> Bit Rate?
> Sampling Rate?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> The Goose
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gui Leite
enhanced podcast with all the images and links, exporting it to
iTunes, then going back to GB, deleting the podcast track (and an
aditional track I use with a camera shutter sound so listeners know
when the image has been changed) and exporting the file again as AIFF
to iTunes. I then convert the AIFF file to 44.100kHz 64 kbps MP3 and
11.025kHz 16 kbps MP3.
It is a little more work than I'd like to have, but I've received
messages from people who download the show on their cell phones, so
the low quality (or dial-up version, as I call it) version works
great for them, and as noted, unless your show is only focused on
people who have an iPod/Mac, you will want to have a version in MP3,
which is a format most people will understand what it is.
[]'s
Gui Leite
__________________
http://www.guileite.com
http://lostcast.com.br
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Shawn Thorpe
know there are a lot of podcasts creating multiple feeds for that purpose.
I think it's a good practice to make sure that at least one of your feeds is
mp3-only, so that non-iTunes listeners will be able to listen without
problems. It surprises me that the podcasts created by CBC Radio 3 and
Paste Magazine are m4a-only. But, I guess when you've got the kind of
exposure opportunities that they do, it doesn't really matter.
-Shawn
On 8/13/06, Gui Leite <guil...@guileite.com> wrote:
>
> What I've been doing since GB3 came out this January is creating the
> enhanced podcast with all the images and links, exporting it to
> iTunes, then going back to GB, deleting the podcast track (and an
> aditional track I use with a camera shutter sound so listeners know
> when the image has been changed) and exporting the file again as AIFF
> to iTunes. I then convert the AIFF file to 44.100kHz 64 kbps MP3 and
> 11.025kHz 16 kbps MP3.
> It is a little more work than I'd like to have, but I've received
> messages from people who download the show on their cell phones, so
> the low quality (or dial-up version, as I call it) version works
> great for them, and as noted, unless your show is only focused on
> people who have an iPod/Mac, you will want to have a version in MP3,
> which is a format most people will understand what it is.
>
> []'s
>
> Gui Leite
> __________________
> http://www.guileite.com
> http://lostcast.com.br
>
Stephen Eley
>
> Bit Rate?
> Sampling Rate?
"Standard" is a dangerous term in a field like this. >8-> But
there's some conventional wisdom about what options work better than
others.
Sample rate first: you should use a sample rate of 44.1 kHz if music
fidelity matters to you. If it doesn't, you can use 44.1 or 22.05.
The difference is the frequency range: the sample rate is equal to
_twice_ the highest frequency you can reproduce in your file. (To
easily explain why would take a diagram. Or you can look it up on
Wikipedia.)
Given this, a 44 kHz sample rate will accurately reproduce sound
frequencies of 22 kHz or less. That's a little higher than the
ordinary range of human hearing. A 22 kHz sample rate will reproduce
sound frequencies of 11 kHz or less. Most useful sounds are under
this threshold; what you'd be missing is "brightness," the harmonics
that make sounds, particularly music, pleasant to listen to.
Someone else already posted in this thread to say he used an 11 kHz
sample rate. That limits you to frequencies of 5.5 kHz or less. Most
podcasts would sound distinctly flat in that range; it's only a little
better than telephone quality. If he hadn't said he was doing this
deliberately for cell phone users, I'd say it was a bad idea.
Your choice of sample rate makes no difference to MP3 file size. It
does have some effect on sound quality -- a higher sample rate may
mean bandwidth is devoted to sounds that no one can hear anyway -- but
the relationship is complex, and related to psychoacoustic algorithms
that I don't fully understand. The best way to choose between 22.05
or 44.1 is to try both with your MP3 encoder, listen to it, and go
with whichever one sounds better to you.
I err on the side of extravagance and use 44 for my own podcast, even
though it's 95% speech and 5% music. I've listened to both on good
headphones and *I* can tell the difference, so I do it to make myself
feel better.
Oh, and a final note: never use a sample rate that isn't a "multiple
of 11" rate. Flash-based Web players have a glitch in them so that
any other rate (e.g. 48 kHz or 24 kHz) will play like Alvin & the
Chipmunks. Unless you're Jonathan Coulton producing "A Podsafe
Christmas Song," you don't want this.
Bit rate: a simpler question, actually. The higher your bit rate, the
bigger your file and the better it'll sound (with diminishing
returns). The lower your bit rate, the smaller your file and the
worse it'll sound (with escalating crappiness).
In my opinion, the three most reasonable bit rates to choose from are
64 kbps (for a spoken word podcast), 96 kbps (for mixed) and 128 kbps
(for stereo music). Anything less than 64 kbps and the compression
loss is really noticeable. Higher than 128 kbps is just wasting
bandwidth. Again, try all three with your content, and use whichever
one feels right to you.
Oh, and you didn't ask, but you should always use joint stereo, and
never use variable bit rate (VBR). Joint stereo gives the best
quality and compatibility regardless of whether your signal is mono or
stereo; and VBR is glitchy on some MP3 players.
Whew. Simple, huh?
(*waits for response*)
...Yeah. I said the same thing. >8->
--
Have Fun,
Steve Eley (sfe...@gmail.com)
ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine
http://www.escapepod.org
alan...@gmail.com
Frank McMahon
For converting sounds to different formats after export I have been using
this program which is excellent:
http://www.dekorte.com/projects/shareware/SoundConverter/
Easy drag and drop, at a great price.
For most of my shows I use 96kbps/stereo/22kHz which provides a small file
size but also has very good sound for music and voice.
Franklin
-------------------------
Franklin McMahon Studio
fr...@fmstudio.com
http://www.fmstudio.com/
http://www.rumorgirls.com/
http://www.mediaartistsecrets.com/
http://www.secretsofsecondlife.com/
Ryan Ozawa
> it seems Apple has changed my feed URL from the original:
> set up by Wordpress and includes all categories (hence two versions of each
> podcast).
I wonder if it arbitrarily decided to drop anything after a FQDN and
extension (i.e. cutting out switches like & and ? and whatever)? That
sucks. Did you have both separated feeds listed successfully in
iTunes previously? Did they both suddenly turn into the same, main
WordPress feed?
If it's the switches thing, I'd think you might help things with
Ryan Ozawa
> it seems Apple has changed my feed URL from the original:
> dropping the "&category_name=podcast". The problem is this feed is the main feed
> set up by Wordpress and includes all categories (hence two versions of each
> podcast).
Grr... sorry for the misfire. Gmail seized on me and sent that out
after I got a little careless clicking about. Here's the rest of it
(I hope)!
I wonder if it arbitrarily decided to drop anything after a FQDN and
extension (i.e. cutting out switches like & and ? and whatever)? That
sucks. Did you have both separated feeds listed successfully in
iTunes previously? Did they both suddenly turn into the same, main
WordPress feed?
If it's the switches thing, I'd think you might help things with
.htaccess and mod_rewrite so that your separate feeds look different
-- blog.com/category/mp3/feed and blog.com/category/m4a/feed -- but
even so, that wouldn't help fixing your current problem with your
currently listed feed.
I'd actually started a podcast using the main WordPress feed, so when
I decided to offer an alternate one for "enhanced," I just created a
whole different channel altogether with Blogspot and Feedburner -- it
wouldn't take the categorized WordPress feed, saying it was already
submitted.
Always kind of regretted having to do that. But then again, I'd
imagine those two feeds wouldn't get randomly smushed together by
iTunes.
--
Ryan
HawaiiUP - Podcasting in paradise.
http://www.hawaiiup.com