Archive for Audio Quality Tips
The Cost of Poor Audio Quality
Posted by: | Commentsby Scott Quillin, for New England Multimedia
"Make it STOP!"
The quality of audio in an advertisement, whether radio or video, has a definite effect on the public’s perception of the quality of the product or service you provide. While “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” poor quality audio is apparent to everyone listening. Many businesses don’t realize the negative effect low-quality sound has on their brand.
It’s easy to hear the difference in audio quality between a professionally-produced product and one produced with sub-par technology. When it comes to the transmission, reception, or reproduction of sound, audio sometimes ends up at the bottom of the technical food chain. This has never been more apparent in the flood of online web videos, podcasts, music sites and marketing material uploaded to the Internet each day.
Truth is, in some applications, there are applications where you can record using “cheap” video but use professionally-produced sound quality, and still result in a professional experience.
Not convinced?
Paranormal Activity, an independent horror film written and directed by Oren Peli, had a nationwide release on October 16, 2009. Peli chose to shoot the picture with a hand-held home video camera to focus on believability and authenticity.
According to an article in Entertainment Weekly, the film was shot with a Sony FX1 camcorder and edited on a Dell PC using Sony Vegas.
The audio was recorded and processed professionally to give it that “cinematic” quality – even with intentional low-quality video production.
This is just one example of the importance of high-quality audio production to deliver a professional quality product.
Scott is the CEO and Founder of New England Multimedia. You can contact him by email, on our Facebook, or on our Twitter.
How To Drive A Caller Crazy Without Doing Anything
Posted by: | Comments“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”
You know the feeling. We’ve all been there.
You’ve got 5 minutes, and you just want a simple answer to a simple question — but as soon as the company you’ve called picks up the phone:
“Please hold.”
Silence.
You start listening for evidence that you’re actually on hold — that you haven’t been accidentally disconnected by an inept or inexperienced receptionist on the other end. Is that static you hear? A “room sound” of silence, or a dead connection? As the seconds pass and become minutes, your mood starts to noticeably sour.
"Good things come to those who wait, dear!"
You have things to do, doggone it. You look at the clock on your computer, glance at your calendar, poke around in your email.
Now you seriously wonder if you’ve been disconnected. And if you have, that means you’ve lost your place in line. You’ll have to call back, and some other guy has called in the meantime and HE’S on hold, and now you’re behind HIM.
You wonder if you should hang up and call back. But what if you’re still on hold? Then you’ll be giving up your place in line just becase you didn’t wait ONE MORE SECOND.
You hear your mother saying, “Good things come to those who wait,” and that just sours your mood even more. Now you have to choose whether to ignore your mother’s advice. But she’s a saint. You’re not. Maybe that’s why you’re so miserable.
Now your mood is REALLY sour. You look at the clock again. It’s time to go.
“Hello, thanks for waiting, can I help you?”
Did you know?: New England Multimedia started out as an on-hold marketing company called “Soundtrax Unlimited,” with little more than a 4-track recorder, keyboard, guitar, bass, and microphone. Scott literally picked up the Yellow Pages and began cold-calling every business in the book to offer our telephone on-hold message services; at one point, he was the voice of nearly every Auto Body Shop in Rhode Island! Back in those days, he’d hook up a standard CD player to a business’s phone system to get them up and running. Script-writing, voiceovers, and all-original music with quarterly updates kept them coming back, and that’s how we paid the bills while Scott built New England Multimedia into a multimedia business offering website development, on-hold marketing, video production and more.
Note: Because I want your comment to stand, please read our simple comment policy before replying! Thank-you!
Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, or on our Twitter.
