u/fwafwow

I recorded today a two-person podcast episode in Descript Rooms. This was my first attempt, following a test. Everything seemed fine until I was editing. The gain levels varied dramatically, so I used the Sequence Editor to auto-level. After processing, the composition's length doubled. It added a full copy of the episode end-to-end. I then opened the Sequence Editor, clicked “Edit” but closed it without making any changes. It added another full length version of the episode to the end. I then did a "New composition from file" and opened and shut the editor with no changes. Same result. No change after quitting and restarting the program.

Descript v2.20.0, macOS.

I was able to complete my edits but want to figure out if this is a me issue or a bug for my next episode. TIA

I recorded a test in Rooms and was working on some sound edits to my guest. I used Studio Sound and made some volume adjustments. The results sounded fine in the Composition, but when I exported to MP3, the edits were lost. I exported to WAV and it sounded good. I quit the program and restarted. No change.

I finally got MP3 to work by increasing from 192kbps to 256 and it sounded good. I also dropped to 160kbps and it also sounded good. Strange that 192kbps didn't work. It *seems* like a glitch, but it could be me.

I recorded a test in Rooms and was working on some sound edits to my guest. I used Studio Sound and made some volume adjustments. The results sounded fine in the Composition, but when I exported to MP3, the edits were lost. I exported to WAV and it sounded good. I quit the program and restarted. No change.

I finally got MP3 to work by increasing from 192kbps to 256 and it sounded good. I also dropped to 160kbps and it also sounded good. Strange that 192kbps didn't work. It seems like a glitch, but it could be me.

Sorry for the long post. TL;DR - if our podcast is ultimately going to be ~70% remote, is it worth using Garageband, Logic Pro, etc.? I'm leaning towards "no" - but I also know that I've already made plenty of mistakes and learned the hard way.

Here's the longer story. After a miserable first post here, I'm back to see if I can get some input on a parallel issue. I'm new to podcasting (working on one with a co-host). My current setup is 2 MV7+ mics into a Scarlett 2i2 (4th gen), USB-C into Macbook Air, with two sets of headphones connected to the Scarlett with an HM-4. We have recorded, and I have edited, the first audio using only Descript - no DAW. It's pretty easy - see "um's" or an entire flounder sentence? Delete or ignore.

But it has some limits - like my errant "mouth click". I spent quite a bit of time to silence that 0.3s of time, and it was lucky it was in between what my co-host was saying. If it had been at the same time, I would not have been able to fix it. Another limitation is that Descript records our voices in stereo but with one voice on each side, which requires me to edit via the transcript, export to mono, then reimport so I can add the stereo intro/outro music and export again in stereo. Not the end of the world, but a bit annoying.

We plan to initially record our podcasts in person, but if it "works" I can see that we will need to record separately (tentative plans are to use Rooms...) - which impacts my thoughts about a DAW. (I wish I had thought about the long-term projection before wasting time on so many tangents.)

So the issue that first brought me to this forum was hating having one speaker on the left and the other on the right. I fiddled with the Descript settings to try to come up with a good solution, but it just doesn't work. I figured out I had two options - keep it "simple" (record and edit with Descript and sometimes have one voice hard to edit with the export/import approach above), or go the DAW route.

As mentioned above, I'm leaning towards keeping my Frankenstein approach with just Descript, especially if we do end up recording a lot remotely. But I'm somewhat anal-retentive and even if we record a lot by remote, I kknow I will have a nagging question in my mind - "why didn't you just suck it up and learn and use GarageBand? It's only a couple of extra steps!" And then I will ask "why didn't you just go all of the way and learn Logic Pro?"

I obviously have issues. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Just starting a podcast with two of us using two mics on a Scarlett 2i2. It records as one stereo file with one voice hard left and the other hard right — sounds off on headphones.

If I split that into two mono files, then add my intro/outro music as a stereo layer on top, and export as stereo — do both voices come out centered while the music keeps its width? Or does something end up hard-panned?

Using Descript, but curious if this is a general workflow thing. Just trying to get it right before I lock in a process. Thanks in advance.