Comments on: Echoes

By: Storeman

Storeman — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:39:32 +0000

As Matt Casey states, there is a short burst of static at the beginning of each file which renders the narration very quiet. Like Matt, I have also deleted this burst of static but instead of normalising in Audacity, I increased the gai by +18db which gives an audio level that is acceptable without any clipping.

To combat the narrators urge to finish the book in the shortest possible time, I also used Audacity’s ‘Change Speed’ effect to slow the audio down to an acceptable speed using -4%.

The result is in my opinion, 100% better than the original files.

By: Matt Casey

Matt Casey — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:43:20 +0000

Hi Nathan,

I’m liking the story so far, but there’s one small technical thing that’s causing me problems. Your MP3s are very quiet, very very quiet so much so that I can barely hear them on the train with the volume maxed out.

I thought I’d fix it myself by normalising the files in Audacity and that’s where I spotted what I think is the problem.

In each of your files right at the beginning is a 20ms burst of static at full volume. The following audio is much quieter. When you try and normalise the file the process is fooled by the burst of very loud static which leaving the rest of the file really quiet.

If you delete the static then normalise it works great and you end up with much louder audio.

Sorry I’ve I’ve not explained myself very well… Go have a look, delete the static and re-normalise.

By: Ed Parrot (Edward G. Talbot)

Ed Parrot (Edward G. Talbot) — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:52:26 +0000

Liked the book a lot. Yes, I noticed the speed-reading. My only complaint is one I saw touched on in one or two other comments – you spend over half the book on setup for the concept that is what makes the book special. I mean, the stuff before the echoes is well-written and fairly interesting, but the echoes are the spark of the book. It seems to me that to fix that, you would need to do two things – more foreshadowing in the first half and then lengthen the second half substantially (so it would become more than half the book).

I would certainly listen to the sequel.

By: Zack

Zack — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:48:54 +0000

I liked Echoes a lot. I thought that the characters could have used a little more developmental work, but other than that, the story was great. I love the concept of using ghosts…echoes if you prefer…as assassins. Looking forward to the sequel.

By: pbmaxca

pbmaxca — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:36:24 +0000

I liked the concept of the story, but I felt like the end was rushed a bit. There was all this set up about the murder, but then when it actually came time to talk about the echoes I felt like it was rushed through and the ending was forced.

By: Per Ove Sleen

Per Ove Sleen — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:42:52 +0000

I had to give up half way through (rather annoying), due to the above mentioned “speed reading”. My impression so far, was that it was a engaging and thrilling story. But I kept loosing bits and pieces all the way due to the much to fast reading.
I hope you one day decide to reread this story, cos I’d like to get the end…

By: Nathan P. Butler

Nathan P. Butler — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:19:38 +0000

Thank you for the kind words about Echoes, everyone. I appreciate the support. I will definitely be taking the slower reading pace into account for future productions. I have so far shelved the Echoes sequel concept (Unity) and short story concept (Engagement) for the time being to focus on another story that I’m slowly working on (amid teaching every day, grad school, and the like). The new story, Greater Good, will hopefully be completed sometime before the end of 2008.

By: iPodSlaaf

iPodSlaaf — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:18:43 +0000

This is one of the best books I have found on Podiobooks upto now! The only negative thing I have found is the speed of the narration, s-l-o-w d-o-w-n, please!!! As an actor I regularly see people who are really keen to take up acting thwarted by one thing, rapid speech. The same rules apply to narration as do acting, when rapid speech is required it is fine, but not throughout the whole reading, the inflection of the reader is really good, but staccato speech for whole chapters is very tiring on the ears! As I have said the book is one of the best I have yet found on Podiobooks, I am really looking forward to the next offering from this author, with slower reading please!

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:47:39 +0000

I loved this book. I also cannot wait till the next book in the series comes out and actually hope it comes out sooner then later.

By: Terri

Terri — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 04:13:51 +0000

Great story! I am looking forward to the next book.

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 02:41:35 +0000

I enjoyed this story very much. I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

By: George

George — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 08:05:52 +0000

Very good book. Nice concept and well written.
I look forwrad to any further books in a subsequent series.

A big thanks to the author.

By: J Anthony Acker

J Anthony Acker — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 23:14:42 +0000

I just finished listening to to “Perceptions Shattered” and was blown away. What a fantastic twist for a detective pot-boiler. I never saw it coming. I am looking forward to the development of the Echo theme.

I highly recommend this podiobook.

Anthony Acker