How do you prepare your podcast audio for distribution and streaming platforms?

The best quality audio is achieved first with a good recording, not in post-production. Read that again. Post-production can do a lot, but there are limited options for "fixing" bad audio, depending on the problem. Nothing can restore audio that has dropped out. There's simply nothing there to work with. Distorted audio can be softened a bit, but will always have an element of that distortion to it that takes away from the quality. It's much easier for an editor to boost audio (within reason, too much creates background noise) than to fix overloaded audio. Always check your input levels when recording and try to keep things from going into the red as best you can. Avoid windy or noisy areas, and remember to turn off your cell phones.

Considero que la grabación es el punto más importante a tomar en cuenta. La mezcla no hace magia, y aunque muchas veces nos puede ayudar, aún no tenemos un VST que nos de "claridad y volumen" a las conversaciones, como si fuera magia. Cuando cuidamos el ambiente, cuando evitamos lugares con ruido, cuando cuidamos lo que puede captar o no el micrófono, es ahí cuando podemos aspirar a una mezcla de audio idónea.

Ojo, tu trabajo no termina con una buena mezcla, y aunque tenga menos tracks tu mezcla, la masterización también es un momento muy importante. No pienses en solo dar volumen, piensa una vez más en dar enfoque con ecualizadores, comprimir, limitar, incluso jugar un poco con la ganancia. Un track bien masterizado hace la diferencia.

Exporting usually happens from the DAW. (Digital Audio Workstation) Converting is something else usually. I guess technically you are converting a DAW program file into a usable format, but it's not technically the same thing. When you export from a DAW such as Protools, Cakewalk, Audacity, etc. you can choose the format of the file that is exported. There are other programs that are much faster at converting than DAW's however. Wondershare is one example of many that can quickly change the format of a file without having to import it into a DAW first. It's a simple converter with far fewer features than a full DAW.

Siempre debes tener en mente para qué plataforma quieres tu archivo de audio. ?De qué sirve que exportes en FLAC o en AIFF, si la plataforma en la que quieres subir tu trabajo solo acepta MP3? Como recomendación, toma MP3 y WAV como base, siempre exporta en ambos. Luego ve si puedes probar con otro, pero siempre usa el estándar. A demás recuerda, si vas a trabajar con video exporta tu archivo en 48kHz. Si solo es audio, ve por 44.1kHz

Audio Editing A good audio editor can provide a variety of services, from audio clean-up to editorial editing to arranging your intro/outro or various parts into a full production and more. Every podcast has it's own personality and should be edited with that in mind. One example would be to make a speaker sound more professional by removing the umms and parts that were misspoken. Some podcasts are more loose, but will still need some production value added, whether it be simple noise reduction, or mastering, etc. Music, sound effects, or soundbites could be inserted to add production value. The possibilities are endless. Ironically, when a sound editor has done a good job, you'll never know they were there. It should sound even and fluid.