I don't know if this has become more of a problem recently or I've just started noticing it more. It seems like Mike's volume level is much higher than Adam's. When I listen in the car I've found myself having to adjust the volume up to hear Adam's part of the conversation conversation and then quickly down to not be overpowered by Mike's booming voice.

maybe he just talks louder

This. Its been noted quite frequently. They've recently changed engineers, so he may still be finding a mix that works.

Adam's just shy.

Fun fact: Mike was born with a condition called that makes impossible for him to control the volume of his voice, hence it always sounds like he is shouting.

I noticed it for the first time in a while on this week's show, but it has generally been fine since that rough patch after Bunner left.

I find the difference in their volume levels isn't a huge issue, I just turn up the sound. What kills me is the intro's to the new segments then come in much much louder, would be great if those could be toned down.

Yea intro and commercials are redic loud

Agree that the bumpers are considerably louder than everything else, especially for "My Favorite Things."

However, the problem with the volume difference between the two hosts is that it's quite dramatic. So "just turning up the sound" causes as many problems as it solves. Sure, you could keep a hand on the volume throughout the show, crank it up when Adam speaks, then turn it down when MJ talks. But that seems rather impractical.

Johnny Douglas probably has it right: the new engineer has not become accustomed to their different levels. For starters, the hosts' natural speaking voices are quite different. MJ's voice is higher in register, and very clear. Adam's voice is deeper and slightly more susurrant. It also sounds like MJ speaks right on the mic while Adam sits farther back from his.

Give it a show or two (note: I haven't listened to this week's yet, so they might have figured it out already). It won't take long for an engineer to see the differences on the meter. He'll either pot up Adam or pot down MJ until they match more closely.

Note: listening to the new ep now... sounds fine. Nice work.

I listened to this week's episode with Ivey and the sound levels were much better. Thanks.

Ivey sounded like he was doing the interview out of the best studio in Australia lol...no Startek cell phone present...

Gotta say there's been a big improvement in the overall volume level between talking, segment intros and commercials. Great work, great podcast

I'm an experienced audio engineer and the recent shows sound just fine. Volume levels, dynamics, sibilances, all well handled and comfortable to listen to continuosly for 3 hours or so

Then I'll ask... do you find some podcasts to be unlistenable even if the content itself is fine? I can't tell you how many otherwise fine shows I had to unsubscribe to because of this.

Adding compression to the mixdown of each show should help even out the audio dynamic range.

yup for sure, I can´t listen to rumbling, hissing, sibilant or otherwise badly recorded podcasts for too long either. and it isn´t even that hard to produce great quality vocal recordings these days without expensive equipment.

must be the name - disease also known as Mike SEXTON SHOUTITIS!

Gabe Kaplan does a good M Sexton btw...