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‎Aug 13, 2024 01:38 AM
Hello,
We use airtable to manage a database of audio assets and often use the preview function to listen to the songs. The previews regularly freeze like it's a buffering issue and we need to refresh the page or skip the audio a little to get it to work again. It used to be now and again, but now it happens every single time we try to play a song. It affects multiple users across multiple fibre optic wifi connections and has been ongoing for years. We tried all the usual stuff like different browsers, clearing the cache etc. but nothing seems to make a difference. It feels a bit random and buggy. It happens in table views, record views, list views and where we mostly use it... interfaces. It has also happened on hundreds if not thousands of files from various professional sources.
We can still preview everything eventually but it just slows down our workflow dramatically. I understand this might just be something specific to our use case and I can imagine browser caching doesn't help, but I'm curious if anyone else experiences this and if there's any suggestions to (at the very least) minimize the problem.
Thanks in advance!
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‎Dec 28, 2024 08:22 PM
Hello,
Based on your description, here are a few suggestions that might help minimize the problem or work around it:
- Reduce file size or format complexity. Airtable’s audio preview relies on the browser’s ability to stream audio and larger files or certain encoding formats can sometimes cause performance issues. If possible, consider re-encoding your audio files to smaller sizes or using more browser-friendly formats like MP3 with a consistent bitrate.
- Preload audio with external links. Instead of relying on Airtable’s native preview, consider storing your audio files in a service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or AWS S3. Add the shareable links to your Airtable records and use a custom field or an embedded audio player to preview the tracks. External players may offer smoother playback and avoid the buffering issues you’re encountering.
If you’re using Airtable Pro, you could create a custom interface or use scripting to fetch and preview audio files outside the Airtable environment. For example, a script block could integrate with a dedicated audio streaming library.
While you mentioned using fiber optic connections and trying multiple browsers, you might want to verify if your network’s settings or restrictions (e.g., firewalls, bandwidth throttling) could be a factor. Similarly, using a lightweight browser or turning off browser extensions during Airtable sessions might improve performance.
Let me know if you’d like more details on any of these steps!
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