Getting the best from Lento

Radio Lento is a different type and genre of podcast. We share environmental soundscapes. Our podcast offers a refreshing talk-free listening break that’s 100% authentic from real places.

Because Lento isn’t a traditional podcast, here’s a quick ‘how to listen’ guide to make sure you can get the most from it.

1. Listen with headphones

Lento is made for headphones and earpods. It’s designed for personal listening. Every episode is presented in surround-sound audio that has panoramic width and sharp, detailed definition.

Recent industry stats suggest over 50% of podcasts are consumed through earphones. This opens the door to podcasts like Radio Lento which rely on high precision sound being experienced by more than just a niche audience.

2. Listen in a comfy spot

Lento isn’t really suited for room listening with loudspeakers or a smartspeaker or while you’re moving about doing something else. Speech podcasts work like this but not Lento.

Some of our episodes do sound good on a room speaker but crucial details will be missed. Listening to highly spatial audio can also confuse your brain when you’re moving about.

To get the most from Lento, find a comfortable spot to stretch out, and use earphones.

3. Find a volume you like

Lento will initially surprise you because of the panoramic three dimensional sound. It triggers a lot more neurons than standard audio does. It might sound softer compared to other pods in your feed though and this is because environmental sound is more delicate and fragile than speech audio.

Volume settings vary a lot on different devices but we always pitch the Lento reference level at just below two thirds (66%) of max on an iPhone with earpods connected. Try that, gradually making small adjustments louder or softer until the sound-scene seems to feel about right. It’s like Goldilocks finding the perfect porridge.

When you find the right level you’ll be able to listen to every Lento episode at that same level.

4. Listen somewhere quiet

Some episodes are noisy and have a lot going on. They’re good for blocking out distractions like noisy neighbours and roadworks.

But most are quiet. Where you listen to these makes a difference. The kind of delicate environmental sound that most Lento episodes provide reaches your ears best in a quiet spot where there’s minimal competing noise.

People use Lento as an alternative soundscape whilst reading, working on a computer and to slow down before sleep.

5.Take a break

Lento is gently disrupting the podcasting world by putting high quality environmental sound centre stage, as well as being 100% talk-free, ad-free and cost-free. In anybody’s podcast feed this will be very unusual. We feel it’s healthy.

Endless wall-to-wall talk and ads can, if you’re anything like us, become overwhelming. A natural break in your feed that shows there is a real world out there, that’s peaceful and undemanding, will we hope feel like a breath of fresh air, especially if physically getting out into the great outdoors is not something you can easily do.

Find something to listen to

We’re a regular source of higher quality natural sound, captured in real quiet places. There are no loops or fabrications made in a studio. With a new episode uploaded every week there’s always a new place to escape to, as well as the entire back catalogue to explore.

Here are some of our recent collections for you to explore. There are over 100 hours of sounds from quiet places to discover.

Here’s one of our all-time favourites – episode 17 – Forest of Dean (43 minutes).

About Radio Lento

We’re on Apple Podcasts, Podbean and other podcast providers.

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