Recording a phone call

J

JeffW

Member
I'm hoping someone may give me advice on the best (portable) digital recorder one can purchase to record phone calls.

Thanks.
 
I use a combination of my Tascam HD-P2 and a JK Audio THAT-2. It works really well (I record Webcasts for a client pretty much once a week with this combo and Camtasia on the computer side).

Now that I have my Onyx Satellite, I'm going to try to use it to interface directly from the THAT-2 to Camtasia to try to skip the extra render I have to do now.

Phil
 
Thanks, guys.

I'm wondering if there are any (high quality) digital recorders that I could connect with the phone to record?
 
do you want to record actual phone calls, or are you wanting to simulate a 'over the phone' voice for use in a film? There are various post-production methods to achieve the latter.
 
Jeff, the solution I listed above includes the high quality digital recorder. I'm not aware of any high quality recorders that connect directly to the phone. They will all need some sort of an interface (i.e. the THAT-2).

Phil
 
I haven't used any of the Zoom products, but you may want to check other posts here - I think people are pretty unhappy with the H4, but the preliminary reports on the H2 have been pretty good. The THAT-2 comes with an RCA-1/8" output and does not require phantom power, so the H2 might be a good choice (again, no direct experience with it personally, though).

Phil
 
Thanks, Phil. I really appreciate your help. I'll check out the H2.


I'm by no means an audio expert (as you can tell), so I'm wondering if it is difficult to set up this system (phone, THAT 2, H2)?
 
Hi

I have recorded phone calls for interviews a fair bit and from my experience you can go 2 ways.

In the Uk you can simply get a splitter to plug into the phone junction box for about £10.00 ( $20.00) that will give you a 1/4inch (or 1/8 inch jack) output feed of the line you can put straight into your recording device ( it is a bit like a modem adaptor with cable except it has a mono jack).

I have tried it with a H4 and its a bit noisy - an 8 track hard disc recorder did a better job. Downside is its mono ( also there are different laws in the US about the legality of doing this - so you should bare that in mind and make sure other perosn is cool with it etc).

However the best way I have found to record folks on the phone by a mile is to use Skype.

If you buy your own Skype number anyone can dial into it whether they use Skype or not. So they dial in, you pick up - hit record on your voip recorder.

The best quality is when both people are on Skype, broadband and have decent headsets - but it still works with phone lines well.

Also if you use hotrecorder to record the Skype call it generates a stereo track with one person on left channel and one on right channel - this makes editing easier. You can cut out the other line background noise when the other person isn't talking.

By using hotrecorder (www.hotrecorder.com) to record the call - you can then convert the call into WAV or MP3. And you can archive using hotrecorder which is useful if you do alot of these recordings.

Plus another bonus is if the other person uses Skype too the call is free.

As I say hotrecorder puts it onto seperate tracks for you and the quality from this route in my experience is much better than phone. Plus its cheaper than buying an H4 :-)
 
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Phil... one question pertaining to your set up (Tascam and THAT - 2)... can one start recording a incoming phone call before the connection has been made. I mean, can I start recording when the phone is ringing? In the situation I'm in, the incoming caller will be automatically cut off if a third party is detected (although I have the caller's permission to record the call).
 
Jeff,

The setup we use for the Webinars is everyone dialing in to a conference call, but I can see no reason why you can't start the recording before the call comes in and then just answer. I'm not sure how it could be detected anyway, as it sits between the handset and the phone.

BTW, for legal reasons, I always have the host state clearly that we are recording the call just prior to the start of the Webinar, that way I can cut it out of the Webinar recording, but still have it on the original audio file, as protection.

Phil
 
Phil. How is the sound quality coming in from your callers? The volume on my recordings (caller side) is quite low (and only coming in from the left line).

Advice?

I would appreciate any advice you have.
 
The quality for me is quite good. It is only a mono recording - but you can make it stereo in your editor or another audio tool. What are you recording on? It may be you're set for line-in, but I think it sends mic level out.

Phil
 
HD-P2. I'm running one RCA from THAT- 2 (from phone - right side). I only need the caller's voice recorded. Mic int. I'm not using a mic on my end.


I'll try mono.
 
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