Recording phone calls

[m0riarty]

I would like to do some phone interviews and need run audio through a mixer into my computer from a phone. I bought a radio shack device, put it puts our a horrible buzz.

my problem is that i have a digital phone line.

anyone have any suggestions????

[jlewin]

[mikelevin]

Plantronics has a USB headset that evidently works well with Skype. See
http://www.google.com/search?lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Plantronics%20DSP500%20headset

[jdecagna]

If you don't mind spending some money, you can use Free Conference (freeconference.com) to conduct the interview and they will record the call for $10. You must also use a toll-free number so there is some added expense there as well.

[PaulCasting]

Ultimately, the proper way to do this is with a phone "Hybrid". Basically, what it does is something like a "mix minus", but more like a "mix minimize". Hmmm... just made that term up.

Ok, Let me have this website explain it for you:
http://www.audiotheater.com/phone/phone.html

Here's some couplers and hybrids from BSW:
http://www.bswusa.com/browse_subcat.asp?category=telcoequip

I would have to say, the best and most affordable way to do this is with this:
http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=INLINEPATCH

If you got really creative you might be able to use a coupler only, which would be under $100. But I don't know the technical end of it.
_________________
Eastpoint Radio
www.EastpointRadio.com

[jlewin]

[PaulCasting]

The issue with the imbalance is exactly what will hapen.

I have not used those solutions yet, but I'm looking at doing the same thing, so I've been researching as much as possible. The only system I've ever used was a full-blown Telos system, which runs into the thousands of dollars. Not an option for me personally.

Paul
_________________
Eastpoint Radio
www.EastpointRadio.com

[dxbender]

I've been using a combination of Skype and TotalRecorder (http://www.totalrecorder.com/) which allows each channel of the conversation to be recorded on a separate track. There is a little noise that comes through from one channel to the other, but with a little editing, that can be cleaned up.

Dan Bender
http://www.singlespodcastingnetwork.com

[starcom]

For phone calls, I use a mic on top of an old Panasonic speaker phone that I bought in 1990.

The speaker phone does a great job of cutting out the crosstalk, and the guests say they can hear me just fine.

I then tweak the sound with an old Realistic graphic equalizer that I bought in 1983. I use it the eq sparingly, mainly in the 125 Hz - 1,000 Hz range with no more than a 4 db boost.

Judge for yourself if you think this telephone setup sounds good by listening to Show # 19 of You Are The Guest.

http://www.youaretheguest.com/index.html

Direct Link to mp3 file:

http://www.youaretheguest.com/pods/yatg19.mp3

[joelgoldfoot]

Wow. How timely. I just finished recording my Podcast last night, and my co-host and I were talking about how great it would be to be able to patch in phone calls.

Here's what I am using:

Alesis Multimix 8 USB mixer
Two AKG V6em Mics
AKG Headphones
Laptop with iTunes for music in
Recording to a tower running XP with MixCraft

One analog phone line

Here's what I would like to do:

Be able to patch calls into my Alesis mixer, and talk to guests through the microphones while listening to them with the headphones (I don't want to have to talk into the phone).

Pretty basic, right? But shopping around, I am seeing a wide range of gear that seems like it would work ranging from $150 - $1000 +

I'm interested in having decent quality sound without spending a ton of money. I've looked at the gear you've already suggested, but any recommendation for my specific needs?

Thank you, thank you!

[elliscm]

I've spent a lot of frustrating evenings setting this sort of thing up for myself, trying a number of different solutions with varying degrees of success.

What I've finally settled on is just using Skype and a recording program called Freecorder, which records the Skype call as an mp3 file. I then import the mp3 into my normal podcasting software and voila.

Holy cow, it sound simple now. I'm just remembering the hours it took me to get it to work. Some of the mixer volume settings (all software, no hardware mixer) were a little counter-intuitive, but once I finally figured out how they needed to be set, I'm very happy with the results.

You can check out an example on my podcast: Christiana Talks About Stuff. Pick any of the episodes that feature "Christiana and Mike" because Mike and I live in different cities, and all our conversations are by phone. Here's the direct link to our most recent episode: Christiana Talks About Stuff #21.

[berrry]

Hi all, I registered to this forum especially to add my solution to the problem of recording Skype Calls.
Cons: - it's Mac only
- you need audio hijack pro, which isn't free, although the free version lets you record up to ten minutes per recording
Pro: it's fairly simple, has excellent quality and doesn't involve any hardware except your pc and microphone.

You can find it here. Takes some time to get the necessary software and setting it all up, but it in the end it's the only working cheap software based solution to record skype calls that I know of.

[jlewin]

berry

Unfortunately, the skype - Soundflower - Audio Hijack - Audion approach is one that doesn't scale to non-techie users.

This seems like a great opportunity for a developer, don't you think?

[berrry]

[starcom]

I've also recorded on Skype using the same set up as my previous post on this thread.

Here is an example of the same setup using Skype on a seperate laptop and a Realistic Graphic Equalizer:

Show # 12 at "You Are The Guest"

http://www.youaretheguest.com/index.html

Direct Link to mp3 file:

http://www.youaretheguest.com/pods/yatg12.mp3