Recording Phone Calls and Live Events

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Recording Phone Callsand Live Events

• Doug Kaye
• The Conversations Network

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Recording Phone Calls

• The Challenge
• Separating Your Audio from the Callers

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Telephones Aint Simple

• Two-Way Audio
• 48vdc Power
• 90vac Ring
• All Over a Single Copper-Wire Pair

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Telephone central
Telephone equipment Ground -----

Hookswitch / COIL 5H
--o/ o-------
) ___
Resistor 200 ohm
____)( 2uF
TIP )( Speaker
--------o---------------------------o--
Mic )(___ Audio Line wire
)
--------o---------------------------o----------
----- 2uF
RING Resistor 200 ohm
COIL 5H
-48V DC ----
Basic Telephone Circuit
Source http//www.epanorama.net/circuits/teleinte
rface.html
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Hybrid Transformer
Source http//www.epanorama.net/circuits/teleinte
rface.html
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Solutions

• Couplers
• Uncle Dougs Cheap Trick
• A Telephone Hybrid
• ISDN

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Couplers
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Uncle Dougs Cheap Trick
You
Recorder
Your Guest(s)
Conference Switch
Phone w/Coupler on a Separate Line
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Telephone Hybrids
JK Audio
Telos One
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Mix-Minus

• Feed to the phone line all signals in the mix,
  minus (i.e., except) what comes from the phone
  line.

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ISDN

• Integrated Services Digital Network
• (2) 64kbps B Channels per Circuit
• Up to 128kbps Bidirectional
• Eliminate Local Loop to CO
• Studio-to-Studio and -Remote Links

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ISDN Hybrids
Telos TWO
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ISDN Studio Link
Telos XStream
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Recording Skype Calls

• Software Solutions
• Mac Audio Hijack Pro
• Windows Total Recorder, Pamela, Call Soft VoIP
• Or Use Gizmo
• Best Hardware Solutions

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Recording Skype Calls w/ External Mixer and
Recorder
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Recording Skype Calls w/ External Recorder Only
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Recording Live Events
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Mic Position

• More Important Than Mic Pattern
• The Inverse-Square Law
• Forget Recording a Room With One Mic
• Get Close!

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Optimum Mic Distancefor Live Events

• Omnidirectional 6
• Cardioid 12
• Hypercardioid 18
• Shotgun 36
• (for relative comparison only -- not absolute)

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Omni
Hypercardiod
Cardiod
Shotgun
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Shotgun Mic
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Audio Tecehnica 803b (omni) 813b (cardioid)
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beyerdynamic DT290
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QA Recorder


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Sennheiser freePORT System
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Boundary Mic
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Recording Devices

• MiniDisc
• Flash
• Laptop

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Sony MZ-M10
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Marantz PMD660
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Marantz PMD 670
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M-Audio MicroTrack
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Recording Media

• Audio CD (44.1kHz lossless)
• DAT (44.1kHz lossles)
• DVD (48kHz MPEG)
• Flash Memory
• MiniDisc (ATRAC)
• VHS-HiFi (FM)
• Audio Cassette

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Formats Encoders

• Lossless (WAV, AIFF)
• MPEG 1, Layer 3 (MP3)
• AAC (AAC, M4A, M4B)
• MPEG I, Layer 2 (MP2)

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Biggest Mistakes

• Mic Too Far Away
• Levels Too High (clipping)
• Not Micing Questions
• Media Change Mid-Session
• Varying Levels
• Recording to Low-Res MP3
• Open Mics
• No Backup Recorder

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