Week long recording + discrete device

[jakobite123]

Hello,

First thanks for all the tips and sharing, I really appreciate this website.

I'm fairly new to this, my upstairs neighbors are fairly loud however its fairly tricky to get "long" decent recordings with my wife making sound around in the house (I don't let her know about my hobby...).

We are leaving for a couple of weeks on holidays and I was wondering if I could leave a mic behind to record while we are away.

The thing is I don't want it to need to be plugged, that wouldn't be very stealth, and it needs to be able to record for the whole time.
Also the sensitivity should be decent, has its not super loud either...
Does the tool I'm looking for even exist?

Any tip would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot

[mjj9994]

Welcome to the forum!

I know of zero devices that have the type of power consumption you are seeking (i.e. operating 24/7 for 1 week). Top of my head can only think of 2 methods. 1 would be hook up an external mic to your computer (desktop/laptop) that has power plugged in and use that to record. Other method would be a recorder with a battery bank attached for power, but this would be limited by the device's max file size. 1 week continuous would be about 11000 minutes or you could try "voice activated" but more than likely that will not activate from noises upstairs.

[yeppie]

Welcome jakobite123,

there are devices that claim to be able to do what you asked for, this one for example:

https://voicerecorder.shop/product/comp ... B0CT5QRPVK

I can't tell if this is any worth but at least I once bought two devices which should run for over a week continuously. But they were a lot more expensive and one of them destroyed itself during its first recording session by getting too hot. So there are devices that can record a long time without needing a plug.

[jakobite123]

Thanks both for the welcome and the help!

mjj, the option to have a laptop plugged in my work but I'm not sure i'd have this option. Do you have any experience with "voice activated"? Is that tweakable? (to start on a noise threshold for example rather than voice).

Yeppie, thanks for the tip! That looks promising, though I wonder how such a device would behave I recording non-stop for the said 500 hours... And I'd definitely be worried about fire hazard...

[mjj9994]

Sorry but no, never really tried any voice activated devices myself so cannot comment on how user-friendly they may be as far as different threshold settings and whatnot. Good luck and hope you can find a device that fits your situation.

[sndprv]

Voice-activated recorders are useless for our purposes. Don't buy them.

I bought a small one and experimented with it once in a hotel. The device couldn't pick up anything
going on inside the room I planted it next to; only a series of sounds made by people walking past it
in the corridor.

So, no way could such a device capture any sounds of upstairs/downstairs or next door neighbours.
The device has got to be literally in the same room as the people you're recording for it to work.

Your best bet would be a continuously-recording device that has a low bitrate setting (so that the
recorded file isn't too big). An added bonus would be a device that has the ability to automatically
partition the recording into smaller files.

[Tossitup96]

The thing is I don't want it to need to be plugged, that wouldn't be very stealth

Can you elaborate on this? What do you mean 'that wouldn't be very stealth'?

See, my thinking is that you could use something like this. A mains powered recorder that looks like an iPhone charger or whatever, so your wife doesn't get suspicious.

[Take]

Voice-activated recorders are useless for our purposes. Don't buy them.

I bought a small one and experimented with it once in a hotel. The device couldn't pick up anything
going on inside the room I planted it next to; only a series of sounds made by people walking past it
in the corridor.

So, no way could such a device capture any sounds of upstairs/downstairs or next door neighbours.
The device has got to be literally in the same room as the people you're recording for it to work.

Your best bet would be a continuously-recording device that has a low bitrate setting (so that the
recorded file isn't too big). An added bonus would be a device that has the ability to automatically
partition the recording into smaller files.

+1. I don't recommend to use voice-activated on any device. They don't activate with moans from adjacent rooms or from the hall. I had a USB with that option activated and didn't capture anything from the other room although I was there witnessing the moans.
VCVA (Voice Control Voice Actuator) from Olympus works a bit better than the USB I had... but still, far away from what we want to capture. It recorded loud moans and when bed was hitting the wall, which was a really hard sound. But just normal moans and heavy breathing was unable to detect it to record.

Welcome to the forum!

I know of zero devices that have the type of power consumption you are seeking (i.e. operating 24/7 for 1 week). Top of my head can only think of 2 methods. 1 would be hook up an external mic to your computer (desktop/laptop) that has power plugged in and use that to record. Other method would be a recorder with a battery bank attached for power, but this would be limited by the device's max file size. 1 week continuous would be about 11000 minutes or you could try "voice activated" but more than likely that will not activate from noises upstairs.

These 2 options would be my first attempt, indeed.

[audiogeek]

There are 3 options possible I think:

1. a Zoom H1essential with a 256gb sd card and eather a powerbank via usb-a connection, or mains powered. You can lengthen the recording by choosing for mono recording. Disadvantage is that it's a quite obvious recorder in this setup. Other disadvantage is the microphone quality.

2. a wifi lightbulb with camera and microphone. via the light sockets this spy unit is mainspowered. You can record on a small sd card. Via wi-fi you can monitor this device and even listen semi live. Disadvantage is: I am not sure about the audio quality;

3. a mains powered usb phone charger with built in microphone. I'm not sure what quality the microphone is, but via wifi you can monitor this device via your smartphone.

A fourth option I tried myself. A small spy camera in a mainspowered smartphone charger. Via wi-fi I could monitor. The nightview was very good, but the sound was a very poor.

the overall disadvantage is al the devices aren't cheap, you can't try them before buying and I don't know the audio quality of the second and third option. So I chose the first option and you can hear the result in my series of Emese recordings. If you record from a good isolated room, I think the Zoom H1 essential does a decent job.

[yeppie]

There is another overall disadvantage as these options are illegal and so recordings done this way are not allowed here. They would mean the end of the site sooner or later and jail for the uploader and the admin.

[audiogeek]

I doubt that if you record from the next room. If you record from the room where the act is happening I agree.