My fellow listeners,
I'm currently thinking of investing in a recording device for the times when I'm not at home. As some of you know from my previous posts, it would need to pick up sounds from the other side of a wall and record them for us to enjoy.
There are loads in the market, but I find it difficult to make a choice. I need your expertise on the subject and would really be happy if you can make some qulified recommendations from experience.
Recommendation for a voice activated recording device?
-
Onlooker
- Kingpin
- Posts: 321
- Joined: 22 Mar 2016 23:03
- x 52
Recommendation for a voice activated recording device?
I love aural sex.
-
Onlooker
- Kingpin
- Posts: 321
- Joined: 22 Mar 2016 23:03
- x 52
Re: Recommendation for a voice activated recording device?
I have checked the forum, but most posts on the theme are quite old compared to technology development speed.
I love aural sex.
-
reggind
- Knight
- Posts: 2063
- Joined: 23 Feb 2014 06:14
- x 343
Re: Recommendation for a voice activated recording device?
It sounds like you have a specific application, picking up sounds from the other side of a wall. I don't think you are going to find a recorder that is built to do that. You have a few choices that I can think of.
The obvious one, buy one of the contact mic's and the proper cabling to plug that into your phone or your notebook. I have not tried any of the through the wall contact mics, but everything I have read about them tells me they are piezoelectric devices ,and not very hi fi. If you get one it should also have a preamp with it. Piezoelectric pickups are notoriously high impedance devices and sound considerably worse when driving a lower impedance load. Piezoelectric device preamps usually have a FET in the front end and have input impedances in the tens of meg ohms, and very little parasitic capacitance. The pickups and preamps that look good seem to be between $200 and $500. Pretty steep for a hobby.
The not so obvious one is taking a small recorder, like a USB stick recorder, and securely attaching it to something stiff but bendable. I would take something like coat hanger wire and tightly wrapping the USB recorder to the end of it with cotton string than saturate that with epoxy. You don't want the recorder falling off of it gets caught on something. Than use your trusty little took kit to remove an outlet cover or the grille to the vent in the bathroom, and see if you can snake the recorder closer to the sound source. You can buy a USB extension cable to make it easy to plug the recorder into your computer to get the files back off of it and charge it up. Total cost, perhaps $10 with a chinese USB recorder, any old coat hanger, some 24 hour epoxy, and an old coathanger.
The obvious one, buy one of the contact mic's and the proper cabling to plug that into your phone or your notebook. I have not tried any of the through the wall contact mics, but everything I have read about them tells me they are piezoelectric devices ,and not very hi fi. If you get one it should also have a preamp with it. Piezoelectric pickups are notoriously high impedance devices and sound considerably worse when driving a lower impedance load. Piezoelectric device preamps usually have a FET in the front end and have input impedances in the tens of meg ohms, and very little parasitic capacitance. The pickups and preamps that look good seem to be between $200 and $500. Pretty steep for a hobby.
The not so obvious one is taking a small recorder, like a USB stick recorder, and securely attaching it to something stiff but bendable. I would take something like coat hanger wire and tightly wrapping the USB recorder to the end of it with cotton string than saturate that with epoxy. You don't want the recorder falling off of it gets caught on something. Than use your trusty little took kit to remove an outlet cover or the grille to the vent in the bathroom, and see if you can snake the recorder closer to the sound source. You can buy a USB extension cable to make it easy to plug the recorder into your computer to get the files back off of it and charge it up. Total cost, perhaps $10 with a chinese USB recorder, any old coat hanger, some 24 hour epoxy, and an old coathanger.
-
Onlooker
- Kingpin
- Posts: 321
- Joined: 22 Mar 2016 23:03
- x 52
Re: Recommendation for a voice activated recording device?
Thank you for the elaborate answer reggind.
I have looked into contact mics and also found that getting something decent would throw me back by at least 500€ which is way past my budget.
I have no possibility to sneak a mic into a vent or something comparable because there is a solid wall between our apartments. There are sockets but removing one on my side didn't help at all.
As I can hear my neighbour and have recorded with a regular mic on my side, I was hoping to find a recorder that would catch the action and start recording. Something like the Etekcity VR-BK8 (https://www.etekcity.com/product/100180.html) or Olympus DM-650 (http://www.olympus.de/site/de/a/audio_s ... index.html)
I'm getting USB recorders in any case.
I have looked into contact mics and also found that getting something decent would throw me back by at least 500€ which is way past my budget.
I have no possibility to sneak a mic into a vent or something comparable because there is a solid wall between our apartments. There are sockets but removing one on my side didn't help at all.
As I can hear my neighbour and have recorded with a regular mic on my side, I was hoping to find a recorder that would catch the action and start recording. Something like the Etekcity VR-BK8 (https://www.etekcity.com/product/100180.html) or Olympus DM-650 (http://www.olympus.de/site/de/a/audio_s ... index.html)
I'm getting USB recorders in any case.
I love aural sex.