After 2.5 years in my apartment, a couple that I don't mind hearing at night finally moved in . Currently I'm trying to record them using a usb mic hooked up to my laptop to try and record them, the problem is a lot of outside noise gets picked up (the downside of thin walls), and since they've only been here for 2 nights, I'm not sure how well the mic is going to pick up her moans (it does fine at picking up their footsteps when they walk around at night). The other problem is that I'm moving out it a month so I don't have too much time to spend messing around and also don't want to spend too much money on a mic in case I don't get to use it again. After looking around it seems I have 3 choices: a shotgun or parabolic mic (I assume since these are directional they'd pic up less outside noise and would also be more versatile for other listening/excuses to have them ), or a contact mic, which seems like the best solution for this situation since there's no plumbing or wiring in the bedroom ceiling to get in the way, but the good ones also seem to be more expensive that a directional mic. Anyone have any advice?
A shotgun mic is mainly good for 'line-of-sight' sounds. Have tried it for 'through wall/ceiling' recordings with not good results. My traveling days are mostly in the past now, so not sure I will ever invest in a contact mic, but from what I have read, those are optimal for through wall type recordings.
Depending on the volume and clarity of target sounds, a simple cardiod mic with an additional external amplifier (belive radio shack carries a basic amplifier for like $20) may be able to pick up the sounds.
Hi.
If you want to record from inside your room, you should use a contact microphone and attach it to the ceiling under your target room.
Recording with a normal microphone from inside your room seems pointless to me. If you cannot get a contact microphone, maybe you can record in front of their door using a shotgun microphone?
Thanks for the advice, I'll start shopping for a contact mic As a side note, I left the usb mic on last night and while they didn't have sex, it did pic up their conversation pretty well (the walls and ceiling are super thin, I could even hear the sheets rustling when she was making the bed this morning), so maybe I'll get lucky and the AC units won't be running the next time they do have sex and she won't be drowned out
One of the things that makes people quieter is if they believe someone might overhear them, it is therefore sometimes a good idea if we can make them believe through having the lights out and quietness that we are out when we are in fact just waiting for them
I've got good news and I've got bad news. The good news is I finally heard them having sex today around noon, and it was clearly audible without a contact mic. I heard them get up from their living room and walk to their bedroom, heard them talk for about 15 minutes about a book, then it got quiet with some giggling for about 5 minutes then they started having fun . Bad news is that the fun only lasted for about 1 minute and I wasn't recording . Hopefully this was a one time thing and he isn't too much of a sprinter . Since I know now that I don't need a contact mic to pic up their sounds, what would be a good one for helping to isolate the noise from outside my window? A cardioid mic?
Also if anyone is interested they're a good looking college aged Asian couple.
Cardioid should work just fine for your situation, also a shotgun may help to 'isolate' the sound and could serve dual-purpose in case you have a longer-distance target (ie across the road, etc). Think i picked up my shotgun for like $70 on ebay/amazon.
. Currently I'm trying to record them using a usb mic hooked up to my laptop to try and record them, the problem is a lot of outside noise gets picked up (the downside of thin walls), and since they've only been here for 2 nights, I'm not sure how well the mic is going to pick up her moans (it does fine at picking up their footsteps when they walk around at night). The other problem is that I'm moving out it a month so I don't have too much time to spend messing around and also don't want to spend too much money on a mic in case I don't get to use it again. After looking around it seems I have 3 choices: a shotgun or parabolic mic (I assume since these are directional they'd pic up less outside noise and would also be more versatile for other listening/excuses to have them 
), or a contact mic, which seems like the best solution for this situation since there's no plumbing or wiring in the bedroom ceiling to get in the way, but the good ones also seem to be more expensive that a directional mic. Anyone have any advice?
As a side note, I left the usb mic on last night and while they didn't have sex, it did pic up their conversation pretty well (the walls and ceiling are super thin, I could even hear the sheets rustling when she was making the bed this morning), so maybe I'll get lucky and the AC units won't be running the next time they do have sex and she won't be drowned out 
. Hopefully this was a one time thing and he isn't too much of a sprinter