Three-way recording problem, one via telephone. Suggestions?

[KillBrainCells]

We are planning to do a podcast with three people. The problem I am facing right now, is two of us will be recording in my studio, the other one will be phoning in. Can anyone suggest a setup where we can record the phone audio and mic the other two people, while also allowing each person to monitor, speak and hear the telephone conversation.

I'm a musician and I already got a decent little home studio (Protools Digi002 mixer setup). I mainly need advice on a telephone recording system.

Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

[WildeGeek]

The best, most professional way to do this would be to buy a telephone hybrid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_hybrid). This is a device that interfaces your phone line to your mixer, and separates the incoming from the outgoing audio. Your two local co-hosts would need to wear headphones to hear the remote co-host.

The least expensive telephone hybrid that I know of is the J-K Audio Broadcast Host (http://www.jkaudio.com/broadcast-host.htm). I don't have any personal experience with this model. There are more expensive and much better telephone hybrids available as well.

Another way to do it would be if you had two computers, or one computer and one audio recorder, and you dedicated one computer to a VOIP application. The most popular among those is Skype, but it's not an open-standards product. I found this list of VOIP applications for the MacOS (http://www.pure-mac.com/voip.html); I haven't researched any for Windows or Linux. The recorder or the other computer would be used to actually record your show.

The really cheap and dirty way to do would be to talk to your remote co-host on a speakerphone. You could put an additional mic on that speakerphone. But I think you'll find that the audio quality will be unusable.

Another suggestion, if one of you is pretty good at audio editing, would be to have your remote co-host make a full quality recording at their end, and have them send you the file. Then you're not dealing with phone audio at all, you're just taking the time to re-assemble the two recordings later. In this case, you could each wear headsets for your cell-phones, so you can hear each other, and use 3-way calling to conference yourselves together.

I suppose I could also think of other permutations using the techniques above to come up with other approaches.

[Dugan]

A cheaper alternative is a Radio Shack wireless phone recording controller. Cost is under $30 and you should be able to find it at any radio shack. Keep in mind this device only works with cell phones.

This controller requires a bit of ingenuity when it comes to recording conversations (I use a Fostex 8 track and have no problem), but the quality is good - basically you are at the mercy of the telephone connection.

Hope that helps.

[WildeGeek]

A cheaper alternative is a Radio Shack wireless phone recording controller. Cost is under $30 and you should be able to find it at any radio shack. Keep in mind this device only works with cell phones.

This controller requires a bit of ingenuity when it comes to recording conversations (I use a Fostex 8 track and have no problem), but the quality is good - basically you are at the mercy of the telephone connection.

The problem with those devices is that they don't separate the local sound from the remote sound. And the local sound is always a lot louder and cleaner. So then, you're stuck with a really ugly variation in levels, or possibly hours of careful editing and post-prodiction to fix it back up. If the local people and the remote person aren't careful always to take turns and never interrupt or talk over one another, that post processing is going to be almost impossible.

But you're right, they could do it that way, if they're very careful to take the limitations into account.

[Barefoot Radio.com]

A word of caution, the JK Audio Broadcast Host is a terrible item.

The crossbleed between the caller audio and studio audio is dreadful.

This is NOT a professional device.

It's a way overpriced JOKE.

You might be able to drop something like 200 bucks and get a used Comrex hybrid which should work way better.

[paul]

the url below links to the pk audio show...one episode contains step-by-step how to do the phone routing with a mixer and a cheap adapter from radio shack.

don't know if you can do this with the 002...if there is a routable send then you may be able to do it but I would guess there isn't one.

http://paul.pupustudios.com/pkaudio

[VolksCast]

Ok here is my 2 dollars 95 cents. I have a Innkeeper PBX Digital Hybrid and I freakin HATE IT. Waste of good money. My show is an interview show and the cheapest easiest way is

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/volksbash/Misc/image_00184.jpg

By using the speaker phone and good mic placement, I get very little bleed. Check it out
http://www.richchristensen.com/radio/VOLKSCAST/111406.mp3

It works for me, your milage may vary

-Ray

[Barefoot Radio.com]

I imagine the Inkeeper sucks as well. Those units are WAY over priced for the quality.

Funny picture with the mic on your speaker phone. Before I had a hybrid, I similarly rigged a condenser mic VERY close to the reciever end of my cell phone. I produced some really good sounding recordings this way.

The draw back was that the caller could only hear me through the mic in the cell phone. It won't work in a more complex setup for radio where you would ideally like the caller to hear multiple people speaking to them in the mix.

Regarding a send with the Digi002, I think it should be possible to route the analog outputs as a send and it 'should' sound good assuming you're using an ok hybrid.

Good luck!

[Dugan]

The problem with those devices is that they don't separate the local sound from the remote sound. And the local sound is always a lot louder and cleaner. So then, you're stuck with a really ugly variation in levels, or possibly hours of careful editing and post-prodiction to fix it back up. If the local people and the remote person aren't careful always to take turns and never interrupt or talk over one another, that post processing is going to be almost impossible.

But you're right, they could do it that way, if they're very careful to take the limitations into account.

You are absolutely right. (I used the word "ingenuity" in place of actually describing the process). I use a Fostex digital 8 track. I plug the phone controller into one mic input, and I talk into the second mic during the conversation. That way I am recording two tracks simultaneously - one that's the entire phone conversation, and the other which is just my voice. Afterwards, it's a fairly simple process of editing out my voice on the first track. Of course, there's that caveat you mentioned - if my voice happens to overlap another's in the conversation, it results in an echo (which can be a b*tch to get rid of). All that being said, for the few times I used the phone recording controller, it's been well worth it.

Coincidentally enough, I've used the controller for phone conversations on my last two shows. If anyone wants to check out the results, here's the feed/link:

http://www.murphysfans.com/rss.xml
http://www.murphysfans.com/audioblog.htm

[theman]

Make phone call,you can use http://www.Skype.com
Record interview,check out http://www.prettymay.net:)

[KillBrainCells]

Thanks for all the suggestions, they were a big help! I think I'm going to record at both ends and match up the audios in post.

[BridgeHands]

Yes, double-enders are okay if the party on the distant end has recording software *AND* knows how to properly set up the gear and monitor the quality of recording using headphones, etc. Hopefully, the person on the distant end doesn't forget to hit the record button, overmodulate the signal, have distracting noises, or have a lovely crash when trying to save the file. Then there's the issues of recording clocks getting out of sync over time, how to send a file that's over 5MB, the joys of post-editing, etc. If you're going to do numerous sessions, the $600 Telos One starts to look better before too long...

Ah, the joys of podcasting :-) Hopfully, you'll do a few dry runs if it's important.

Regards, Michael

[WildeGeek]

Make phone call,you can use http://www.Skype.com
Record interview,check out http://www.prettymay.net:)
That's only if you can stand the sometimes considerable delay. When the quality is good, it's much better than a plain old wired telephone line. But when it's bad, it's much less intelligible, and no amount of post processing can improve it. OTOH, you can do a lot to fix a bad phone connection in post processing.

Yes, double-enders are okay if the party on the distant end has recording software *AND* knows how to properly set up the gear and monitor the quality of recording using headphones, etc. Hopefully, the person on the distant end doesn't forget to hit the record button, overmodulate the signal, have distracting noises, or have a lovely crash when trying to save the file. Then there's the issues of recording clocks getting out of sync over time, how to send a file that's over 5MB, the joys of post-editing, etc. If you're going to do numerous sessions, the $600 Telos One starts to look better before too long...
If the party on the other end is an ongoing co-host, then presumably they're trainable and conscientious. If you're doing this on a regular basis you'll eventually develop a routine to make the post-editing less tedious.

One trick to do until you're sure of yourself is to break your recording sections into a number of short (under 6 minute) segments; and then edit them together to sound seamless. You're not likely to have sync problems with a time that short, you can check the recordings before going on, and re-do portions that have noise or computer problems.

Thanks for all the suggestions, they were a big help! I think I'm going to record at both ends and match up the audios in post.
That's certainly what I would do in your situation. It's worked for Terry Gross (http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13) for around 20 years or so.

[BridgeHands]

All good points, WB. Of course, most podcasters would give their eye teeth for gear like the stuff Terry Gross uses in NPR Studios:

http://www.npr.org/studios/studios.html

http://www.npr.org/studios/

WB, you mentioned 6 minute segments which may work with some gear and is a sensible approach. Yet I've heard of timing slips between various recording applications in as little as 30 seconds (I assume low-end gear). As you suggest, the key point is the person on the other end; there's a world of difference between a co-host and an interviewee.

Warm Regards, Michael

[azskywatchers]

We are planning to do a podcast with three people. The problem I am facing right now, is two of us will be recording in my studio, the other one will be phoning in. Can anyone suggest a setup where we can record the phone audio and mic the other two people, while also allowing each person to monitor, speak and hear the telephone conversation.

I'm a musician and I already got a decent little home studio (Protools Digi002 mixer setup). I mainly need advice on a telephone recording system.

Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

Go to radio shack and buy the recorder enabler for your house phone not cell phone. Then you get an MP3 recorder to connect to the enabler you purchased from radio Shack. Then you SHOULD have 3 way calling on your phone right? All you do is press the record button on the MP3 recorder and dial away. The recording will be downloaded to the mp3 player to download to a program like (Audacity recommended). All you have to do is get the right male to femal connectors (av jack) and you will have your recording. I use it for my radio show all the time.
http://www.cnufos.com

Go to the radio page and then go to show #2 near the bottom of the radio page and look for the interviews to listen to how well it records the phone call.