Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Recording Telephone Calls Onto a Mac
I do a lot of phone interviews in the course of my work -- as many as 100 per year. I record and transcribe most of them; it's time-consuming, but it helps me to understand the big-picture concepts my interviewees talk about, and to find the pithy quotes that make those concepts clear. Until this week I recorded all of my interviews on a Sony TCM-455V portable cassette recorder (sorry no link, but it's ancient), and transcribed them using a Panasonic RR-830 -- an old-school, foot-pedal-controled transcribing cassette player. It's a simple system that's served me well.
But the Panasonic has called it quits, and at around $200 it's too expensive to replace, so I decided to go digital. This will remove a big cassette machine from my desk and consolidate all of my work files, including audio of interviews, onto the Mac. But doing this means I must do two things: connect the phone to my Mac so I can capture the calls, and then control audio playback on the Mac with foot pedals (so my hands don't have to leave the keyboard as I transcribe). This post is about the first part of that process. In the next day or two I'll write about the second part.
I first tried the most obvious solution: I plugged my existing Radio Shack Mini Recorder Control (Catalog No. 43-1237) into a Griffin iMic connected to my Mac Mini. I set the Mac's Sound Preference to accept input from the iMic, and set QuickTime to record audio. I picked up the phone, and got an earful of an extremely loud, annoying hum. The noise drowned out all of the phone sound I wanted to record. Hear a sample, but be warned: it's loud. (The link goes to a QuickTime file; use your Back button to return.)
After some Internet searching, I found the website of science writer Stephen Hart. Specifically, this page where Hart describes his phone recording setup. He mentions that the $17 Radio Shack Audio System Ground Loop Isolator (Catalog No. 270-054) can remove the hum. Off to the store I go.
The Ground Loop Isolator is in stock -- Hallelujah -- and has just one downside: it has male RCA jacks on both ends. Meanwhile, the Mini Recorder Control sports a 1/8-inch male jack, and the iMic has a 1/8-inch female input. So, I pick up a 1/8-inch female-female coupler (Catalog No. 274-1555 -- didn't we used to call these "gender changers"?) and a female RCA to male 1/8-inch adapter (Catalog No. 274-883). The Ground Loop Isolator came with a female RCA to male 1/8-inch adapter, so I was set.
I plug it all in, fire up QuickTime, create a New Audio Recording, and click the Record button. I call up Jane and it works! The recording is very clean, as this sample will show. (Another QuickTime file; use your Back button to return.) I'll use the setup for the first time for a work-related phone interview on Thursday.
To recap, here's the string of parts, from the phone to the Mac; forgive me for not linking each piece individually:
On the phone handset cord: Radio Shack Mini Recorder Control (Catalog No. 43-1237)
Connects to: Radio Shack 1/8-inch Coupler (Catalog No. 274-1555)
Connects to: Radio Shack Audio Adapter (Catalog No. 274-883 -- why did I get the gold-plated one?)
Connects to: Radio Shack Audio System Ground Loop Isolator (Catalog No. 270-054) and the 1/8-inch adapter that comes with it
Connects to: Griffin iMic (I have the old silver model)
Connects to: Mac Mini
Recording with: Quicktime Player v.7.1.3
But the Panasonic has called it quits, and at around $200 it's too expensive to replace, so I decided to go digital. This will remove a big cassette machine from my desk and consolidate all of my work files, including audio of interviews, onto the Mac. But doing this means I must do two things: connect the phone to my Mac so I can capture the calls, and then control audio playback on the Mac with foot pedals (so my hands don't have to leave the keyboard as I transcribe). This post is about the first part of that process. In the next day or two I'll write about the second part.
I first tried the most obvious solution: I plugged my existing Radio Shack Mini Recorder Control (Catalog No. 43-1237) into a Griffin iMic connected to my Mac Mini. I set the Mac's Sound Preference to accept input from the iMic, and set QuickTime to record audio. I picked up the phone, and got an earful of an extremely loud, annoying hum. The noise drowned out all of the phone sound I wanted to record. Hear a sample, but be warned: it's loud. (The link goes to a QuickTime file; use your Back button to return.)
After some Internet searching, I found the website of science writer Stephen Hart. Specifically, this page where Hart describes his phone recording setup. He mentions that the $17 Radio Shack Audio System Ground Loop Isolator (Catalog No. 270-054) can remove the hum. Off to the store I go.
The Ground Loop Isolator is in stock -- Hallelujah -- and has just one downside: it has male RCA jacks on both ends. Meanwhile, the Mini Recorder Control sports a 1/8-inch male jack, and the iMic has a 1/8-inch female input. So, I pick up a 1/8-inch female-female coupler (Catalog No. 274-1555 -- didn't we used to call these "gender changers"?) and a female RCA to male 1/8-inch adapter (Catalog No. 274-883). The Ground Loop Isolator came with a female RCA to male 1/8-inch adapter, so I was set.
I plug it all in, fire up QuickTime, create a New Audio Recording, and click the Record button. I call up Jane and it works! The recording is very clean, as this sample will show. (Another QuickTime file; use your Back button to return.) I'll use the setup for the first time for a work-related phone interview on Thursday.
To recap, here's the string of parts, from the phone to the Mac; forgive me for not linking each piece individually:
On the phone handset cord: Radio Shack Mini Recorder Control (Catalog No. 43-1237)
Connects to: Radio Shack 1/8-inch Coupler (Catalog No. 274-1555)
Connects to: Radio Shack Audio Adapter (Catalog No. 274-883 -- why did I get the gold-plated one?)
Connects to: Radio Shack Audio System Ground Loop Isolator (Catalog No. 270-054) and the 1/8-inch adapter that comes with it
Connects to: Griffin iMic (I have the old silver model)
Connects to: Mac Mini
Recording with: Quicktime Player v.7.1.3
