What kind of microphone do I need for recording audio for an automated telephone system?

December 29, 2011 9:32 AM

I would like to use Audacity to record voice audio files for an automated telephone system. What kind of microphone setup (USB or standard headphone / mic jacks) that will work with my laptop do I need?

I would like the equipment to be as inexpensive as possible, but it needs to sound decently good. Will only be used for recording voice. Is a standard headset good enough, or do I need a professional mic? Would it be less expensive than buying the microphone to just hire voice talent online?

posted by banished to Technology (5 answers total)

Best answer: for phone quality, any old standard headset will be fine. Test out some different recording settings and see which sounds the best.
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:45 AM on December 29, 2011

Get an inexpensive USB headset.
posted by empath at 9:54 AM on December 29, 2011

+1 for the above: The quality of transmission over the phone will be lower than any standard USB headset. Having a little boom mic that is positioned right in front of your mouth is the single biggest factor at this range.
posted by sprocket87 at 11:36 AM on December 29, 2011

Best answer: Save any .wav file at 8kHz. That's what it will sound like.

Previously
posted by rhizome at 12:18 PM on December 29, 2011

Best answer: I use the Noise Removal function of Audacity to clean up whatever I record into my fairly generic computer microphone. Works fine for me.
posted by Seboshin at 12:46 PM on December 29, 2011