EPIC Recording Device
November 11, 2014 7:01 PM Subscribe
I'd love to find a recording device that can fit within my pocket and record words said quietly ten feet away. I am a normal/small size woman with smallish pockets. But it's WINTER! Coat pockets are large, but are padded and seem to muffle the recordings I take on my phone QUITE A BIT. Needed for non-creepy, extra moral applications only, I assure you. Triple bonus points for amazon links.
Seconding a mic attached to the phone. I used to use a similar model to this with success.
posted by lownote at 7:25 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by lownote at 7:25 PM on November 11, 2014
Not sure what you're using it for, but I would recommend you get one that records MP3s and has a USB port so you can extract recordings to your computer easily. I have this -- I feel like it is more expensive now because they've probably stopped making it. Maybe this is the newer model because it's $20 cheaper AND has SD card slots, in addition to a USB port.
Not those exact models, but with an older Olympus pre-USB features, I recorded a meeting through my winter coat pocket. I was sitting around 10 feet away from the sound. For that, just turn your audio recording quality to the highest setting. Under normal circumstances, like if you're conducting an interview, you can just use medium quality. (I'm not sure ever using low quality is necessary. Modern technology dictates you have tons of hours of recording time on your recorder's memory. You would only use the worst recording quality if you needed the extra space on the record.) I would test it first though. When listening to playback, you'll just need to turn the volume very high to hear it, but it records everything well enough to decipher, in my experience. The one problem is if you move around and the recorder's mic brushes against your coat pocket. So you'll want to be pretty still, or have the recorder firmly in place. My pockets were big and loose.
Now, "quiet" words 10 feet away through a winter coat? That's going to be tough no matter what you use. You may have to attach a special "HD mic" to the recorder or something, but I'm doubtful that would even work super well.
posted by AppleTurnover at 8:01 PM on November 11, 2014
Not those exact models, but with an older Olympus pre-USB features, I recorded a meeting through my winter coat pocket. I was sitting around 10 feet away from the sound. For that, just turn your audio recording quality to the highest setting. Under normal circumstances, like if you're conducting an interview, you can just use medium quality. (I'm not sure ever using low quality is necessary. Modern technology dictates you have tons of hours of recording time on your recorder's memory. You would only use the worst recording quality if you needed the extra space on the record.) I would test it first though. When listening to playback, you'll just need to turn the volume very high to hear it, but it records everything well enough to decipher, in my experience. The one problem is if you move around and the recorder's mic brushes against your coat pocket. So you'll want to be pretty still, or have the recorder firmly in place. My pockets were big and loose.
Now, "quiet" words 10 feet away through a winter coat? That's going to be tough no matter what you use. You may have to attach a special "HD mic" to the recorder or something, but I'm doubtful that would even work super well.
posted by AppleTurnover at 8:01 PM on November 11, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses! I've had better luck with jeans pocket as far as sound quality, but this really limits size... And my winter coats are generally above my jeans pockets.
posted by Kalmya at 8:34 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by Kalmya at 8:34 PM on November 11, 2014
I had to stop recording lectures with my Zoom H1 because I could hear every little chair squeak, cough, whisper and wind-shift in the room. It picks up a ridiculous amount of sound, and it's very pocket-friendly.
posted by ltisz at 8:59 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ltisz at 8:59 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Late edit: I wrote "HD mic" above and I think I meant "zoom mic." My bad. I can't attest to them being any better, but they do claim to be better at processing sound.
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:19 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:19 PM on November 11, 2014
You could use your iphone or other smart phone (I imagine they have a recording app on them as well).
posted by thegoldfish at 7:44 PM on November 15, 2014
posted by thegoldfish at 7:44 PM on November 15, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
Probably something like what tapers use, miniature mics you can attach to your coat lapels or brim of a hat.
One possible example - I have the non-phone version but I have never tried it for your application, so ymmv.
posted by TrinsicWS at 7:12 PM on November 11, 2014