Best ways to record Skype and phone calls?

October 9, 2014 3:04 PM

What are the best ways to digitally record iPhone calls and Skype calls on a Mac? I do a lot of interviews and I'm always trying out new ways of recording them (legally), but I feel like the magic solution is still out there. Apps, Audacity workarounds, Google voice--what's your preferred method?
posted by gottabefunky to Technology (5 answers total)

Back when I was involved in human-subjects research, Skype + AudioHijack Pro worked for me. It's not free, but there's a time-limited demo you can test with.

Another option involves using JACK and a slightly complex routing scheme to route audio between skype, your speakers/mic, and Audacity, Garage Band, Reaper, etc. That's more time-consuming and requires knowing a bit about digital audio, but also more powerful.

For what you're doing, though, start with AudioHijack.
posted by Alterscape at 3:10 PM on October 9, 2014

For the past 6 months for work I've been recording two-way Skype conversations (both audio and video) in HD using the Mac software 'Call Recorder' from Ecamm Software.

It also records calls, very easy to use (it starts when Skype does), and at $30 I feel it is a real bargain for what we use it for.
posted by scooterdog at 7:13 PM on October 9, 2014

I'm a Windows user and not sure if there's a Mac version of this, but I've been very happy with Pamela for Skype.
posted by mirepoix at 11:32 PM on October 9, 2014

I also use Call Recorder, mentioned above, for Skype. I've been using it daily for about a year with no problems. For my iPhone, I use a digital recorder physically plugged into the phone. It's not ideal. I assume there aren't more user-friendly apps because of legality issues, but maybe I just don't know about the best option.
posted by three_red_balloons at 6:17 AM on October 10, 2014

I have used Call Recorder, but now I use Callnote, which is pretty similar. Works great.
posted by mermaidcafe at 9:29 AM on October 11, 2014