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Studio phone recording system

R

Radio121

I need to look at adding another studio recording/editing system to record listener phone calls and play back. We have the short-cut now, some suggest the vox pro. What else is out there that stations are using to do this. You need something simple, fast and easy, but I don't want to spend big dollars and I need it to take a beating. I would appreciate any suggestions.
thanks
 
I use a PC with Cool Edit pro on it to record calls to get on-air. It's pretty quick and easy. Why over think this?
 
Chuck said:
How about an old laptop and your favorite (even free) audio editing program?
Click to expand...

I'd agree, but maybe with an old desktop to meet the "take a beating" requirement.

For the audio editor app, get one that has customizable keyboard shortcuts so you can set it up to act like a VoxPro/ShortCut. Some examples: Audition V1 & higher, Sound Forge 8 & higher, WaveLab 5, etc.
 
the big thing that most of the jocks want is the ability to fire it from the board, not sure if I can do that from with the PC, I think I need the Vox pro or the shortcut to get them that.
 
Radio Daze said:
the big thing that most of the jocks want is the ability to fire it from the board, not sure if I can do that from with the PC, I think I need the Vox pro or the shortcut to get them that.
Click to expand...

Since you said you wanted cheap and simple, that's why I suggested a computer. Most editing programs will play when a key (usually "P" for play) is pushed. It shouldn't be very hard to fire that from the "on" button on the board. Of course it really isn't that hard to push it on a computer keyboard either. You get what you pay for.
 
Radio Daze said:
the big thing that most of the jocks want is the ability to fire it from the board, not sure if I can do that from with the PC, I think I need the Vox pro or the shortcut to get them that.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily.

It's fairly easy to connect an external interface (called GPI/GPO) that can easily be configured to emulate a keyboard press when a button on the console is pressed.

There's other ways to do this (by modding a USB keyboard/keypad) but I wouldn't do that in a broadcast studio.
 
Keyboards are $8. Buy one, and hook a suitable IC packaged relay to close the 'P' button. I'm with LowPay, no need to complicate things.
 
littlejohn said:
Keyboards are $8. Buy one, and hook a suitable IC packaged relay to close the 'P' button. I'm with LowPay, no need to complicate things.
Click to expand...

Most $8 keyboards don't have "buttons". They have "membranes". Not very easy to close a "membrane" with a relay.

If you want to get even simpler use the computer parallel port with a freeware app that converts closures to key presses.
 
All good suggestions. We use Short Cut. In other studios, I have seen the following configurations; one of these will work well for you.

One station uses the Tascam MD-350 minidisc, which allows editing. It works well for phoners.

http://www.tascam.com/products/md-350.html


Another professional configuration I've seen is a desktop with Audacity (free) loaded. (Actually, the desktop has Audacity and EBRCart machine software). The Audacity program is hotkey configured so that F1 = play, F2 = record, etc. Now, this particular installation went a step further by eliminating the keyboard and, instead, uses the X-Keys product. Each function is assigned to a key. Press a key for "play", another for "stop", and another for "record", and more. The keys are labeled as such. The installation is very clean and professional.

http://www.xkeys.com/xkeys/xkdesk.php


You could certainly fire the play function from a board closure. One way would be to use closures off the "printer" port. The closure could start the playback. You'll need a simply program to configure this.

A more advanced way would be the Measurement Computing interface. It accepts various closures and sends commands to the computer. This interface may certainly be over-kill

http://www.mccdaq.com/usb-data-acquisition/USB-1208LS .aspx

You could add a button box as well as board closures to control the functions of Audacity.

Let us know how the project turns out.
 
thanks very much for the response. the main reason for my post was to find out what the "norm" is for this type of setup. Seems like it is the Vox pro or the shortcut
 
You're welcome...

Yes, both VoxPro and Shortcut are popular and professional. That said, the suggestions in this post are acceptable as well. It truly depends on budgets and priorities.

While we use Shortcut, I would not hesitate to use some of the other suggestions; I sometimes roll my own solutions, provided I'm satisfied that the final product will be a well-built, professional product.

Good luck!
 
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