Recording phone calls with iTalk
I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I want to be as specific as possible. I'm a journalist who records interviews, and I’m switching from PC to Mac. In the past, I recorded interviews with a Sony ICD-MS515 digital voice recorder (
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en -US:official&hs=x00&q=sony+icd-ms515&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2092604206659994320&ei=Sv yBSoiDPIbusQOnkMj7CA&sa=X&oi=productcatalogresult&ct=result&resnum=4#ps-sellers), but it records in an MSV format that isn’t compatible with Mac. Therefore, I’d like to begin using my G2 iPod touch to record my interviews with the iTalk app.
I’ve downloaded the app, and it works great—for in-person interviews. My problem is recording phone interviews from a phone to the iPod touch (yes, I always inform interview subjects that the call is being recorded, as required by some state laws). In the past, I’ve used a simple Olympus Mini Tele-Recording Device (
( http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2141764), which is basically just a small mic that you insert in your ear, with a jack on the other end that you plug into your recorder. You hold your phone up to your ear, and the Olympus mic picks up the audio and passes it along to the recorder. This works fine with my Sony recorder, but it doesn’t work with my iPod touch. Although the iPod recognizes that a mic is plugged in and allows me to go through the motions of recording via iTalk, it doesn’t actually record anything.
In attempting to deduce the problem, I noticed that the jack on my iPhone headphones (which do work as a mic with the iPod, using iTalk) has three rings, whereas the jack on the Olympus gadget has just one ring (a two-ring adapter is also included with it). I tried a three-ring adapter from Radio Shack (to make the jack of the Olympus gadget visibly identical to that of the iPhone headphones), but it still doesn’t work. Any ideas as to why this might be, or as to a solution (other than putting the call on speaker phone and recording with a mic like the SmartTalk)?
One idea I had was to use a splitter, which would allow me to ditch the Olympus gadget and instead simultaneously plug my iPhone headphones into my phone and my iPod touch. However, I would need a splitter with one female end (into which I would plug my iPhone headphones) and two male ends (to plug into my phone and my iPod). From what I can tell, all the splitters are the opposite—one male end and two female ends.
Any ideas? Again, sorry for the length of this post. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I’ve downloaded the app, and it works great—for in-person interviews. My problem is recording phone interviews from a phone to the iPod touch (yes, I always inform interview subjects that the call is being recorded, as required by some state laws). In the past, I’ve used a simple Olympus Mini Tele-Recording Device (
( http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2141764), which is basically just a small mic that you insert in your ear, with a jack on the other end that you plug into your recorder. You hold your phone up to your ear, and the Olympus mic picks up the audio and passes it along to the recorder. This works fine with my Sony recorder, but it doesn’t work with my iPod touch. Although the iPod recognizes that a mic is plugged in and allows me to go through the motions of recording via iTalk, it doesn’t actually record anything.
In attempting to deduce the problem, I noticed that the jack on my iPhone headphones (which do work as a mic with the iPod, using iTalk) has three rings, whereas the jack on the Olympus gadget has just one ring (a two-ring adapter is also included with it). I tried a three-ring adapter from Radio Shack (to make the jack of the Olympus gadget visibly identical to that of the iPhone headphones), but it still doesn’t work. Any ideas as to why this might be, or as to a solution (other than putting the call on speaker phone and recording with a mic like the SmartTalk)?
One idea I had was to use a splitter, which would allow me to ditch the Olympus gadget and instead simultaneously plug my iPhone headphones into my phone and my iPod touch. However, I would need a splitter with one female end (into which I would plug my iPhone headphones) and two male ends (to plug into my phone and my iPod). From what I can tell, all the splitters are the opposite—one male end and two female ends.
Any ideas? Again, sorry for the length of this post. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Generation 2 iPod touch, Mac OS X (10.5)