Articles and Tutorials
Moving to Vista, 2, 3, 4, 5
Record from Telephone Headset Connector
Convert Wave to Mp3
Record Audio from MIDI or Anything Else
Record Audio from MIDI or Anything Else, Vista Edition
Installing RecAll-PRO and RecAll on Ubuntu Linux
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Clicking menu Options->Preferences causes a page fault and the program crashes.
I get an error message “Can’t find data chunk”.
Can RecAll record from Line-In, instead of Microphone?
How can I record with RecAll and at the same time listen to the sound source through the sound card speakers? When I plug my radio(or scanner) into the sound card, I can’t hear from my radio speaker anymore.
What audio compression codec should I use?
Application Notes
Can a telephone tape recorder controller be used to record telephone conversations with RecAll?
How can RecAll be used to record telephone conversations?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Clicking menu Options->Preferences When this menu item is clicked, RecAll polls all the audio compression codec is installed on your system. Very rarely, the existence of a particular audio codec apparently triggers this crash. To resolve the most likely codec conflict, go to Control Panel->Multimedia->Devices->Audio Codecs,search for and select a Delrina sample rate conversion codec (used by a program called WinFax), and click Properties->”Do not use this codec”. (We do not imply the fault is with Delrina. We don’t yet know why this conflict occurs.)
Sound is coming into RecAll is a recorder which can be sound-activated. The sound level at which recording starts is controlled by the Level (Vox) slider on the main window. Set the Level all the way to zero to turn off the sound-activation feature. If the slider is set too high, then nothing is ever recorded to the sound file because the audio input never exceeds the Vox Level.
In Win95, nothing is being recorded The Win95 (andWinNT4) volume control dialog is a little confusing, especially for setting Recording volume controls. Go into Volume Control by double-clicking on thespeaker icon on the taskbar tray. The default setting is to show Playback volumes. To show Recording volume control, one must click Options->Properties->(Adjust volume for) Recording, and check thecontrols you want shown. In the Recording Control dialog, make certain the Microphone (or Line-In) Select box is checked to enable recording from that control.
I get a… Short answer: Get the latest version of RecAll.
Can RecAll record from Line-In Yes, this is a function of your sound card mixer control. The inputs of Microphone and Line-In are added together (with different amplifications, depend on your sound card mixer settings) and the result is Wave-In, which is what RecAll records. In Win95 andWinNT4, settings volumes for recording Line-In and Microphone are a little confusing.
How can I record with RecAll and at the same time listen. This is a function of the sound card mixer control. Go into Volume Control by double-clicking on the speaker icon on the taskbar tray. The default setting is to show Playback volumes. If Line-In and Microphone controls aren’t shown in the Volume Control dialog, click on Options->Properties, Show and check microphone and line-in, and click OK. To pipe microphone or line-in to the sound device speakers, uncheck the appropriate Mute checkbox, and adjust the volume slider controls if needed.
What audio compression codec The MPEG codec compresses to a very small size, and has good quality for general-purpose recording.
If you already have this codec installed on your computer– great! We believe this codec, with file name l3codeca.acm in the Windows System directory, was formerly included free when you installed Microsoft Netshow client (which was part of the IE4.0 installation) (NetShow client is now superseded by the new Media Player.), but seems to no longer be available directly from free Microsoft downloads. Perhaps you can find it on an old CDRom that has IE4.0, like that AOL CD you are using as a drink coaster.
If you have Win98, the codec may already be installed. If it isn’t, the following manual installation should be performed by experienced Power Users only. Use Explorer to open WIN98WIN98_50.CAB on the Win98 install CD, locatel3codea.acm, right-click on that icon to extract and copy it to the Windows System directory. Then go into the SYSTEM.INI file in the Windows directory,and add the following line in the [Drivers32] section:
msacm.l3acm=l3codeca.acm
Future Win98 install-CDs might not have this codec, so buyer beware.
If you have the codec, it would be a good idea to make a backup copy, in case some future software installation accidentally overwrites it.
Application Notes
Can a telephone tape At the suggestion of one customer, we tried the 43-228A Telephone Recording Control from RadioShack. This seems to work rather well. Perhaps we might wish for a little higher sound volume, but for the most part this particular gadget works adequately, and we can recommend you try it.
At the request of another customer, we tried and analyzed the Radio Shack Multi-Phone Recording Control (43-1236). This device is designed to work with cassette tape recorders, but we wanted to know if it could be made to work with sound devices. We discovered that this gadget does not have an isolation transformer in the signal path, which is fine for battery-operated devices such as tape recorders, but allows too much noise due to ground loops when used with a line-operated device such as a sound card. Conclusion: Some telephone taping devices might work for sound cards, but others will not.
How can RecAll be used to record We now use the Telephone Recording Control (43-228A) from Radio Shack. It works for us.
Prior to discovering this device, we built the following circuit, which seems to work adequately (for USA type telephone lines) (soon to be a gif file for better readability, but until then make sure your browser window is wide enough so the lines don’t wrap around):
Phone ||C1 R1 T1 R2 sound card
Tip-----||------/\/\/--+ +-----/\/\/----+-------+------mike-input
|| | | | D1 | D2 tip
) || ( ----- ----
) || ( /\ \ /
) || ( / \ \/
) || ( ---- -----
Phone ||C2 | | | | sound card
Ring----||-------------+ +--------------+-------+------mike-input
|| outer ring
(RS means Radio Shack nearest-equivalent part number)
R1,R2 10kohm,1/2watt (RS271-1126)
C1,C2 .1uF, >200V (RS272-1053)
T1 600ohm 1:1 telephone audio transformer (RS273-1374)
D1,D2 generic signal diodes (RS276-1653)
Telephone tip and ring are the two center conductors of a four-conductor modular telephone connector, and for this circuit it doesn’t matter if they are reversed. (RS279-391)
Sound card microphone-input connector is a 1/8″ 3-conductor audio male plug.(RS274-284C)
Theory of Operation: C1 and C2 block DC current path, so this device does not bring the phone line to off-hook state, but the capacitors pass AC voice signals. The device D1 and D2 limit ringing voltage that can reach microphone. T1 provides isolation between telephone line and sound card.
The “near side” of the conversation may be significantly louder than the”far side” when recording to the sound card with this type of circuit, but with proper adjustment both sides of the conversation should be intelligible.
This does not constitute legal advice: Recording of telephone conversations may be subject to federal (or national) and state laws. In the USA, for instra-state calls, some states require one-party consent, others require two-party consent, with numerous exceptions and special cases. Some countries have major restrictions on devices that may be attached to telephone lines.
For further information on telephone interfacing circuits, try www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/teleinterface.html or www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/docs/old/telerecord.html
If you need further help, or have suggestions or comments, please send e-mail.