Recording Cell Phone Conversations

[obie2]

I have been asked to record both sides of a cell phone call where one caller is on camera and the other caller is not on set. Wondering what other people have done before since I know it comes up. Was looking at JK Audios Cell Tap. Has anyone used this with any success and wouldn't you need a 3 way call. Any help would b appreciated.

Thanks

David Obermeyer

[Derek H]

The quick and dirty way would be to have the phone set to speaker-phone.  The other side of the convo will be picked up by the boom, or lav.  Overlap could be a problem though.  Also they probably don't want the actor holding the phone away from their ear.  But in a pinch, and the right scene, it could work..

[Twade]

JK Audio is the best option out there. I have used the Cell tap, that2, and I love the InLine Patch.

http://jkaudio.com/inline-patch.htm

The Cell Tap and That 2 are great solutions but as RVDmixer said it won't allow for true separation of voices.  You are actually listening to yourself when you're on the phone as well as the person on the other end - the signal comes out mixed from the earpiece. 

The Cell tap is a cable off the cell phone's audio out to a signal you can use.

The broadcast host goes through electronics inside the box that will give you true separation of the voices with level control. 

It's a little pricier but a good a pro solution.

What might work best is to record both voices with a boom and put what you need through a "phone effect" in an editing platform aftewards?

[RPSharman]

I am eager to try the JK Audio option myself.  In the past, if both actors are present, I just separated them and recorded them with each on the boom on individual tracks.  It is CRITICAL to make sure that props knows the on camera cell prop must be functional.  If it's not, then the other actor must be within earshot, which makes overlaps a major issue.

If the other actor is not there, and they don't plan to record the other half "live" later, then the JK Audio option seems to be the best option.  I have used a speaker phone off-camera with the actor holding a prop, but then overlaps must be avoided.

Robert

[RPSharman]

One other thing that can be achieved with the that2, is that prerecorded audio can be sent cell phone to cell phone.  So if the off camera actor has been previously recorded, you can do a "playback" of their audio to the cell phone of the on camera actor.

That's cool!

[obie2]

Thanks for all the suggestions and especially Richard who always has great suggestions, my best to you and your family. If I could I certainly would just boom the off camera actor in another room, but I fear we will have a number of occaisons when the off camera actor is not on set. Cell tap looks to be a good solution.

Thanks All

David Obermeyer

[Eric Leonard]

Howdy all.

The JK Audio celltap works great for grabbing both sides of the conversation, but be warned - it's virtually impossible to control the "send" audio that leaves the tapped cellphone. This has the potential of creating lots of unwanted noise in the recorded conversation, and happens even if the tapped phone is on 'mute.' Also, it only has an unbalanced mic-ish level output that's a bit more susceptible to RF interference.

There are a few better choices in my experience:

First, the hardwired "Daptor 2" works great with a mixer to skim the headset audio without introducing much send-noise (I'd avoid the Bluetooth adapters as the phone audio sounds thin). The phone calls I've recorded with a Blackberry and this simple setup rival the very best landline-hybrid recordings. You can't beat the price of the Daptor 2 - and it really sounds great. Balanced output.

Second, there are a number of cell-handset-to-landline adapters around (I think one was called "Celljack") that you can connect to a landline DSP hybrid, like a Telos One or JK Audio Innkeeper (I vote for the Telos). This will probably produce the best quality recordings, but you'll need AC power for the hybrid and a grand to drop on the hybrid and landline interface.

Third, JK now has two products that have basic mixer/cell interfaces packaged together: the ComPack and the RemoteMix 4. Both are good choices because you can null out the send audio and only record the return. The RemoteMix 4 is probably the best choice, though a bit expensive.

Eric Leonard

KFI AM-640