phone patch recording

Nikki Saco · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 465

ISDN doesn't replace DSL. It's simply too slow for delivery of huge audio files, but it's amazingly stable and excellent for delivery of your digitized voice to a remote studio, which DSL can't do. I'm not a TCP/IP and broadband expert, but I do know that DSL delivers packets of data in a way that would drop audio, making it ineffective for live audio delivery. I have DSL. I think it would be possible to have both if they're available in your area. You'd just provision different phone lines for each of the different services. You'd have DSL for your internet browsing and use and ISDN for remote recording, which may not be essential for you right now.

Stacey, I have to tell you, I checked your member page and you have a beautiful singing voice. What a pleasure to listen to.

Chuck Douglas · **Voice Talent** Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 22

If all you need is for your client to hear you and give direction, get a speakerphone and a second cheapo mic. You can isolate it from your mic, and run it through the aux channel. Works great!

Or was that too simple? Wink

Stacey Byrne · **Voice Talent** Joined: 30 May 2006 Posts: 13

Thanks for the complement Nikki. I appreciate it and always love hearing it as after all - in entertainment it DOES matter what other people think. Smile

And thanks so much for your very helpful tech info. Sounds like you have good experience with equipment. I saw one of your other posts where you mentioned that you had had an M-Audio and didn't like it. I'm using one now and I'm wondering if I should change to another brand. It's ok but I have to boost all the way to '11' (that is a Spinal Tap references which mean '10) or all the way to get the volume I want. I don't use any effects at all for auditions and am wondering if I should.

Anyways - thanks again and have a great pre-holiday weekend.

Stacey

Nikki Saco · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 465

Hi Stacey. Return of the M-Audio for me was just a preference. I didn't like it taking over my sound card; others do like it. I wouldn't return it unless it's not accomplishing what you want. Frankly, I'm thinking of buying one for my laptop (well, my twin sister's laptop but she shares). That way I can have both a desktop and mobile DAW. Laptop sound cards are notoriously deficient and with the M-Audio, that's just not an issue.

Also, with the Behringer Eurotrack, I still have to fiddle with levels from time to time, but never to Spinal Tap extremes. I guess this may sound obvious but, does your mic require phantom power and, if so, is it on? It's easy to overlook something like that. Out of curiosity, what mic are you using?

I imagine a lot of people have to fiddle with sound levels due to electrical power fluctuations. I mentioned on another post getting a designated power supply for my mixer/preamp, but I'm only assuming it's caused by power fluxes. I wonder if anyone else on this forum has had similar issues with having big power/volume drops.

Stacey Byrne · **Voice Talent** Joined: 30 May 2006 Posts: 13

Hi Nikki,

I understand your preference now. My computer may or may not have a good sound card - I wasn't sure so I took someone's advice and got the M-Audio. My mic is an inexpensive AKG but I went to guitar center and literally tried every single mic they had and just decided to choose the one I thought my voice sounded the most natural with as opposed to big boomy broadcast - I hated the way the Sennheiser made me sound - just didn't sound like me - I will upgrade at some point when I have made enough to justify the added expense.

Have a good Sunday! Stacey

Bob Wood · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006, 03:36 (GMT) Post subject:

Another easy alternative to a phone patch system for $250, try this:

Hook your cell phone headset into your desk phone (obviously it has to have that connection). Then, while you are recording, your unobtrusive headset will send the recording "live" through your phone to the client. They can direct you in real time as they hear your VO. The only thing I have not yet figured out with this arrangement, is how to do a playback for them in real time.

Nikki Saco · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 465

If the client wants to hear real-time playback of what was just recorded, you're back to needing a patch. In fact, the main reason I got the phone patch was so I could feed pre-recorded audio from the computer through the phone line. This is for clients who have no other way to connect into their voicemail systems than to dial in. You also might have some clients who want to hear the direction they gave you on the raw recording, which is generally what you send them. That hasn't happened to me yet.

My problem is I can't compensate the levels very well. When I use the patch, I have to set the levels high to hear the mic through the phone and to get the caller on the phone recorded along with my mic voice (well hopefully not while I'm trying to deliver the voice over, but interruptions occur). Anway, the problem I have with connecting the mic to the phone and the caller to my computer is of course it creates a loop and line noise. Who wants that?

So I'm with you; use the headset so the director can hear you for live recording; if they need real-time playback, you can still use a phone patch, but don't plug the mixer into it so the mic stays isolated from it. The other thing we lose with that option is you don't record their direction. That doesn't seem like a bad trade-off.

I'm not crazy about using a phone patch for live direction anyway. I'm shy. Embarassed

Rick/Charles Charles/Breuninger · **Voice Talent** Joined: 01 Jul 2005 Posts: 2

Jim Sanders Beasley · **Voice Talent** Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 6

Although I have ISDN I rarely use it for the bargain basement bid jobs we get on Voice123 and other auction type sites. Clients generally don't want to pay extra and the screwing with interface, SPID numbers and pre-test is not necessary in my experience. I have a good quality cell phone with a bluetooth earpiece/mike. I put my cans on one ear and the bluetooth on the other. Better than speaker phone as long as you get a good cell connection, which I seem to do. I then quick email them a dry rough file of what we just did (If they are in a studio and not an attic somewhere) so they can check it on their speakers and suggest any EQ or other effects they's like. It's worked great several times. I don't say "cell phone." I just say I'll call you on my voice patch system and make sure you can hear OK.

Most clients who really need ISDN need me to go to a local studio and have them pay to get it done right. The exception is regular clients where the SPID numbers and transmission rates are all set and can be punched up routinely without compatibility issues.

Eddie Eagle · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006, 00:12 (GMT) Post subject:

For those who are on the go and need an ISDN service on the road or at your studio and you use Pro Tools, Check out Source Connect for online ISDN. I emailed with Joe Cipriano (The Voice of NBC Promos) and he had a blog entry that describes his experience doing liners while he was on vacation in Europe using Source Connect and Pro Tools from a boat.

For under a grand you can do it too.

Gordon Gibb · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006, 03:47 (GMT) Post subject:

I researched this subject fairly extensively over the summer when the phone patch (ie: a lack thereof) became an issue for me. Short of spending a King's ransom on a Gentner digital coupler (almost got a used one on eBay, actually).....I settled for a JK Audio Broadcast Host Digital Hybrid. Easy to set up, and easy to use. Set me back almost six bills Canadian after taxes and shipping, and don't use it much, but nice to know it's there.

Almost bought a MicTel from Curcuitwerks (sp?). I loved the description, and its versatility and had myself convinced until one of their suppliers, upon hearing what I wanted to use it for, actually talked me out of it. I bought the JK through another supplier.

Rick/Charles Charles/Breuninger · **Voice Talent** Joined: 01 Jul 2005 Posts: 2

Richard Wilkinson · **Voice Talent** Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 6

Phone patches have been used and are still being used in radio on a daily basis. Radio stations use very expensive patch boxes (costiing thousands) so the recieved voice can be made to sound much better than a normal telephone signal. If you want a great little patch box for under $170, go to this site.

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/243557.html

This company also supplies another JK AutoHybrid (better for $270). I use a Behringer earphone amp, the Powerplay Pro-XL(street price under $100), to which the output of my mixer is fed. The earphone amp has four earphone outputs on the front and four in the back. It also has a neat little aux-in on each of the amps. Use one amp to feed the audio-in on the patch box and the audio-output of the patch box to the amp aux-in where your earphones are connected. On the patch box you will find a phone line-in and telephone jack. Connect them properly then call you client...turn your monitors down...flip on the box(it's passive....needs no power)and you will hear your mixer feed and your client on your earphones and they will hear you on the telephone. You can adjust the output of the earphone amp to please you client. Each amp has a balance control for the aux-in and earphones. Very simple

Rick Lance · **Voice Talent** Joined: 01 Mar 2005 Posts: 1

Thought I would throw in my two cents worth regarding these phone patches.
I just received my new Telos One digital hybrid unit. I did a lot of research about these units and many users suggested that a digital hybrid was the only way to go to avoid the common problems of hooking them up to analog (most are) phone lines. Problems like dropouts, unstable gain for caller/announcer, poor sound and just controllability in general...associated with some of the other units out there. I looked into Skpe and similar services but I just think that they wouldn't be consistently reliable. I want to make sure I always present myself the best way I can to my clients. So another piece of outboard gear just made sense. The Telos unit is not cheap though, at about $680.00(with the auto anwer card) from BSW. However, since i just got this thing I haven't seen it in practice yet. I'll post again after I've had time to use it.

Barry Seymour · **Voice Talent** Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 60

Skype software basically takes sound out of your computer and puts it into another computer via the Internet; what goes into your mic goes to that other PC. Assuming that computer has speakers or headphones the other user can hear you in pretty good quality. Since the reverse is also true, all you need for a high audio quality phone conversation is Skype running on both PCs, broadband internet and a reasonably good mic and headphones/speakers on each end.

(I've got a 13 dollar headset at work that ends up sounding pretty good; at home my mic and mixer go out and sound comes back in through my studio monitor headphones. Even better!)

Tying that into a phone patch type scenario is not that hard; if it's going into my sound card it can both go out through Skype and be recorded in Adobe Audition; if the client has Skype and headphones then the advantage to them is they can hear your voice in better quality in real time.

The only kicker of course is that you have to get the cooperation of the client to download/install Skype, set up an account and then receive your call. The upside is that it's free when calling computer-to-computer anywhere in the world.

BTW calling computer-to-phone is pointless; it sounds like you're on a regular phone to the user on the other end, regardless of how good your equipment is.