i needed to record a cell phone conversation and this was the absolute cheapest way to do it. the earpiece has a microphone on the opposite side that records what is being said by whomever you're talking to, plus your voice (a bit louder). i bought it friday and it got to my house by monday. amazing.
one thing: this mic doesn't have its own power source, so whatever recording device you plug it into must be able to supply power. i used an olympus VN-2100 digital recorder and it worked almost flawlessly. i say almost because the mic doesn't record in stereo, it records in mono. but the record volume is loud and comes out very very clear even if the earpiece/mic isn't right on top of the phone receiver.
you will not be able to do this any better for the money. a lot of online spy shops are charging $200 or more for this same function. i got this mic (which will record cell phone and land line conversations) plus a digital recorder for under $50. Olympus TP-7 Telephone Recording Device
I'm a writer, and I spent way too much time trying to find a good solution for recording phone calls -- everything from Skype to Radio Shack gadgets that had to get connected through an analog phone. When I ordered this, I was actually stunned with how simply it works, and how well. I use it with my cell or home phones and it does the job perfectly. It's one of those things that seems so simple, you wonder why no one else came up with this solution sooner. I can't recommend this highly enough.
I bought this to use with the Olympus DS series recorders, but it should work with most recorders that have inputs. It does come with adapters for mono, stereo, and mini-jack, and, of course you can buy additional adapters...
The phone recording works fine. Have confidence that it's working and remember to keep your own voice low to keep more of a balance in the recording. Sometimes, too, the playback on the computer turns out to be more balanced and better sounding than the sound on the device's own speaker.
And, as a bonus, you may want to use this mic for interviews rather than the tie-clip mic or the RS29. With the TP7 in your ear, it records people speaking next to you, or, across from you, very well.
Bottom line, if I only bought one accessory for recording with a DS recorder, this might be my first and only pick.
If it had a "pause" feature, I'd bump my review from four stars to six....
This microphone seems well made, despite being inexpensive, and the sound quality is good. But there are disadvantages. First, you have to wear it in your ear as you talk. That's awkward for me. I can feel it between the phone and my ear and it gets in the way, sonically -- you don't hear as well with it in. Worse, it records my voice much more loudly than the person at the other end of the line.
So, yes, it works, and yes, I can get used to it, but it's not an ideal solution.
I use the telephone pickup with a DS2 recorder, though it seems to me that it would work with almost any recorder that had a standard mike input jack.
The device is a small, foam-cushioned microphone (about the size of an i-pod bud) that you put in your ear... So it picks up the acoustic vibrations as they pass between the telephone and your own eardrum. In contrast to magnetic pickups that can show up on sniffers, I don't see any way that the people at the other end would know that the conversation is being recorded when this purely acoustic pickup is used.
I have used it to record business transactions with large corporations, covering my responsibility by saying their standard phrase "this conversation may be recorded for quality assurance purposes". (I wonder whether it is fair to say this while we are in the "for information on your bill, please press 3 now" phase of the transaction? )
Overall, the results with the TP-7 were satisfactory --- the telephone's audio output seems to be major factor in determining the ovreall quality of the recording that one makes. This pickup offers a fairly simple, economical way of recording both ends of a telephone conversation.
I need a way to record conversations on my cell phone to my Olympus recorder this product make the process work. I get clear sound, and it also can work as a voice mike to bring it closer to the people I am taking in person statements from. You just place the product in your ear and the mike picks up the voice from the cell phone and your own voice. Crystal Clear
I purchased the Olympus TP-7 Telephone Recording Device to record phone interviews and have been pleased with it. I use it with an Olympus WS-320M. Interviews are typically under an hour and the earpiece fits comfortably for that duration. I have not worn it for longer than that. The recording quality has met my needs. There is some difference in volume however I transfer the files to my computer for transcription and am easily able to use the media player features to compensate for the difference in volumes levels between voices, so this was not a negative for my purposes. Recording in stereo was not a requirement for me, but this could be a consideration for others. I felt this was a good purchase for the price.
After reading the comments about the mic only working with recorders that provide power to the mic, when I at first tried it with my pc as the recording device and it didn't work I thought that was that. On a whim I plugged it in using the included stereo adapter and then it worked great.
edit: I've since found a better solution for recording from a phone to a pc which can be found if you google lrx-35 but you have to have a phone with a corded handset. - Telephone Recording - Digital Voice Recorder - Olympus - Microphone'
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