First setup for wall recording

[Illidya]

Hi,

So I'm new here, and looking to get my first setup planned out.

Conditions will be almost exclusively recording from within my own apartment through the walls, so I'm looking for equipment suited for that purpose.

So far I've just been using (or trying to use) my cell against the wall, it does get (poor) results, but static/bg noise is terrible -
would an Olympus device fare any better or do I need to pair it with a dedicated wall mic of some sort?
If so, are there any wall mics you can recommend to use with an Olympus?

[reggind]

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7981

[Cuchullain-1]

Hi,

So I'm new here, and looking to get my first setup planned out.

Conditions will be almost exclusively recording from within my own apartment through the walls, so I'm looking for equipment suited for that purpose.

So far I've just been using (or trying to use) my cell against the wall, it does get (poor) results, but static/bg noise is terrible -
would an Olympus device fare any better or do I need to pair it with a dedicated wall mic of some sort?
If so, are there any wall mics you can recommend to use with an Olympus?

Hi Illidya.
I have a Olympus LS-12 (bought it via Amazon). It has a Line-In and the possibility to expand memory via SD-Card. Then I´ve got a wall-listening-Device from this Site: https://www.wachpunkt.de/produkt/durch- ... tethoskop/
I pluged in a Line-In-Cable from the Earphone-Jack of the Wall-Device into the Line-In-Jack from my Olympus. If you do so, you are not able to listen at the same time but you can record. I try hard to get some sound of my neighbour who has her bedroom right above mine. But sadly I never got any moanings of her....only from time to time some conversation if her husband is staying over night, which happens only on weekends and sometimes they stay at his place. I guess they´re not having any sex here because it´s a house with six families and they might be afraid to get caught in the act
I think you allways need an amplifier between your Wall mic and the recorder as the recorder doesn´t amplifie. Maybe this will help you for the start.
Welcome to our community Looking forward to some of your Audio-Captures

[Illidya]

Thanks!

I've finished putting together and ordering my first setup, so hopefully something will come of it soon.
I have had a bit of trouble finding a good pre-amp for the piezos.. I ordered something from the post reggind linked, but I wasn't able to source one in the EU where I am located, and the US shop has yet to ship it.

Any suggestions for alternatives that you could recommend - or even just what specs to look for in broader terms?

[Quadrophenia1]

Best of luck in perhaps being the next Gekko or LeStanf !!

[Cuchullain-1]

Thanks!

I've finished putting together and ordering my first setup, so hopefully something will come of it soon.
I have had a bit of trouble finding a good pre-amp for the piezos.. I ordered something from the post reggind linked, but I wasn't able to source one in the EU where I am located, and the US shop has yet to ship it.

Any suggestions for alternatives that you could recommend - or even just what specs to look for in broader terms?

I have no idea in this case but I´m quite sure that piezos are not the best Mic´s for a good wall-listening. Your Walls must be very thin for piezos to get a good quality sound from........as far as I know.

[Illidya]

I have no idea in this case but I´m quite sure that piezos are not the best Mic´s for a good wall-listening. Your Walls must be very thin for piezos to get a good quality sound from........as far as I know.

Yea, now that is has all arrived, that is definitely what I'm seeing...

I would expect at least ear-to-wall levels of performance, but that doesn't even seem to be the case so far.

Do you have any alternatives you could recommend?

[reggind]

You are going to be hard pressed to find a contact mic in any other technology than a piezo. You could try using a very quiet microphone and preamp in the room itself but that would be both expensive and also in most likelihood a waste.

The reason I am saying this is because even where I live out in the country, there are a *lot* of noises.. I live perhaps 1000 yards from a large creek. There is always the sound of running water. We have 3 big dogs, it is after 1 AM and everything is quiet, but the dogs are snoring. I can hear the hum of the fridge and freezer in the kitchen. Many nights I can hear the howling of the wind. In the next months the peepers and bullfrogs will be out calling, the crickets and cicadas will be out too. We get very little vehicular traffic but you can hear a car coming a long ways way, building up until it gets here and than fading back into the night. And again we live in a very isolated place. In a more urban place you are going to have tv's and radios, people walking and talking, cars and motorcycles, HVAC systems (we are between seasons here now so no HVAC sounds for a bit...) The thing is all of that wonderful low noise everything you got winds up being spent on regular background noises. It would be great to be able to capture a 20 yo couple with a fine microphone and preamp and a good recorder say out in the woods, away from running water on a still night, and before the crickets come out for the season. But that is not real likely to happen.

If you are into building and experimenting one thing I have often pondered was placing a second mic out of phase with the fist one on another wall or even open air, and trying to cancel out some of the common mode noise. I think this would be best recorded with two pickups going into two channels and in post processing reversing the phase of one of them and than carefully mixing them together to see if you can achieve at least some cancelation of sounds that were common to both mics. Ideally the second mic would not have any other signal on it except for the common mode noise. That is the second mic would not work well on the wall of another occupied room.

FWIW the Rode NT1-A seems to be the best "bang for our buck" in low noise mics. You can pick one up used on eBay for around $150 or get the mic and a decent preamp in the $300 price range. Note that this is not a contact mic, and any noise you make, such as breathing will no doubt be recorded along with the "talent".

[Cuchullain-1]

I have no idea in this case but I´m quite sure that piezos are not the best Mic´s for a good wall-listening. Your Walls must be very thin for piezos to get a good quality sound from........as far as I know.

Yea, now that is has all arrived, that is definitely what I'm seeing...

I would expect at least ear-to-wall levels of performance, but that doesn't even seem to be the case so far.

Do you have any alternatives you could recommend?

Wich country are you from Illidya ? If you are anywhere in Europe, you should be able to get the Mic-Setting wich I have postet to you before in this Topic. Look at the Link again from Wachpunkt.de ! It has really good results. I can even hear my neighbours talk on the upper floor - I can´t really hear each bit like quiete breathing for example but it´s good enough for our hobby. My neighbour only doesn´t really have sex when she´s here.....I guess she´s afraid of getting heard in this House with six families living in - and with the exception of me, she´s the next younger one (late 30´s I guess).
Try to get my Mic setting. It´s worth it´s money .....if you have someone to listen to. And yes of course like it´s been said above, you can really hear many other noises too.......what sometimes can be very annoying ....things like Toilet flushing, wind, animals , water running down the sink etc....... but you are also able to hear the things we want to hear I am located in Germany and I ordered it - it was worth the amount of money it costs....not really cheap but worth it. You should also be able to get it anywhere in the EU.

[Illidya]

I am indeed in Europe, which seems to limit the selection a bit.

I looked at the mix you suggested earlier, but might have dismissed it a bit since I figured it would be a piezo like device inside - but it seems they're having a same now, so I'll probably go for it and see how it works out.

Have you had any experience using it on thicker walls? I reckon theyre concrete and fairly well insulated. But as mentioned, ear-to-the-wall levels of performance shipped suffice to pick most things up, especially since the talent has a tendency to get fairly loud.

[johidi]

I have no idea in this case but I´m quite sure that piezos are not the best Mic´s for a good wall-listening. Your Walls must be very thin for piezos to get a good quality sound from........as far as I know.

Yea, now that is has all arrived, that is definitely what I'm seeing...

I would expect at least ear-to-wall levels of performance, but that doesn't even seem to be the case so far.

Do you have any alternatives you could recommend?

Wich country are you from Illidya ? If you are anywhere in Europe, you should be able to get the Mic-Setting wich I have postet to you before in this Topic. Look at the Link again from Wachpunkt.de ! It has really good results. I can even hear my neighbours talk on the upper floor - I can´t really hear each bit like quiete breathing for example but it´s good enough for our hobby. My neighbour only doesn´t really have sex when she´s here.....I guess she´s afraid of getting heard in this House with six families living in - and with the exception of me, she´s the next younger one (late 30´s I guess).
Try to get my Mic setting. It´s worth it´s money .....if you have someone to listen to. And yes of course like it´s been said above, you can really hear many other noises too.......what sometimes can be very annoying ....things like Toilet flushing, wind, animals , water running down the sink etc....... but you are also able to hear the things we want to hear I am located in Germany and I ordered it - it was worth the amount of money it costs....not really cheap but worth it. You should also be able to get it anywhere in the EU.

is there anything similar for USA? I only see few countries where they ship

[Cuchullain-1]

Yea, now that is has all arrived, that is definitely what I'm seeing...

I would expect at least ear-to-wall levels of performance, but that doesn't even seem to be the case so far.

Do you have any alternatives you could recommend?

Wich country are you from Illidya ? If you are anywhere in Europe, you should be able to get the Mic-Setting wich I have postet to you before in this Topic. Look at the Link again from Wachpunkt.de ! It has really good results. I can even hear my neighbours talk on the upper floor - I can´t really hear each bit like quiete breathing for example but it´s good enough for our hobby. My neighbour only doesn´t really have sex when she´s here.....I guess she´s afraid of getting heard in this House with six families living in - and with the exception of me, she´s the next younger one (late 30´s I guess).
Try to get my Mic setting. It´s worth it´s money .....if you have someone to listen to. And yes of course like it´s been said above, you can really hear many other noises too.......what sometimes can be very annoying ....things like Toilet flushing, wind, animals , water running down the sink etc....... but you are also able to hear the things we want to hear I am located in Germany and I ordered it - it was worth the amount of money it costs....not really cheap but worth it. You should also be able to get it anywhere in the EU.

is there anything similar for USA? I only see few countries where they ship

Hey Johidi, I´m quite sure they won´t send it to the USA but you should find something similar in the US too. Have a look for Security-Shops. But also you might try to get into contact with the Online-Shop-Link I gave and ask them if a shipping to the USA is possible !?

[mass130]

Has anyone used the Mic from the wall kit alone with a phone? With some LineIn recorder software iOS or Android ?
Without the amplifier ?

Thanks

[Cuchullain-1]

Has anyone used the Mic from the wall kit alone with a phone? With some LineIn recorder software iOS or Android ?
Without the amplifier ?

Thanks

Hi mass130.
The Mic is not working without an amplifier. I´ve tried it allready. No Chance !

[mass130]

Thanks mate. I tested as well. It's a no go