VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 1:43 pm Post subject: more phone patch fun

I've been sitting in the archives now trying to wrap my small brain around the phone patch thing. My agent asked me if I had phone patch and I have the opportunity for an ongoing gig if I have such a feature. I'm using the old hands-free set under my headphones trick for a different client on Friday, but I fell it's a bit disengnuous to advertise phone patch to my agent if that ain't what I really have,

I have the simplest chain in the history of VO right now:

AT 3035 Mic
Art Tube USB
Computer

Notice the lack of mixer. Don't need one for my current setup.

My phone line is VOIP but its wired in such a way that I just plug any old phone phone into the wall jack as normal, so I wouldn't expect that to be a problem.

Any hints on a low-cost, reliable solution that allows for them to hear me through my mic, me to record only me, and then playback for them?
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Yoda117 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 4:01 pm Post subject:

BSW has some under $200, but the one I've heard the best about was the Telos One (but it runs about $900)
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Bill Campbell · DC Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 621

A phone patch (hybrid) through a mixer is no better fidelty than a speaker
phone. I use both and nobody on the other end can tell the difference.

A land line phone does sound better than a cell phone, though.

Jeffrey...how does your USB Art pre sound? Clean? Noisey?
ART makes some pretty decent low cost gear.
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Frank F · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 7:57 pm Post subject:

Do you Skype? If so, consider using Skype as your phone patch. Your mic goes into Skype and you hear through your headphones - you are recording just your audio with your program (unless you choose to use some fancy toys which will record both sides of the call).

You will need broadband internet of some variety and to call a POTS line it will cost you $30.00 USD a year for calls in the USA and Canada.

Toodles

Frank F
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:08 pm Post subject:

I would love to know more about this Frank. Is there somewhere I can read up on what I need?
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Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

Joe Whistler · Guest

We have a Symetrix TI-101 patched into a Behringer 1204 mixer. The Symetrix is patched in to our VOIP (Sunrocket.) Last week a client complained that the sound was very "muffled" We've not had that complaint before, but our broadband service was recently acquired by Comcast which, supposedly, was supposed to provide greater bandwidth for the same price.

I've done some cursory speed checks and indeed, on a good day, up and down speeds are pretty impressive. But it's certainly not consistent: when it's bad, it can be pretty darn slow, comparatively. That's the downside of cable broadband.

So my questions about Skype are...

Would Skype to POTS, or POTS to Skype provide any better quality than the present configuration? And...

Can you feed your recordings back through Skype to the client?

I thought I read somewhere earlier that you can't feed your recorded tracks back out through Skype. Is that correct?

Thanks for the input.

Regards,
Joe

Frank F · Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 7:28 am Post subject:

Jeffery - PM me with your phone number.

Joe, ditto the above and I will share a sample.

I must add, that many VOIP products are "decent-level" audio impaired. Using Skype properly can make your levels louder than standard VOIP products while increasing clariy. The clarity is indicated by the quality of the input signal on your end of the conversation.

Although not perfect due to it's use of a standardized phone codec for POTS calls and the inherent drop of quality to standard POTS lines due to codec conversion, Skype is not bad...

Skype to Skype calls are much higher in QOS (Quality of Service) due to a higher bit rate codec, but they will always be less than the standard capability of a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) used for voiceovers.

iSpeek, Source Conenct, and other new releases in the point to point codec industry are coming on strong, but do not expect these products (with the exception of iSpeek) to include POTS calling anytime soon.

Toodles

Frank F
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 10:01 pm Post subject:

Just did a "phone patch" session tonight. Client never knew (or cared) that it was a hands-free set into a cordless phone. Worked flawlessly.

Many thanks to Frank "the nicest guy on VO" for calling and reminding me that the simpler solutions are often the best ones.
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Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Sounds like you're all set Jeffrey, but for future reference a good traditional phone patch that has worked well for me is the JK Audio Autohybrid...can be had for around $175...simple, easy to work and has already paid for itself several times over...http://jkaudio.com/autohybrid.htm

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject:

can't get the stinkin' Radio shack phone adapter to work. I get no sound out from the computer to the phone line.

anyone used one of these? Frank?
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chriswagner · Contributor IV Joined: 02 Apr 2007 Posts: 114

I've used blue tooth to a cell phone, wired headset to the phone, but the best one I've got and use all the time is the Inline patch from JKAudio, around $200.00 and it does a fairly decent job.

Nice thing is, it has an off-hook switch so I can 'answer' the phone using the off hook switch, or when the call has been initiated (either by myself or the client) I can flip the switch and the whole thing is "off the hook"... and the hand set get's put back into the cradle.