How can I record my VZW voicemail to a file; having quality problems

[edmicman]

I have a couple of voicemails on my VZW voicemail that I would like to record to MP3 before moving to Google Voice. Last night I tried using a dual-ended headphone jack cord that I plugged into the headphone jack on my Moto DROID and the other end into the mic jack on my laptop; but I had major problems with the quality.

I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 and was using Audacity to record. I would get the audio out of my phone, but it was severely distorted playing through the PC. There is a lot of background hum and noise unless I turn the phone volume down to where you can barely hear the audio. But then I would need to use software to amplify the recording and I was back to the distortion. If I plug headphones into the phone headphone jack, everything sounds great. It's only when it's connected via the cable to the laptop that there's a problem.

My question is, is it a problem with my cable (it was a basic cheapy RCA brand cable, 6ft), or could it be something with my laptop or software? I can check with the Ubuntu forums next if the hardware should be working fine. I know it's a cheap cable, but I wouldn't think that would matter that much? The headphone's are cheap ones with a cable that's thinner than the dual headphone jack cable.

Otherwise, how else might I get a recording of my voicemail audio? I used to be able to pair my old dumbphone via bluetooth to a laptop and use it as a headset...but that doesn't seem to work with the DROID? Are there any simple apps to just record what's on your phone audio? I don't want to sign up for a service, and I've tried things like Evernote to record an audionote, then go run my voicemail, etc., but that didn't work either.

Anything else I might try? Thanks,

 

[takeshi]

I'm no audio expert. I just know enough to be dangerous so you'll need to take anything I say with some research on your own unless someone more knowledgeable can chime in.

Part of your issue may be a ground loop. I've run into this before with AV equipment but I can't walk you through dealing with these.

Also, headphone levels and line-in levels are different. You definitely want to get what's coming out of the Droid as close to line level if you want a clean recording.

Have you checked into any call recording apps?

 

[edmicman]

I've looked through some apps quick in the marketplace, but most seem to involve signing up for a 3rd party service. Are there any apps that just record what is going over the phone's output/speaker to a local file?

 

[garrett]

as far as the line in volume you should never have the phone above 1/3 or at most 1/2 volume, you can always adjust the volume from the PC....

i've used audacity to record samples and riff's using line in before but never off a cell phone when i get a chance here in a bit ill play with it using my droid to see if i have any issues.

 

[Hiroller173]

I use google voice for my voice mail, but Total Recorder works for me. It seems it can record any audio that plays through the computer.

 

[[email protected]]

Here is a service that does that.

Save My Voicemail - Convert Voicemail to MP3

~Bob

 

[FranklinWalker]

Here is a service that does that.

Save My Voicemail - Convert Voicemail to MP3

~Bob

This solution is wonderful!

 

[edmicman]

Cool, thanks! I ended up just playing it through the speakerphone and holding it up to the mic on a headset....it worked well enough and didn't seem to have as much background hum noise as it did when I used the cable straight into the mic jack. <shrug>

 

[amdaddio]

Here is a great solution I just tried with my Droid X. Get a "Y" Connector / Splitter that has one male to two female plugs, and one mini to mini cord; both ends male. Plug the male end of the Y Connector into your phone, plug one end of the male mini cord into the female end of the Y Connector and the other end into the audio input of your computer. Then plug your head phones into the remaining female end of the Y Connector (this will let you monitor the sound going to your computer). I am on a Mac and used Audacity (a free sound recording program for Mac and Windows), to record the sound into the computer. Adjust the "In Call Volume" Level and the input levels on Audacity to get the best sound levels for your recording. You can pick up the cords at a Radio Shack for a nominal fee, and the sound quality I got was very good, much better than recording through external speakers. Hope this is helpful!