Multi channel sound recorder

[Guilllaume Filion]

Hi,

I would like to build a PC that can record several - 4 to 8 - voice
channels simultaneously. This box would record Fire/Police/EMS radio
conversations. It would have several radio scanners connected to it and
record all the time in a very compressed format - maybe GSM.

I'll have to buy pretty much all of the hardware for this project and I
have a limited budget. It doesn't have to be pretty, sleek or silent,
only reliable and adequate. Voice quality is not really a concern since
the quality is already pretty low when it's received by the radio
scanners.

I'm wondering what would be the best way to do, should I use one or two
high-end multi-channel sound cards or several cheap sound cards?

What about USB sound recorders?

Is it possible to record two different conversations using the two
channels of a stereo sound card?

How much CPU power does it need to compress 4-8 channels in real time in
GSM?

I can't wait to hear you advices!

GFK's

 

[Notimprest]

Hi,

I would like to build a PC that can record several - 4 to
8 - voice
channels simultaneously. This box would record
Fire/Police/EMS radio
conversations. It would have several radio scanners
connected to it and
record all the time in a very compressed format - maybe
GSM.

I'll have to buy pretty much all of the hardware for this
project and I
have a limited budget. It doesn't have to be pretty, sleek
or silent,
only reliable and adequate. Voice quality is not really a
concern since
the quality is already pretty low when it's received by
the radio
scanners.

I'm wondering what would be the best way to do, should I
use one or two
high-end multi-channel sound cards or several cheap sound
cards?

What about USB sound recorders?

Is it possible to record two different conversations using
the two
channels of a stereo sound card?

How much CPU power does it need to compress 4-8 channels
in real time in
GSM?

I can't wait to hear you advices!

GFK's

Do a Google search for a program named, "Audacity". It is
capable of doing what you want and it is easy to learn. Best
of all, it is absolutely free. I use it for multi-track
audio production and I haven't been disappointed yet. Good
luck.

NI

 

[Timbertea]

Hi,

I would like to build a PC that can record several - 4 to 8 - voice
channels simultaneously. This box would record Fire/Police/EMS radio
conversations. It would have several radio scanners connected to it and
record all the time in a very compressed format - maybe GSM.

I'll have to buy pretty much all of the hardware for this project and I
have a limited budget. It doesn't have to be pretty, sleek or silent,
only reliable and adequate. Voice quality is not really a concern since
the quality is already pretty low when it's received by the radio
scanners.

I'm wondering what would be the best way to do, should I use one or two
high-end multi-channel sound cards or several cheap sound cards?

What about USB sound recorders?

Is it possible to record two different conversations using the two
channels of a stereo sound card?

How much CPU power does it need to compress 4-8 channels in real time in
GSM?

I can't wait to hear you advices!

GFK's

Once you get to legal I think you will find you have more requirements
than listed, you will probably also have to have the data time stamped
and some type of verfication run on it (say MD5) to make sure it hasn't
been tampered with in order to preserve its evidence admission
potential. If it's for personal use (and I somehow doubt that) it wont
matter, but if it's for a small city you'll end up with egg on your face
if the data ever needs to be used in court. The standards for getting
digital evidence admitted are a little higher as it's very easy to
tamper with.

That being said, on the hardware end you could probably use a pair of
AudioTrak Maya 44 MKII's (they have 4 inputs each and do quite a bit in
hardware including mixing. $150 each) and I don't know what you'll need
for software because I'm not sure what your real requirements are. At a
certain point you might be better off going with a dedicated canned
solution than kludging something together.