VEC TRX-20 3.5MM Direct Connect Telephone Record Device (ADAPTER ONLY)

So far, great sound quality or has a seemingly high signal to noise ratio. Also, very easy to install and versatile. Two misconceptions, this VEC TRX-20 device does include the spiral cord and the 3.5mm or 1/8 mini jack. The device also connects to the headset rather than at the telephone jack. (Far better on the handset, for maintaining audio quality.) My setup, I plug the output or the 3.5 or 1/8 mini-jack of the VEC TRX-20 into a pre-amplifier, then from the pre-amp into the line-in of an Asus Xonar Essence STX PCI/PCIe computer card. (The ASUS STX cards are one of the best sounding or highest signal to noise ratio sound cards on the market.) Trying to connect this device directly to a computer sound card without using a pre-amplifier may require enabling "mic boost" through the computer operating soundcard frontend settings, and greatly degrading the sound quality or signal to noise ratio depending on the quality of sound card used. I would strongly suggest using a (microphone) preamplifier, costing another $50-100 and can be readily bought through most music stores. The better pre-amplifiers tend to use XLR micrphone connectors, include +20dB mic boost for which I find essential, as well as 1/4 inch jacks rather than the small 1/8 jacks. My equipment: 1) This device, VEC TRX-20 2) Studio V3 Tube MP Pre-amplifier (Settings: w/o +48v turned on, and +20dB Gain and Phase Reverse enabled) 3) Asus Xonar Essence STX PCI/PCIe sound card 4) Software: Linux ALSA arecord, aplay and alsamixer for recording 32 bit 48000hz PCM WAV files. (Photo shows only 16 bit rather than 32 bit recording due to an error on my part!)

This recorder adapter intercepts the handset input/output for a mono recording. Very easy to use. The only limitation is the quality of the telephone line and the telephone itself. However, for two years, we did not disconnect the adapter unit. The telephone handset coil cord jerked the unit wires hundreds of times, the wires separated and static crackled. So we bought two more.

This is a piece of equipment that is specifically designed to connect your landline phone to a digital voice recorder. You plug it into the phone and into the digital voice recorder mic jack. This is my second purchase of this model. The first one lasted for years, and I believe it still works fine. I think I was having problems with my digital voice recorder, not the adapter, but I ordered a new one of both just in case. The problem is that with my old digital voice recorder, the Olympus DS-30, I think I remember that it recorded in stereo - or at least in such a way that the sound came out of both sides of my headphones. With the new digital voice recorder, the Olympus WS-822, the recorded conversations only come out of the right side of my headphones. If anybody knows what I am doing wrong, please let me know. Until then I am not completely happy, but the device does do its job.

Was surprised at how small this is (1.5" x 1" x 1") but it does the job. Setting this up is a 20-second job and it's good to go. The 3.5mm jack will plug into a digital recorder or computer with no problem. The cord could use another few inches, in my opinion, but that also helps keep you from running around with the phone when you need it to sit still. Comes with double-sided tape to help keep things in place as well. Ran through a couple tests and it works great, recording dial tone, key presses, and voice. Basically, if you hear it through the receiver, this gets it. As others have noted, you MUST have a corded handset to use this as it connects in between the cord and the handset.

The device seems to work well. I had been using an old Radio Shack device to connect my digital voice recorder to my phone for many years to record interviews for articles, but it eventually stopped working after the cord got caught in the desk drawer. After I missed out on some interviews that didn't get recorded and had to reconstruct them from my notes, I finally searched for a replacement, and I'm glad I bought this one. It seems to do the job well, and so far all the recordings I've tried to make have worked. The sound quality is decent, and perhaps even better than I had with my old Radio Shack connector. It only took about a minute to set up. It doesn't have the record/play switch that the old Radio Shack adapter had, but that's actually a blessing because that means I don't have to worry about it being on the wrong setting.

Yes it will record phone calls if properly connected, although the quality of the recording is not as good as the call itself. The problem is that once I connected it to the phone tone dialing was disabled. So with this little gem in-line I couldn't even dial the number i wanted to reach. I had to use a wireless phone on the same line to dial the number and get through all the "Press 1 if..." prompts. I tried this on both my wired phone with the same result - no tone dialing.

This adapter works very well in making a clean, hum-free, recording. This is because the circuitry uses a small transformer to isolate the sound signal. Cheaper adapters (i.e. $10 or less) do not use a transformer to reduce interference and hum. An adapter like this one is especially needed if you are going to connect it between your telephone and a headset amplifier. Having said all that, this unit has one big flaw in my opinion. It uses a mono jack for the audio out which is a problem if you are recording to a recorder or sound card that has a stereo audio recording input. Most recorders and sound cards have a stereo audio input. This means that if you record the phone conversation to a stereo recorder or sound card, the sound will only record on one channel and the other channel will have a very low volume of cross-talk or noise. Now it is true that the sound from the phone is monotone (one channel) but when you record, you want this monotone audio to be recorded on both the left and right channels for playback on all audio speakers, not just Left or Right, and to eliminate any noise on the channel where the audio has not been recorded. And it is true that you could adjust the settings on your recorder or PC to just record in mono, but for most this would be inconvenient and you might forget to do so before making a recording. Better phone recording adapters are designed to record on both Left and Right channels (see Mike Sandman Enterprises, Inc. Deluxe Handset Recording Adapter). Again, if your recording device is strictly mono (1 channel) audio input, your fine, but most are not. I strongly recommend that VEC redesign this unit with a stereo audio plug and have the sound output to both Left and Right channels.

I combined this product with an Olympus WS-802 and the combination makes for a very easy to use system. I leave the parts continuously connected to my phone. When I need to remove the recorder for playback (for example in the car), I just remove the Olympus, and leave the coupler connected to the phone. Great system, easy to use. When I make a call, I have lots of time to turn on the Olympus, and then start recording just before I place the call. When I receive a call, it takes me about 3 seconds to turn the Olympus on, and start recording, and then I pick up the phone, as to capture the entire conversation. The voice quality of the setup is pretty good, it captures only the left ear channel from the phone. I'm guessing this is because of the phone, since normally, the handset is place only on one ear so there's no need to carry two signals (left and right). The phone I use is a Polycom 501 IP phone. But it doesn't really matter what phone, as long as the chord to your handset (that connects to the base) has the same kind of connector as most phones have. Whether IP phone or regular phone, the link between the base and the handset is analog I think... it doesn't make sense to put a bunch of sophisticated electronics (digital technology) into the handset, so I think all phones use analog signal from the base to the handset.

This type of telephone interface is very hard to find any more so I was delighted when mine arrived at my door, and even more delighted when it worked perfectly.

LIKE

beutiful little unit works well

Only recorded in mono and not stereo

The jack of this product is at least two mm narrower than it should be in order for the phone plug to fit into. Product is thus useless.