Android Call Recorder

Robm1955

Recently, I had a telephone appointment, with a guy from Pension Wise, to talk about what to do with my pension. I knew this would be a long call, and my memory not the best,I wanted to record the whole conversation. I told the guy this, and he was fine with this, as their policy is to record too. I knew I would get a report of the main topics, but I wanted to record everything, so I didn't miss any points. I installed an app called Call Recorder, which records ingoing, and outgoing calls, if you require. I recorded the conversation, no problem. The problem is with the actual recording. My voice is very clear, but the other persons voice, is very faint, and I can only just here what he's trying to say, in some places. My question is, does anyone know of a call/voice recorder, that will record both ends of the conversation, at a reasonable level. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
EDIT: I have a couple more of these calls to make, that's the reason for my asking.

alanwsg

If you are running Android 9 or later, it's not possible to record both sides of the conversation.
Google removed the feature to comply with local laws (It's allowed in certain countries, e.g. Thailand).
Here's an article from one of the most popular apps (ACR) ....
https://nllapps.com/apps/acr/android9.htm

Robm1955

It's Android version 8

alanwsg

Then maybe try the ACR app I mentioned, it used to work very well for me.
It has several different recording options you should try to see which (if any) work on your phone.

ballyblack

alanwsg said:

Then maybe try the ACR app I mentioned, it used to work very well for me.
It has several different recording options you should try to see which (if any) work on your phone.

yes ACR worked for me. Not anymore on latest Android 10

forgotmyname

Depends on the phone. Some phones block direct voice recording so the apps record from the speaker
which is often very quiet.

I used to use Galaxy call recorder, but when I got the S6 it didnt work on that.  Used CallX since but mine is
an older version which I have not updated. Seems the newer version got rather intrusive and added more adverts
even in the paid version.

Will your phone record from the internal source or only from the speaker?

DoaM

With the various Android phones I've had over the years, I've never found a reliable call recorder app ... even going back as far as my Nexus 4.

mksysb

Robm1955 said:

Recently, I had a telephone appointment, with a guy from Pension Wise, to talk about what to do with my pension. I knew this would be a long call, and my memory not the best,I wanted to record the whole conversation. I told the guy this, and he was fine with this, as their policy is to record too. I knew I would get a report of the main topics, but I wanted to record everything, so I didn't miss any points. I installed an app called Call Recorder, which records ingoing, and outgoing calls, if you require. I recorded the conversation, no problem. The problem is with the actual recording. My voice is very clear, but the other persons voice, is very faint, and I can only just here what he's trying to say, in some places. My question is, does anyone know of a call/voice recorder, that will record both ends of the conversation, at a reasonable level. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
EDIT: I have a couple more of these calls to make, that's the reason for my asking.

You may be able to enhance the recording using audacity

https://www.learnupon.com/blog/elearning-audacity-audio-quality/

"The Normalize effect brings your recording to an average or peak amplitude to a target level. So, using our conversation example again. The quiet voice will be raised towards the target level, while the louder ones will not be raised above that level - balancing the two.

To use either, highlight the area of the track, or the whole track, that you want to adjust and then click on the Effects menu. Choose from either Amplify or Normalize."

Neil_Jones

mksysb said:

You may be able to enhance the recording using audacity

Key point to remember here:  Audacity (and other audio editing programs) cannot enhance what is not there.  Its far more likely that if you blow the other caller's voice up volume wise all you'll end up with is a load of hiss or noise and it won't be any better than if you'd just left it in the first place.

A better solution which may be worth trying is to use the app but put the call on speakerphone.  That way the microphone in the phone can hear the caller through the loudness of the earphone and record it that way.  This may or may not work (and it runs the risk of generating feedback - aka a horrible reverberating whistle/tone - if the other caller is also using speakerphone).

mksysb

Neil_Jones said:

mksysb said:

You may be able to enhance the recording using audacity

Key point to remember here:  Audacity (and other audio editing programs) cannot enhance what is not there.  Its far more likely that if you blow the other caller's voice up volume wise all you'll end up with is a load of hiss or noise and it won't be any better than if you'd just left it in the first place.

A better solution which may be worth trying is to use the app but put the call on speakerphone.  That way the microphone in the phone can hear the caller through the loudness of the earphone and record it that way.  This may or may not work (and it runs the risk of generating feedback - aka a horrible reverberating whistle/tone - if the other caller is also using speakerphone).

True, but he already has a recording, and he did say he could hear the other end, but it was faint, so he'll lose nothing by trying to enhance it.

Neil_Jones

Yes but the point I was getting at was that if its faint on the recording because of technical limitations in either the app or Android, then it'll be the equivalent of trying to do a CSI on a tiny little picture, blowing it up to the point where you can see down the back of somebody's throat two blocks away.  In reality that picture will look like a Lego factory after an earthquake and you'll see nothing.  Audio wise the CSI method is to enhance sound so you can hear a pin drop in a warehouse on the other side of town, whereas in reality it'll just blow up all the imperfections and sound like the proverbial earthquake in the Lego factory.

A lot depends on the wave form of the recording as to whether Audacity (or whatever) can do anything with it.  The Amplify option in Audacity might be better rather than Normalize, because Amplify will let you, for want of a better phrase, boost the crap out of it regardless.  Normalize if you're not careful with it will see a spike in the wave form (usually a pop or some other form of interference) and try to normalize to that, which in a lot of cases will serve to reduce the volume to account for the spike.