What would be the best way to record audio from a meeting?
I am going to a large conference (10,000 attending) and would like to record it for later use. I have tried to record this meeting before with an older tape player, but there was too much echo and you could barely hear the speaker. Not only is the Audio trasmited through overhead speakers but it is also broadcast over an FM signal for the hearing impared (so they can listen in on FM headsets). I need to know what type of recorder I need. I would like to have it recorded in digital form. It also needs to be able to carry a large amount of data, the convention is 3 days long, 8 hours per day. Thank you for your time
I wonder if it is being "transmitted on FM radio" for the hearing challenged, or whether an "inductive loop" system is being used.
Inductive loops are an international standard system for hearing aids.
If it is FM, just find out what frequency it is on and if it is in the broadcast FM band, any MP3 player that can record from radio with a hard drive will likely contain the data.
If it is an inductive loop system, hooking into it is gonna be really expensive. You would need some kind of expert in inductive loops to tell you how to pull a feed from the loop. Google "inductive loop" for suppliers, or even Yahoo! it 
It’s a bit of a world of its own.
If you are using some kind of gadget to pull an inductive loop feed, the MP3 recorder you need will have to have a line input, rather than, or in addition to a microphone input. This is slightly more unusual.
Lastly, if these options are uneconomic, your best bet is to go to a BeyerDynamic dealer. They specialize in broadcast microphones. Tell them you want them to recommend an ENG, Electronic NewsGathering Mike.
Give them as much information as possible about where you will be relative to the sounds you record.
Getting sound from the stage into your recorder will be relatively easy, that’s what most press conferences are like.
Getting sound from delegates on the floor will be much more challenging.
Well…You can either use an MP3 player which has a voice recorder or a proffessional voice recorder. If you have an iPod, you can buy its microphne separately which will cost around $20. But if you don’t have an iPod, I recommend you to buy another MP3 player that has a built-in microphone, such as Creative, Z-Cyber, Walkman, or SanDisk. SanDisk MP3 players are cheaper than others & some models support a memory card, so that you can add more gigabytes to it & they have line in recording, means that you can record the FM sound; the only thing is that some say SanDisk mp3 players don’t have a good quality, I have no idea.
Or as I said, you can buy a voice recorder. Do a search in google, or somewhere esle like eBay or Costco.
References :
I wonder if it is being "transmitted on FM radio" for the hearing challenged, or whether an "inductive loop" system is being used.
Inductive loops are an international standard system for hearing aids.
If it is FM, just find out what frequency it is on and if it is in the broadcast FM band, any MP3 player that can record from radio with a hard drive will likely contain the data.
If it is an inductive loop system, hooking into it is gonna be really expensive. You would need some kind of expert in inductive loops to tell you how to pull a feed from the loop. Google "inductive loop" for suppliers, or even Yahoo! it
It’s a bit of a world of its own.
If you are using some kind of gadget to pull an inductive loop feed, the MP3 recorder you need will have to have a line input, rather than, or in addition to a microphone input. This is slightly more unusual.
Lastly, if these options are uneconomic, your best bet is to go to a BeyerDynamic dealer. They specialize in broadcast microphones. Tell them you want them to recommend an ENG, Electronic NewsGathering Mike.
Give them as much information as possible about where you will be relative to the sounds you record.
Getting sound from the stage into your recorder will be relatively easy, that’s what most press conferences are like.
Getting sound from delegates on the floor will be much more challenging.
References :
DJ for millions of years. Some broadcast experience, some experience in dealing with the hearing challenged.