42 replies to this topic

[HauntedTruth]

Does anyone know what Brand and Model of digital recorders are used by the investigators in the following TV shows?:

1) TAPS
2) Ghost Adventures
3) Ghost Lab

Thank you.

Sincerely,

HauntedTruth

[afterlife]

First off a good one is going to cost a little & I would not limit your self to what TV show are using. I use an Olympus DS-30, 1GB Digital Voice Recorder w/ Removable Stereo Mic. It has a great sound quality & It runs about $200.00. You can also use this thing in real time, meaning if you push record then plug in a set a headphones you can hear every thing, in real time that's going to be reviewed later. You can find that here on the equipment page/ghost-mart page or check music supply stores on the net

[CaveRat2]

Most of them use a variety of recorders, some good quality, some junk that they should know better than to use!

But I would venture to say it's called product placement. If you see them using a good recorder fine, but most people will buy cheap. So they use some cheap recorder furnished by a manufacturer to show it off. The viewer sees it and asks the very question you ask here. BINGO! They sell another cheapo recorder just because the TV show used it!

If you're deciding what to buy, do the research yourself, Learn what the specs mean, or find someone who does, and go with that. Just because TAPS or Ghost Lab uses it doesn't make it a good choice. It might be, but there are other interests at work there tooyou need to be aware of before basing your decision on what is on TV.

[SSGJenkins]

 afterlife, on Dec 3 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

First off a good one is going to cost a little & I would not limit your self to what TV show are using. I use an Olympus DS-30, 1GB Digital Voice Recorder w/ Removable Stereo Mic. It has a great sound quality & It runs about $200.00. You can also use this thing in real time, meaning if you push record then plug in a set a headphones you can hear every thing, in real time that's going to be reviewed later. You can find that here on the equipment page/ghost-mart page or check music supply stores on the net

Yeah but have you ever actually heard an EVP real time while recording?? Just curious.

[afterlife]

 SSGJenkins, on Dec 10 2009, 03:26 AM, said:

 afterlife, on Dec 3 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

First off a good one is going to cost a little & I would not limit your self to what TV show are using. I use an Olympus DS-30, 1GB Digital Voice Recorder w/ Removable Stereo Mic. It has a great sound quality & It runs about $200.00. You can also use this thing in real time, meaning if you push record then plug in a set a headphones you can hear every thing, in real time that's going to be reviewed later. You can find that here on the equipment page/ghost-mart page or check music supply stores on the net

Yeah but have you ever actually heard an EVP real time while recording?? Just curious.

YES, only one time & another investigator heard it as well!

[SSGJenkins]

 afterlife, on Dec 10 2009, 09:30 AM, said:

 SSGJenkins, on Dec 10 2009, 03:26 AM, said:

 afterlife, on Dec 3 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

First off a good one is going to cost a little & I would not limit your self to what TV show are using. I use an Olympus DS-30, 1GB Digital Voice Recorder w/ Removable Stereo Mic. It has a great sound quality & It runs about $200.00. You can also use this thing in real time, meaning if you push record then plug in a set a headphones you can hear every thing, in real time that's going to be reviewed later. You can find that here on the equipment page/ghost-mart page or check music supply stores on the net

Yeah but have you ever actually heard an EVP real time while recording?? Just curious.

YES, only one time & another investigator heard it as well!

Sounds awesome. Can't wait to try it out!

[APGBryan]

 CaveRat, on Dec 3 2009, 07:33 PM, said:

Most of them use a variety of recorders, some good quality, some junk that they should know better than to use!

But I would venture to say it's called product placement. If you see them using a good recorder fine, but most people will buy cheap. So they use some cheap recorder furnished by a manufacturer to show it off. The viewer sees it and asks the very question you ask here. BINGO! They sell another cheapo recorder just because the TV show used it!

If you're deciding what to buy, do the research yourself, Learn what the specs mean, or find someone who does, and go with that. Just because TAPS or Ghost Lab uses it doesn't make it a good choice. It might be, but there are other interests at work there tooyou need to be aware of before basing your decision on what is on TV.

I couldn't agree more Caverat! I've seen some of the recorders used on those shows and recall wincing in disbelief that anyone claiming to be an "Investigator" using that crap. Some of it I wouldn't use to take notes with. While not all of us have the time and money to put into the professional grade equipment that you have (and I wish I did), it at least behooves us to minimize (to the greatest extent)the amount of false positives that you will get with the latest Walmart special. I use a Zoom H2. Since I have been using it, I can't imagine using anything less. I have been able to eliminate quite a few false positives when placed right next to a recorder of lesser quality.

[CaveRat2]

That is my point when I argue against the junk out there. It is not required of anyone to spend a fortune for top of the line recorders, but if you are going to call yourself an investigator you have to at least make an effort to take a step or two above the hobbyists. The H2 is a good compromise, it's not the best available but will do a satisfactory job at an affordable price. To be sure, there are others around the same money that will also work, but I have personally tested the H2 and found it acceptable.

[HauntedTruth]

 CaveRat, on Dec 16 2009, 08:41 PM, said:

That is my point when I argue against the junk out there. It is not required of anyone to spend a fortune for top of the line recorders, but if you are going to call yourself an investigator you have to at least make an effort to take a step or two above the hobbyists. The H2 is a good compromise, it's not the best available but will do a satisfactory job at an affordable price. To be sure, there are others around the same money that will also work, but I have personally tested the H2 and found it acceptable.

Do you know what audio recorders are used
by The Constantinos that were called EVP
experts on Ghost Adventures?

[CaveRat2]

I believe they are the ones who claim different recorders capture different EVPs. This to me sounds like a problem with the system since if a message is present it would be what it is, not dependent on the background noise of some recorder. Otherwise one could claim anything at all is an EVP. Using that concept, how would anyone reliably know what any EVP says?

I don't know what they specifically use as far as brand or model.

[boo brothers]

Just thought I’d toss in my 2 cents here. I run 6 Olympus DS-40 recorders (which in my opinion are WAY overpriced for what they are) and the best EVP I have captured to date was recorded with a cheap RCA recorder that I bought at Walmart for like $35.00.

[brettlee]

Well, lets just say they over dramatized it a bit.
They put a lot of extra graphics and stuff in at random times to try to at the "scary" affect, and I think they do that more than they actual try to prove the paranormal phenomena. And sure, animals could be sensitive to it,

[DeadTrish]

 HauntedTruth, on Dec 16 2009, 10:30 PM, said:

 CaveRat, on Dec 16 2009, 08:41 PM, said:

That is my point when I argue against the junk out there. It is not required of anyone to spend a fortune for top of the line recorders, but if you are going to call yourself an investigator you have to at least make an effort to take a step or two above the hobbyists. The H2 is a good compromise, it's not the best available but will do a satisfactory job at an affordable price. To be sure, there are others around the same money that will also work, but I have personally tested the H2 and found it acceptable.

Do you know what audio recorders are used
by The Constantinos that were called EVP
experts on Ghost Adventures?

I inquired to them directly. The answer I got was... A Sony B16. A Sony B26 (looks exactly the same) and an Olympus 4100. I was leery about all of these. Leery because of the EVP's they got on GA. Still very skeptical.. cave has taught me well.

 boo brothers, on Dec 17 2009, 12:36 PM, said:

Just thought I’d toss in my 2 cents here. I run 6 Olympus DS-40 recorders (which in my opinion are WAY overpriced for what they are) and the best EVP I have captured to date was recorded with a cheap RCA recorder that I bought at Walmart for like $35.00.

another cave has taught me well response is warranted. lol Honestly I know someone that probably has the same recorder. RCA from Walmart and that got an unbelievable amount of EVP's from a location that I know well. The EVP's were personal and interactive. But my keyword in there is UNBELIEVABLE. I'm sorry I just don't think it's possible. I think it's even more IMpossible on a cheaper recorder. I just think it leaves more room for outside interference. Not paranormal. In my opinion...the more EVP's you are getting...or think you are getting....the more you need to question it. Study it. Investigate it. Analyze it.

[CaveRat2]

Exactly !

It's not that you can't get EVPs on cheap recorders. Rather it's that cheap recorders also get RF interference, intermodulation distortion, aliasing, added harmonic factors, cross talk, clipping, saturation leading to dropped / altered data, limited frequency response, higher background noise levels, and the list goes on. Then, to correct these shortcomings people turn to computer "cleaning" which further alters and corrupts the data.

So how relaiable is that supposed EVP you captured?

Better to use a reliable recorder from the start and minimize the false positives. Instead of debating brands though, set a minimum acceptable standard.

Digital Recorder:
1. 96 KBPS sample rate
2. 24 Bit A to D conversion, not 16 bit
3. Stereo capable with external mics
4. Non-lossy format (PCM or uncompressed WAV, not CELP processing)

Analog recorder:
1. Stereo capable.
2 Mechanical - .05% or better Wow and Flutter.
3 40 - 12,000 Hz frequency response or better.

There are additional specs related to noise levels, etc. which apply to all recorders, but above are the basics to consider.

[OMPRDave]

I absolutely love my H2.