Home > Consumer Reviews > Olympus TP-7 Telephone Recording Device

i needed to record a cell phone conversation and this was the absolute cheapest way to do it. the earpiece has a microphone on the opposite side that records what is being said by whomever you're talking to, plus your voice (a bit louder). i bought it friday and it got to my house by monday. amazing.

one thing: this mic doesn't have its own power source, so whatever recording device you plug it into must be able to supply power. i used an olympus VN-2100 digital recorder and it worked almost flawlessly. i say almost because the mic doesn't record in stereo, it records in mono. but the record volume is loud and comes out very very clear even if the earpiece/mic isn't right on top of the phone receiver.

you will not be able to do this any better for the money. a lot of online spy shops are charging $200 or more for this same function. i got this mic (which will record cell phone and land line conversations) plus a digital recorder for under $50.

I'm a writer, and I spent way too much time trying to find a good solution for recording phone calls -- everything from Skype to Radio Shack gadgets that had to get connected through an analog phone. When I ordered this, I was actually stunned with how simply it works, and how well. I use it with my cell or home phones and it does the job perfectly. It's one of those things that seems so simple, you wonder why no one else came up with this solution sooner. I can't recommend this highly enough.

I bought this to use with the Olympus DS series recorders, but it should work with most recorders that have inputs. It does come with adapters for mono, stereo, and mini-jack, and, of course you can buy additional adapters...

The phone recording works fine. Have confidence that it's working and remember to keep your own voice low to keep more of a balance in the recording. Sometimes, too, the playback on the computer turns out to be more balanced and better sounding than the sound on the device's own speaker.

And, as a bonus, you may want to use this mic for interviews rather than the tie-clip mic or the RS29. With the TP7 in your ear, it records people speaking next to you, or, across from you, very well.

Bottom line, if I only bought one accessory for recording with a DS recorder, this might be my first and only pick.

If it had a "pause" feature, I'd bump my review from four stars to six....

This microphone seems well made, despite being inexpensive, and the sound quality is good. But there are disadvantages. First, you have to wear it in your ear as you talk. That's awkward for me. I can feel it between the phone and my ear and it gets in the way, sonically -- you don't hear as well with it in. Worse, it records my voice much more loudly than the person at the other end of the line.

So, yes, it works, and yes, I can get used to it, but it's not an ideal solution.

I wondered if the design would really accomplish the task, but it does. The fidelity on both sides of the conversation is excellent.