UCLA Phonetics Lab

RECORDING EQUIPMENT 
  • Direct to disk recording: Virtually all recording in the lab is done directly to disk. The soundbooth in the Phonetics Lab and "Audio Lab" in room B each have a dedicated PC for this purpose (the Phonetics Lab computer is physically outside the soundbooth).  
Sign up online for soundbooth and Room B
  • Microphones:
    • In the Phonetics Lab booth one setup is a balanced-input Shure head-mounted SM10A microphone into an external XAudio box. This requires PCQuirerX as the recording program, but should give the best quality recording. Printed instructions for recording with PCQuirerX are posted in the booth.
    • Another setup in the Phonetics Lab booth is a balanced-input Shure head-mounted SM10A microphone into the computer's soundcard, via the TUBE-Pre pre-amp. This is also used for the audio channel of stereo EGG recordings. Printed instructions for recording with Audacity are posted in the booth.
    • Another option for connecting a balanced-input microphone to a computer is the Shure X2U XLR-to-USB adapter (see Henry)
    • The Phonetics Lab also has laptops that can be borrowed for offsite recordings, with a choice of microphones. Various microphones available for borrowing are kept in the equipment cabinet, sorted by connection type.
    • Other microphone options in the Phonetics Lab are the AKG C520 headworn condenser microphone (balanced input), the CAD U37 condenser microphone (USB input), or the CAD Equitek IIB tabletop electret condenser microphone (balanced input, large dynamic range) - see Henry for any of these.
  • Since we only record direct to computer disk, we have no separate digital recorders of the kinds that many other labs have. The UCL lab gives a good review (and of recording equipment more generally). Sociolinguistics textbooks generally include suggestions for field recordings. Some other helpful links: 

Last updated October 2017 by Pat Keating


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