24/7 sound recording on a windows 7 machine

Question

I am wanting to recording the sound on a windows 7 computer for an extended period of time. The computer is on 24/7 and so this will not be a problem.

In a perfect world I am looking for a program that can record sound from a particular microphone and archive this for retrieval later.

Does anyone have any experience with a requirement such as this? Any recommendations?

Backstory. My neighbor is causing problems saying that I am making noise even when I am not home. I thought of the idea of recording sound levels in my flat for factual evidence in-case this ever turns sour.

Answer 1

_{Short answer}
Create a scheduled task and use ffmpeg together with a batch file to record your microphone.

_{Long answer}

1. Download ffmpeg-XXXX-win32-static.7z for Windows and extract it with 7-zip or Winrar

2. Copy Bin\ffmpeg.exe to a folder of your choice (You can delete the other files & folders)

3. Create a new text file and paste the following code.
   Save the file as record.cmd in the same folder as your ffmpeg.exe

   @echo off
   mkdir "My records"
   set outputpath=My records\record_%date:~-2,2%%date:~-7,2%%date:~-10,2%_%time:~-11,2%%time:~-8,2%.mp3
   ffmpeg -f dshow -i audio="My microphone" -y -t 01:00:00 "%outputpath%"
   

4. Replace My microphone with your own microphone name.
   To get the name, open a CMD Window and head over to your ffmpeg.exe.
   This command lists all available devices: ffmpeg -list_devices true -f dshow -i dummy

5. Create as scheduled task (Win+R » Taskschd.msc) and point it to your record.bat.
   Let it run each full hour so ffmpeg can split your audio in 1-hour files.

---

The result after some hours

Additional help

• All used commands are explained at the ffmpeg documentation
• It is possible to execute the whole process in a hidden window or in the background
• It is also possible to start and stop the task per shortcut
• Change the record time ("01:00:00") or output path ("My records\record") to your needs

Answer 2

Maybe try out: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (Can save audio to file)

Otherwise I'd Google around for 'free audio recording software'.

Most audio recording software doesn't seem to be in the realm of surveillance management but you can certainly start a recording one day and come back the next, stop and start again etc.

Placement of the mic is also important since it's pickup probably isn't as good as your neighbors' ears.