How to record sound 24/7

I want to record sound from a particular microphone on a Windows 7 for an extended period of time.
The computer is on 24/7. How can I achieve this?

Background
My neighbor is causing problems saying that I'm 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.

Sam

Posted 2013-02-07T18:54:42.967

Reputation: 199

PSA: In some states it is illegal to record conversations without consent of the parties involved. – MetaGuru – 2015-04-30T15:28:22.700

@ioSamurai: I'm pretty sure in all states it is illegal for other people to have conversations in your home without your consent. – qasdfdsaq – 2015-08-10T11:09:50.753

Is it the neighbor from the next house 30 yards away or the one from the next appartment behind the wall? – ott-- – 2013-02-07T21:50:15.447

Behind the wall, to be honest she seems like one of these crazy lady with 5 cat types. – Sam – 2013-02-07T21:51:13.827

Can't you just add a mike to the PC in question and use recording software? – Paul – 2013-02-08T00:34:27.137

1@Paul Yes, the main issue is how to archive all this data into a usable format. – Sam – 2013-02-08T00:43:41.717

Answers

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

_{Long answer}

Download ffmpeg-XXXX-win32-static.7z for Windows and extract it with 7-zip or Winrar
Copy Bin\ffmpeg.exe to a folder of your choice (You can delete the other files & folders)

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%"

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
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

enter image description here

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

nixda

Posted 2013-02-07T18:54:42.967

Reputation: 23 233

You can even use AWS CLI to upload recent recorded files to your S3 bucket. Thank your for your great answer, worked like a charm! :) – Renato Gama – 2015-11-09T20:31:39.873

2This is a pretty slick solution, and should be easy to port to other systems that can run FFmpeg. – Breakthrough – 2013-07-31T18:28:40.417

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.

Enigma

Posted 2013-02-07T18:54:42.967

Reputation: 3 181