How to Use the Sound Recorder in Phasmophobia

What the sound recorder is in this game

In Phasmophobia, sound tracking is done with two pieces of in-game gear, and talking is done with your computer microphone. Guides that say “sound recorder” almost always mean the Sound Sensor (placed in a room, read from the van), the Parabolic Microphone (carried and aimed), or the real microphone the Spirit Box and the ghost can hear. Match the item by how it is used: placed on a surface, held and pointed, or selected as an input device in the audio settings.

How the three audio tools differ

Tool	How you use it	What a working check shows
Sound Sensor	Place it in a room, then read it from the van map or site monitor.	The display shows sound in that room while the team is quiet there.
Parabolic Microphone	Carry it, hold it up, and aim toward rooms, floors, and corridors.	The on-item reading rises toward the source and the feed lets you hear activity.
Computer microphone	Select it in the game’s voice settings and speak with your chosen voice mode.	Teammates hear you, or the in-game voice indicator reacts when you talk.

What to set up first

Put a Sound Sensor, a Parabolic Microphone, or both in your loadout if you plan to hunt by sound. In the operating system, allow microphone access for the game. In Phasmophobia’s voice or audio settings, pick the same input you speak into and a voice mode you can keep using on site: push-to-talk (you hold a bind to speak), voice activation (the game opens the mic when it hears you), or always on. Check the controls menu for your current place and use binds, because those keys can be rebound.

No verified input-level target is available for this setup: there is no supplied decibel figure, percentage, or “green zone” meter number to aim for. Treat the checks below as on/off and directional tests, not as calibrated recording levels.

Place and read a Sound Sensor

• Add a Sound Sensor to your equipment for the contract.
• Inside the location, face a stable surface in the room you want to watch and place the sensor with your place control.
• Leave it in a likely ghost room or at a junction between rooms; place extra sensors in other rooms if you brought them so you can compare.
• Return to the van and open the map or monitor that shows sensor activity.
• Watch which sensor reports sound while everyone stays quiet.
• If the display stays idle, move the sensor to another room and check again.

The check has worked when the van display shows sound on a placed sensor during a quiet stretch. That establishes which room is making noise. It leaves ghost type, hunt confirmation, Spirit Box evidence, and every other evidence test untested.

Aim the Parabolic Microphone

• Equip the Parabolic Microphone in a hotbar slot.
• Hold it up with the use control and aim through doorways, toward floors above or below, and down long corridors.
• Keep still and keep team chatter down so the meter and the audio feed are readable.
• Sweep slowly and walk toward stronger readings and clearer ghost noises such as interactions, footsteps, or vocalizations.
• Sweep again from the new spot until you can mark the room.

The check has worked when you hear paranormal activity through the device, or the on-item reading rises as you aim at an active area and falls when you aim away. That establishes direction to a noise source. It leaves EMF, writing, freezing temperatures, D.O.T.S., orbs, and Spirit Box evidence untested.

Make sure the game hears your microphone

The Sound Sensor and Parabolic Microphone track in-world noise. They do not record your real voice. Teammates, the ghost, and the Spirit Box hear the computer microphone you selected.

• Allow microphone access for the game in the operating system.
• In Phasmophobia’s voice settings, select that same input device.
• Set a voice mode you can run for the whole contract.
• In the lobby, speak a short test phrase and confirm teammates hear you, or watch any in-game voice indicator your build shows.
• On site, stay unmuted for Spirit Box questions and speak clearly next to the device.

A device appearing in the input list is microphone detection only. A teammate or voice indicator reacting when you speak is input activity: the game is receiving sound. A useful Spirit Box reply is a further check that the recognizer accepted your words. A moving meter with no reply still leaves intelligibility untested, which can fail when the language pack, phrasing, or accent does not match what the recognizer expects.

If the microphone is listed and stays silent in-game, work through the wrong input device, operating-system permission, a push-to-talk bind you are not holding, and the in-game voice or volume sliders before you replace the hardware.

Limits that change what you can claim

Shop prices, unlock levels, and tier ranges for the Sound Sensor and Parabolic Microphone change with game updates and are not stated here as figures. Camera access, video capture, and call quality are a separate path from this audio workflow. A physical room behind you, a virtual call background, and an edited photo background do not affect these tools. If your shop uses a different label than Sound Sensor or Parabolic Microphone, trust the behavior: a placed room monitor versus a handheld directional mic versus the computer input the game uses for speech.