DIY audio recording setup for EVP investigation - what actually works?

I'm interested in trying EVP (electronic voice phenomena) investigation and I want to understand what equipment actually produces reliable results versus what's just expensive nonsense. I've seen everything from fancy digital recorders costing hundreds of pounds to people just using their mobile phones.

I've got a decent Zoom H5 recorder that I got for music recording, so I was thinking about repurposing that. But I'm also wondering whether I should get a dedicated EVP recorder or whether that's marketing nonsense. And what about microphones - does quality matter or is it all about post-processing the audio later?

I'm planning to do some recordings at Borley Rectory if I can get access, so I want to be set up properly before I get there. Also interested in learning about best practices for conducting sessions - do you ask questions out loud? Record in silence? Any techniques that seem to work better than others?

Your Zoom H5 is absolutely fine for EVP work - better than most dedicated EVP recorders honestly. The key is using an external microphone rather than the built-in mics. Get a decent USB condenser mic (Blue Yeti or similar, around £80-100) and you're sorted. Quality microphone matters more than the recorder itself.

For technique: record in silence, leave gaps between questions, ask yes/no questions in a clear voice, then leave 10-15 seconds of silence for responses. Don't listen in real-time or you'll contaminate results with your own expectations. Review the audio later with headphones and with someone else if possible - confirmation bias is a massive problem with EVP.

I'm planning to do some recordings at Borley Rectory

You'll need permission from the owners first - can't just rock up and record. That said, Borley's been a dumping ground for ghost hunters for decades and it's been continuously investigated since the 1930s. If there was easy EVP evidence there, someone would have found it by now. Still worth trying though.

Most EVP recordings are pareidolia - your brain recognising patterns in white noise that sound like voices. It's not a criticism, it's how human brains work. Get your audio analysed by someone who knows audio forensics, not just someone who wants to hear ghosts. Spectrogram analysis helps distinguish between actual sound patterns and random noise that just sounds like words.

Honestly? Invest in a decent noise gate and filters before you invest in expensive microphones. You want to eliminate background noise - fridges, AC units, street noise - as much as possible. Then analyse your clean recordings properly. Loads of 'EVP evidence' disappears when you actually clean up the audio and look at spectrograms.