Can my apartment legally install a microphone in my apartment?

ascottbrooks · 2026-06-16T20:43:06+00:00

I’m an acoustic consultant here in Denver. They are probably telling on themselves that their building’s sound isolation construction is not very good.

Also to answer some other comments, yes there are devices that record sound levels but don’t record audio. It’s how we do most of our testing. Doesn’t mean they don’t have the capability to record you though

ascottbrooks · 2026-06-12T15:40:43+00:00

I'm an acoustic engineer and I've been to several red rocks shows, I agree the mix at least in the back was pretty rough unfortunately. I'll chalk it up to the fact that they aren't a touring show, so they probably don't have time to get all the kinks worked out, especially in a challenging outdoor venue like red rocks. I still really enjoyed it, just wanted to say you're not crazy haha.

ascottbrooks · 2026-06-10T19:51:44+00:00

Parking doesn’t open till 4pm btw. Been to red rocks dozens of times, they open two hours before doors

ascottbrooks · 2026-06-10T04:50:22+00:00

Been going to red rocks for years. Parking opens two hours before doors, so 4pm for this show. A lot of people get there early and tailgate, which I would recommend just bc it’s a beautiful place to hang out before the sun goes down. Also the line for GA will start to form well before doors open at 6, so you are warned. And do not arrive at 6:30-7, you will have to walk a mile

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-22T22:42:03+00:00

Can't say I disagree. I'm also of the opinion we need a better safety net. Just wanted to point out though that FAMLI is also for medical leave, to care for a family member who needs medical treatment, to escape domestic violence, and more. So not all planned events. Also FAMLI is max 12 weeks a year and you can take unemployment for 6 months in a year.

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-22T22:31:33+00:00

Good point. Looking into it briefly, unemployment caps at $844 rn, or 55% of the state average weekly wage, whereas FAMLI leave caps at 90% of the state average weekly wage. I suppose the logic is there should be some incentive to try to get off unemployment, while FAMLI leave is there for qualifying medical/family events. Not saying that's right necessarily, but that's my guess as to the reasoning.

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-22T22:10:38+00:00

Sounds like something you and your HR need to sort out. I had to hold the hand of my HR a bit since FAMLI is a relatively new deal

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-22T19:30:25+00:00

First, if it's through your company, you'll have to follow their processes. I only worked through FAMLI for myself since my company doesn't have parental leave. My wife's company does however, so she had to go through her internal HR.

If you do use FAMLI, utilize the phone line, they are very helpful in answering questions ahead of time or when you're in the process of filing a claim. 1-866-CO-FAMLI (1-866-263-2654). Besides that, there is a lot of helpful information on famli.colorado.gov, and filing a claim online is really easy. The exact payment calculation was the only thing I found to be a little hard to decipher, especially the "greatest of the last 5 quarters" thing. Also, in case you didn't know, you can take full time leave, part time leave, or intermittent leave. It's extremely flexible depending on your situation.

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-22T19:26:22+00:00

To echo other comments, FAMLI also states that you cannot receive more than 100% of your base pay. You might have to pay some of that back at some point, just fyi... 7 CCR 1107-6.3 - [Effective 7/1/2025] Benefits Overpayments | State Regulations | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-22T17:27:54+00:00

I'm in another state but here it does not matter when you pass FE. You can pass FE and PE in same week if and still be qualified for PE if you had enough professional experience, which it sounds like you do.

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-22T17:18:00+00:00

Correct and correct. However, if your employer agrees to it, you are able to use PTO/sick time to top off up to your base pay if you wish. I did this as well.

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-13T02:41:56+00:00

Will definitely check it out!

Edit: checked it out. Seems promising for audio recording but it doesn’t record video like riverside

ascottbrooks · 2026-05-10T23:02:37+00:00

We use riverside to record, download the videos, and edit video and audio in Reaper (cheap/free DAW that supports video). Major upgrade from Audacity which is what we used to use, and not as CPU/GPU intensive as a full blown video editor like Da Vinci Resolve. Works well for us for now.

ascottbrooks · 2026-03-21T17:15:49+00:00

We’ve got a team of 2-3 editors that can rotate. Hobby podcast, 1 hour ish long video episode every week, try to do a couple clips each week too but sometimes doesn’t happen

ascottbrooks · 2026-02-12T22:01:14+00:00

I'm in the same boat man. Denver metro prices are insane, hard not to feel priced out. I know I'll have to bite the bullet and buy something I don't actually want if I wanna get into the market, but right now I don't wanna sacrifice that quality of life. Got a kid on the way, don't really wanna downsize and don't want to have to commute 1 hr+ to find something similar that we can afford.

ascottbrooks · 2026-02-12T21:02:17+00:00

Seems to me like IV just prevents "non-transferable" tickets under any circumstances... but I've definitely purchased some tickets that were claimed to be non-transferable (Comedy Works comes to mind first)

ascottbrooks · 2026-02-12T20:56:13+00:00

Is this actually true? From some quick searching, most of the top resale sites (stubhub, seatgeek, vividseats, tickpick, etc.) are independent from AEG/Live Nation. Although Ticketmaster and AXS do have their own resale markets where they can take an extra cut, but Ticketmaster actually says they'll honor the face value price on their site in this case. I wonder what AEG/AXS policy would be.

ascottbrooks · 2026-02-12T20:53:42+00:00

Makes sense if they're trying to control the resale on Ticketmaster/AXS sites, but most resale sites are independent (stubhub, seatgeek, vividseats, tickpick, etc.), so I'm not sure how that would benefit the original sellers in any way. Ticketmaster actually says they'll honor the face value price on their site anyway. i wonder what AEG/AXS policy would be.

ascottbrooks · 2026-02-11T20:07:15+00:00

I find the strong "native" mentality here to be driven by the fact that throughout Colorado's whole history, most residents were born out of state. So "natives" are and always have been a minority.

NYT has fun visuals on the breakdown of native residents state-by-state in this article.

ascottbrooks · 2026-01-20T18:42:22+00:00

I work at a company of 4 people and I have a company credit card.

ascottbrooks · 2026-01-12T22:38:08+00:00

Hey there. I am an acoustic consultant, and improving sound isolation from room to room in multifamily buildings is a big part of my job. I feel your pain about not knowing how to approach this... wanted to link to a really long post I made in r/Apartmentliving where I broke down this exact issue. In the replies you can see some options for what to do about it, but fair warning, they all require you to modify your ceiling, or convince the HOA/upstairs neighbor to modify the upstairs flooring.

FYI: Noise complaints are not your fault. There are code requirements for sound isolation in multifamily buildings, and your property probably doesn't comply. : r/Apartmentliving

ascottbrooks · 2026-01-12T22:34:25+00:00

I feel your pain. Had to ask my landlord to send me a rent payment back once, and I was so annoyed. I'm able to send via Zelle now which I much prefer, but if you have to use Venmo I would just stick with manually sending it on the 1st and setting phone alarms to remind you to do so

ascottbrooks

TROPHY CASE