Pocket sized sound recording equipment

[Dan drough]

If like me you are limited in retaining bird calls try using a small digital sound recorder in the field which can help at times. I use a small £60 Olympus which I am looking to upgrade on. I also find it impossible to interpret literal descriptions of bird calls like vrrrtCH !
Does anyone know of a machine (pocket sized) where recordable calls / songs are downloadable to a PC and perhaps with better quality recording / directional abilities without parabola etc ten kilos of equipment (pocket sized).
I have never seen reviews of such equipment in any Birding mag.

I can do Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Whitethroat, Blackbird, Sedge Warbler & Reed Warbler but I like to record if poss and compare to CDs when I get home. I also find my own recordings lead me to remember calls much better in the future.

I found the recorder especially useful in Nigeria eg for Tinkerbirds, flufftails, various cuckoos and honeyguides etc.

Chhhhhhhhhhh Vt Vt TcK Tch

[kryptora]

I use a sony minidsic recorder (MZ N910) which has a separate mic input and a selectable sensitivity with a sennheiser mke 300 directional microphone.

This gives very good quality recording and can be easily carried and downloaded to a PC.


If like me you are limited in retaining bird calls try using a small digital sound recorder in the field which can help at times. I use a small £60 Olympus which I am looking to upgrade on. I also find it impossible to interpret literal descriptions of bird calls like vrrrtCH !
Does anyone know of a machine (pocket sized) where recordable calls / songs are downloadable to a PC and perhaps with better quality recording / directional abilities without parabola etc ten kilos of equipment (pocket sized).
I have never seen reviews of such equipment in any Birding mag.

I can do Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Whitethroat, Blackbird, Sedge Warbler & Reed Warbler but I like to record if poss and compare to CDs when I get home. I also find my own recordings lead me to remember calls much better in the future.

I found the recorder especially useful in Nigeria eg for Tinkerbirds, flufftails, various cuckoos and honeyguides etc.

Chhhhhhhhhhh Vt Vt TcK Tch

[Dave B Smith]

Kryptora,
I was interested to see what kit you ended up purchasing. How do you like your mic? I'm getting ready to finally buy one to go with my minidisc.

Dan,
I also have the same minidisc as above and it is very compact and performs well.

You asked why you haven't seen any reviews of this type of equipment in the Birding mags. I think it is because of the concern that too many folks would become interested and start using this for playback in the field rather than recording to learn and ID. It's usually a pretty controversial subject anywhere it comes up.

[Tim Allwood]

if you can find an mp3 player that will take an external mike you could have the solution to your problems. A 20gb player will hold about all the bird calls in the world, is very light and easy to use. And u can record with them as well!

[Dan drough]

I went into the Sony shop in the Trafford Centre yesterday - the spotty yoof said Sony are bringing out a new range in about 2 weeks so hold on until they are out.

[desgreene]

In a recent thread one of our Dutch members (can't remember who), attached some mp3 files to ID a bird he'd heard. He was using a Zoom PS-04. I found it priced at £199 at www.piedog.com which I thought seemed quite good value.

Des.

[desgreene]

I just found the thread, it was "birdyman" I was thinking of.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=18376&highlight=thrush

Des.

[Dan drough]

I just found the thread, it was "birdyman" I was thinking of.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=18376&highlight=thrush

Des.

Excellent thread started by birdyman- how would this Zoom PS-04 compare to a mini dsci with a good external mic as far as directional pick up is concerned? What mics could be used - would the size of jack be an issue to prevent you buying one of those big hairy mics (sorry to get to techy there ! and apologies to any big hairy Michaels).

Next question - can you do sonographs from either the Zoom or the Sony? I use a nice Mac computer which has music software which I have never used yet.

[Tim Allwood]

I have put all the bird songs and calls of Europe CDs into Mp3 on my Mp3 player - hardly takes up much room at all!

plenty of space for Asia and S America plus a large CD collection too

[youngbart]

I use a sony minidsic recorder (MZ N910) which has a separate mic input and a selectable sensitivity with a sennheiser mke 300 directional microphone.

This gives very good quality recording and can be easily carried and downloaded to a PC.

Phil,

I am interested in doing some birdsong recording myself. I am in the initial stages of looking into what is required and the associated costs. From your post you mention that you are using a sennheiser mke 300 directional microphone, I was wondering if these two pieces comprise your total recording package? By this I mean when I looked up similar microphones to the sennheiser mke 300 directional microphone it often mentions that they need a k6 power supply. I found the example (see below) of a distance
recording package on (http://www.stithrecording.com). If you remove the parabola from the package and use your sennheiser mke 300 directional microphone it is essential then a directional recording package (similar to what you have?). I was just wondering what you use for a power supply? Pardon my ignorance in this post, I hope I have not repeated information.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Bart


Distance Recording Package:
Telinga Pro Universal parabola
Sony MZNH1 Hi Minidisc recorder
Sennheiser ME62 omnidirectional microphone
Sennheiser K6 power supply
Microphone cable
Sony MDR7506 headphones

[kryptora]

Bart you are right - you do need the K6 power supply when using it with a mini disc recorder.

Since I posted this though, I have had better results using the mike,(with no additional power supply) in conjunction with an Olympus DM20 Digital voice recorder.

The DM20 I purchased from Digital Depot in Stevenage for £120 - they often have reconditioned models for sale at a lower price.

Hope this helps


Phil,

I am interested in doing some birdsong recording myself. I am in the initial stages of looking into what is required and the associated costs. From your post you mention that you are using a sennheiser mke 300 directional microphone, I was wondering if these two pieces comprise your total recording package? By this I mean when I looked up similar microphones to the sennheiser mke 300 directional microphone it often mentions that they need a k6 power supply. I found the example (see below) of a distance
recording package on (http://www.stithrecording.com (http://www.stithrecording.com/)). If you remove the parabola from the package and use your sennheiser mke 300 directional microphone it is essential then a directional recording package (similar to what you have?). I was just wondering what you use for a power supply? Pardon my ignorance in this post, I hope I have not repeated information.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Bart


Distance Recording Package:
Telinga Pro Universal parabola
Sony MZNH1 Hi Minidisc recorder
Sennheiser ME62 omnidirectional microphone
Sennheiser K6 power supply
Microphone cable
Sony MDR7506 headphones

[James Eaton]

It's worth reading a past thread;
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=34325&page=1&pp=25

MP3s are great for pre-recorded sounds, though if you plan to use it for playback than I would certinaly not recommend them, as they can't record sounds over/around 6KHz, this is basically anything high pitched, whereas Minidiscs can record higher than this (10MHz rings a bell), enabling you to obtain great recordings of the majority of species. I too use a Sony minidisc, but the N710, which I find great for the amount of recording I do (not too much).

[Markp]

hi,i used to use a parabolic microphone but found the background noise too intrusive even in the wilds of Britain.i am currently using mini dv camcorder 30x optical lense to get picture and sound but am not sure if the frequency range of these devices is ok for quality bird recordings. ...mark...

[youngbart]

Thanks Phil.

Bart you are right - you do need the K6 power supply when using it with a mini disc recorder.

Since I posted this though, I have had better results using the mike,(with no additional power supply) in conjunction with an Olympus DM20 Digital voice recorder.

The DM20 I purchased from Digital Depot in Stevenage for £120 - they often have reconditioned models for sale at a lower price.

Hope this helps

[lachlustre]

Here's an interesting link:

http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/wiltrain.html

from the British Library.

Off-topic, but also check out
http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/wildcontribution.html

The British Library is always looking for good/interesting recordings of birds. They give good advice about how recordings should be archived. The Library is frequently as a source by scientists working on bird song, so it's valuable.

[RonHW]

Hi Dan,

I'm on the same path.

I'm thinking about purchasing a small digital voice recorder (as is found in office supply stores) to capture bird song while in the field.

The idea is to then download the recodings in order to work on my identification skills.

What are your suggestions?

Are they sensitive enough for the job?

Is stereo recording important?

Any models better than others?

Thanks for any input.

rw


QUOTE=Dan drough]If like me you are limited in retaining bird calls try using a small digital sound recorder in the field which can help at times. I use a small £60 Olympus which I am looking to upgrade on. I also find it impossible to interpret literal descriptions of bird calls like vrrrtCH !
Does anyone know of a machine (pocket sized) where recordable calls / songs are downloadable to a PC and perhaps with better quality recording / directional abilities without parabola etc ten kilos of equipment (pocket sized).
I have never seen reviews of such equipment in any Birding mag.

I can do Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Whitethroat, Blackbird, Sedge Warbler & Reed Warbler but I like to record if poss and compare to CDs when I get home. I also find my own recordings lead me to remember calls much better in the future.

I found the recorder especially useful in Nigeria eg for Tinkerbirds, flufftails, various cuckoos and honeyguides etc.

Chhhhhhhhhhh Vt Vt TcK Tch[/QUOTE]

[ermine]

Ron,

> Are they sensitive enough for the job?

sometimes

> Is stereo recording important?

No - though nice to have if available

> Any models better than others?

digital voice recorders aren't really fit for this purpose, due to their serious compression, mics that can't cope with wind, and lack of frequency response about 4kHz. Sometimes I struggle to hear myself for wind noise on my Olympus DVR used for notetaking when birding ;) Only rarely do I hear some corrupt parody of the birds in the background when I'm not speaking. I wouldn't like to try and hone ID skills. DVRs have a similar sound quality to the telephone.

Cheapest for this app is Hi-MD minidisc, using a T-Mic for convenience as long as you are close to the birds. Next step up is to use something like a Sennheiser MKE300 with the MD. If you already carry a video cam you can use that with the MKE300D instead of the minidisc.

Things like the Zoom mentioned or the Edirol R1 are the next step up, certainly in convenience. An inbetween alternative some people like are things like the iRiver iFP-899 flash player

[Sarel]

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I found the recorder especially useful in Nigeria eg for Tinkerbirds, flufftails, various cuckoos and honeyguides etc.

Chhhhhhhhhhh Vt Vt TcK Tch


Dan, can you please mail me? In connection with your records on Tinkerbirds?
Please,
Thanks
Sarel