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I need a device to record birdsong (1 Viewer)

kristoffer

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Hi,
I need a device to record birds when I am out on in the nature. Im not sure of the english word, dictaphone? Anyone know a good one? small, and robust with a good microphone would be nice. Thanks!
 
Kristoffer

I use an Olympus DS2300 for recording interviews and have used it in the field just to see what it picks up. Something like that will probably do the job for you (there is a wide range around and I suspect if you added a directional gun microphone it would be very clear. That type of machine does record onto media cards and can run for hours without having to change the card.

Bob
 
Kristoffer

I use an Olympus DS2300 for recording interviews and have used it in the field just to see what it picks up. Something like that will probably do the job for you (there is a wide range around and I suspect if you added a directional gun microphone it would be very clear. That type of machine does record onto media cards and can run for hours without having to change the card.

Bob

Thanks, I do want it to have some good file format too like mp3 or wma.
 
Hello Kristoffer,

There are a number of MP3 players which allow recording, but with varying quality. Usually the microphones are not the best. I do not generally record bird song, but I have used an iPod Nano, with a Belkin microphone, for recording. I am not sure if this configuration is possible with the current models. My niece had an inexpensive MP3 player with recording capability.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood
 
Hello Kristoffer,

There are a number of MP3 players which allow recording, but with varying quality. Usually the microphones are not the best. I do not generally record bird song, but I have used an iPod Nano, with a Belkin microphone, for recording. My niece had an inexpensive MP3 player with recording capability.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

hi and thanks for the reply. Yes i know that both mp3players and cellphones can record, however I am not satisfied with the microphones in any of the ones ive tried. I assumed that a Dictaphone would be superior to those and hopefully im correct :)
 
hi and thanks for the reply. Yes i know that both mp3players and cellphones can record, however I am not satisfied with the microphones in any of the ones ive tried. I assumed that a Dictaphone would be superior to those and hopefully im correct :)

Hi Kristoffer

Dictaphones are designed for a human voice talking into the microphone at a few cms distance and not for nature sound recording.

http://www.wildlife-sound.org/equipment/newcomersguide/usenospeechrec.html

I do use a dictaphone occasionally in the field - the results are poor quality but enough for me to ID species or demonstrate different song patterns.

HTH
 
I do use a dictaphone occasionally in the field - the results are poor quality but enough for me to ID species or demonstrate different song patterns.

HTH
This is what it is all about...ID'ing....

Does anyone do this as an added element of birding and photography, to obtain a recording of a bird to go along with all the other data you obtain? Or is sound used just for ID purposes... ?
 
This is what it is all about...ID'ing....

Does anyone do this as an added element of birding and photography, to obtain a recording of a bird to go along with all the other data you obtain? Or is sound used just for ID purposes... ?

I need it for my ID, since ive only birded for 1 year. But i also learn when I come home and identifie the bird, so I know what it is next time.
 
As a bit of an experiment, I tried doing some recordings today with the recorder on my MP3 player, a Sansa Clip 2GB:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sandisk-Pla...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1243076709&sr=1-2
You can get this for around £30 in the UK. I was quite surprised to see that the voice recordings are done in Wav format and when I've used it for this the recordings seemed to be of reasonable quality.

Conditions weren't too good for recording this morning, with plenty of wind. Most birds I recorded were fairly close, around 10-15 metres distance. I've attached some of the less windy results as follows:

1. A Whitethroat calling, with Dunnock singing in the background
2. A Whitethroat singing
3. A Meadow Pipit singing (with quite a bit of wind on the recording)

I've removed some of the low frequency wind noise with Audacity and have boosted the gain a bit in this too (about +9). I think the results are okay, and are certainly fine for identification. They sound a bit 'tinny' so are not very good aesthetically, but they're loud enough. I suspect I could stick a small microphone cover on it to help reduce wind noise.

I bought this MP3 player to use for playback. It seems good for that because it's cheap and small, has a clear screen, is easy and quick to navigate and has a volume control button. The recorder certainly makes it a bit more useful for birding purposes.

NB: Is there any chance of moderators moving this thread to the recording equipment forum?
 

Attachments

  • Whitethroat_Call_230509a.mp3
    282.5 KB · Views: 115
  • Whitethroat_Song_230509a.mp3
    209 KB · Views: 116
  • Meadow_Pipit_Song_230509a.mp3
    418.4 KB · Views: 111
As a bit of an experiment, I tried doing some recordings today with the recorder on my MP3 player, a Sansa Clip 2GB:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sandisk-Pla...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1243076709&sr=1-2
You can get this for around £30 in the UK. I was quite surprised to see that the voice recordings are done in Wav format and when I've used it for this the recordings seemed to be of reasonable quality.

Conditions weren't too good for recording this morning, with plenty of wind. Most birds I recorded were fairly close, around 10-15 metres distance. I've attached some of the less windy results as follows:

1. A Whitethroat calling, with Dunnock singing in the background
2. A Whitethroat singing
3. A Meadow Pipit singing (with quite a bit of wind on the recording)

I've removed some of the low frequency wind noise with Audacity and have boosted the gain a bit in this too (about +9). I think the results are okay, and are certainly fine for identification. They sound a bit 'tinny' so are not very good aesthetically, but they're loud enough. I suspect I could stick a small microphone cover on it to help reduce wind noise.

I bought this MP3 player to use for playback. It seems good for that because it's cheap and small, has a clear screen, is easy and quick to navigate and has a volume control button. The recorder certainly makes it a bit more useful for birding purposes.

NB: Is there any chance of moderators moving this thread to the recording equipment forum?

Thanks for the answer, and wow nice quality! My sound is terrible, im amazed you can year anything with all the background sound my recordings suffer. That program Audacity can be exactly what I need, maybe I can remove some of the noise the nearby road often causes.
 
Thanks for the answer, and wow nice quality! My sound is terrible, im amazed you can year anything with all the background sound my recordings suffer. That program Audacity can be exactly what I need, maybe I can remove some of the noise the nearby road often causes.

For editing it helps to have a good base quality to start with, so the fact that this records in uncompressed WAV rather than MP3 is useful. The gain on the microphone obviously isn't set for recording birds, but it's possible to boost the gain with programmes like Audacity and MP3 Direct Cut.
 
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