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Alternative to SongMeter Touch? (1 Viewer)

Annerather

Active member
Germany
Hi, up until the May update, I have been using the android app SongMeter Touch by Wildlife Accoustics to record birds in the field. It felt like the perfect app for me as it has the 3 second pre-recording function, shows the spectrogram of the recording and it can be easily shared into the Merlin app or WhatsApp. With this I can get very short and precise recordings that I don't have to crop at home later on. Merlin is missing the pre-recording function and BirdNet I find a bit cumbersome to use (and it is highly dependent on being online, which is not always available in the field). Unfortunately the SongMeter App stopped working on my phone and their support could not help. Somehow it seems to be using my phone functions instead of simply using microphone and speaker and I cannot get it changed in the settings (playback volume cannot be adjusted, it switches to call volume, but I still cannot hear the recording, also the recording is muted according to the spectrogram, so I guess they got something very wrong). Are there any android apps with similar functionality? Or does someone have a solution for fixing the app? I am helping myself with RecForge II currently, but it is missing the spectrogram and pre-recording view...
 
Hi, up until the May update, I have been using the android app SongMeter Touch by Wildlife Accoustics to record birds in the field. It felt like the perfect app for me as it has the 3 second pre-recording function, shows the spectrogram of the recording and it can be easily shared into the Merlin app or WhatsApp. With this I can get very short and precise recordings that I don't have to crop at home later on. Merlin is missing the pre-recording function and BirdNet I find a bit cumbersome to use (and it is highly dependent on being online, which is not always available in the field). Unfortunately the SongMeter App stopped working on my phone and their support could not help. Somehow it seems to be using my phone functions instead of simply using microphone and speaker and I cannot get it changed in the settings (playback volume cannot be adjusted, it switches to call volume, but I still cannot hear the recording, also the recording is muted according to the spectrogram, so I guess they got something very wrong). Are there any android apps with similar functionality? Or does someone have a solution for fixing the app? I am helping myself with RecForge II currently, but it is missing the spectrogram and pre-recording view...
I'm not aware of any alternatives. It's of no consolation to you but it works on my iPhone.

Here are a few things to try if you haven't already:
  • Check the phone's mic is working using a different app, e.g. video something
  • In Song Meter settings, set Gain to max
  • In Song Meter settings, check Audio Output is set to speaker, or you could try with earphones
  • Try re-installing the app

Good luck!
 
Thanks. I have done a bit more testing after full re-installation (and deletion of old directories).
  1. Mic is working fine on Song Meter (as it was always on RecForge, Merlin, etc.)
  2. In Spectrogram View the app does not playback via Speaker. It does via Earpiece, when the setting is changed.
  3. In List View the app sometimes plays back via Speaker (when the setting is set), but sometimes not (then it behaves like the Spectrogram View). It always plays back via the Earpiece.
  4. With headphones it plays back well, but when in the field I want to have my ears in nature, not under headphones.
  5. Found another bug: whenever I start it asks me for permission to the folder in an infinite loop until I say no to the request for permission.
Will report to Wildlife accoustics... hope they will provide an update in some time, because I really got to like the app.
 

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