Best bird recorders for field recording (1 Viewer)

[Elkhornsun]

What are your favorite field recorders to record birds?

MixPre 6 II that has the 32-bit floating feature as with the MixPre 3 II recorder. For bird recording the Mix Pre 3 II is all one needs and one of the Strut field bags and a power bank with a USB-C cable. AA batteries have a very short life and the most bang for the buck is with something like the Anker 335.

 

[Vollmeise]

Any experience with the all new Zoom M2 / M4 MicTrak Recorders? Their specs sound promising and the M2 seems to be most affordable 32bit FP recorder right now

 

[S_Man]

Any experience with the all new Zoom M2 / M4 MicTrak Recorders? Their specs sound promising and the M2 seems to be most affordable 32bit FP recorder right now

There is a thread about the M-series in this forum, you should see it listed below...
No personal experience, but some serious interferences issues are described with the M2 on the web, maybe to a lesser degree with the M4, too. That said this might be less of a problem for field recording, just switch your cellphone off and you shouldn't have any lamp, cable or micro-wave owen nearby? Some also describe handling noises, but this can be a problem with most equipment I suppose.
On the other hand the M4 looks like the perfect field recording tool, on paper, with integrated mics, 2 XLR, 1 x 3.5 mm (?), long autonomy, 32 bit float, low internal noise preamps should be on par with the F series, so quite good...
The size (and price maybe) is bigger than the F3, though.

 

[Jon.Bryant]

My guess is that the M Series are designed for interview or for recording an instrument. I know that mic sensitivity is not everything, but the M4 internal mic has a sensitivity of −42 dB/1 Pa at 1 kHz (8 mV/Pa) which is quite low, which is why I think the design is for close work.

You could use it for 'drop rig/autonomous' recordings, but then I would prefer other options - a recorder in a weatherproof bag or case with only the mic exposed. With the M2 and M4 not sure how you would cover the meters so they are not visible, but leave the mic exposed, or make the recorder semi weatherproof. With the meters exposed, I suspect the recorder may be more obvious to birds, which may then not approach as close,