external microphone for smart phone (6 Viewers)

[Hermann]

Phone would be better solution but internal mic quality poor. So, (given variability I note above) which small directional mics are good?

The MicW i266 works very well on Android phones. Small, pretty good quality, better than the Rode microphones I tried. Not cheap but worth the price I feel.

The recording app I use is Field Rekorder. Takes some time to understand all the settings but then the results are pretty good. It's not free but worth the price: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.pfitzinger.rec&hl=de

Hermann

 

[njlarsen]

A directional option that seems slightly cheaper: https://www.amazon.com/Saramonic-Di...p/B0725Y5TN1/ref=psdc_196575011_t1_B000MYPPPE

Niels

 

[Mike Crawley]

A directional option that seems slightly cheaper: https://www.amazon.com/Saramonic-Di...p/B0725Y5TN1/ref=psdc_196575011_t1_B000MYPPPE

Niels

Also available on Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saramonic-...rophone+for+Smartphones&qid=1591809248&sr=8-1

 

[THE_FERN]

Also available on Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saramonic-...rophone+for+Smartphones&qid=1591809248&sr=8-1

As with some of the others like this, the reviews suggest it's far from clear that it'll perform well

 

[Steve Babbs]

I guess one of us will have to bite the bullet and give one a try and feed back. I've just splashed out on a new camera so I'm hoping it's someone else.

 

[njlarsen]

I recently bought one of these microphones for use on my iphone. What I did not realize is that you have to remove this microphone from the iphone if you want to listen to the recording you just made. Is there any way around that, will that be the case for all models?

Niels

 

[opisska]

I recently bought one of these microphones for use on my iphone. What I did not realize is that you have to remove this microphone from the iphone if you want to listen to the recording you just made. Is there any way around that, will that be the case for all models?

Niels

How is it connected? If its by a 4-wire 3.5mm jack, then you can just put in a $5 splitter to be able to plug in headphones in parallel to the microphone (that's my setup for teleconferences from a laptop for example).

 

[njlarsen]

It is by one of those jacks. I was thinking about the situation where I might want to re-play the recording to attract the same bird. Overall, it would just be nicer if I could do it leaving the microphone in.

Niels

 

[opisska]

It is by one of those jacks. I was thinking about the situation where I might want to re-play the recording to attract the same bird. Overall, it would just be nicer if I could do it leaving the microphone in.

Niels

I mean I have no specific experience with an iPhone, but most devices nowadays have just one jack output for audio input/output, so if the mic is plugged in, it assumes it's a part of a headset and plays the sound through the jack (it just detects a presence of a connector). As I said, you can split this without any electronics (just have a cable reduction), but you'd have to plug in an external speaker then, if you want it for the purpose of replaying it loud. On my laptop, I can tell it it's just a mic and it plays sound out through my speaker, but on my Android smartphone, I have for example no idea if that's even possible, so I see it being difficult on iPhone as well.

 

[njlarsen]

Thanks Jan,
I should have been expecting that but didn't

Niels

 

[Steve Babbs]

I recently bought one of these microphones for use on my iphone. What I did not realize is that you have to remove this microphone from the iphone if you want to listen to the recording you just made. Is there any way around that, will that be the case for all models?

Niels

Which one did you buy and does it work well apart from the issue you have mentioned?

 

[rosbifs]

I bought a super cheap mic for my iPhone - I wanted to record a bird and then playback to get said bird closer. That was the theory. It worked pretty well the couple of times I used it. Sadly only a couple of times until the dog chewed it! For those that remember he also chewed my bins...

I don't think directional helps if you are using in conjunction with a parabol? I didn't use one but the mic was sort of directional if you took the sponge top off and and more rounded with the sponge on. You can tell I was strictly amateur and didn't really get chance to benefit from it.

Years ago we used a washing up bowl as a parabol on the roof of the summer cottage to record a distant Eagle Owl. Great fun.

 

[njlarsen]

Which one did you buy and does it work well apart from the issue you have mentioned?

I bought this one but have not had enough time with it to say much. It came yesterday! https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GR5B3YW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Niels

 

[Steve Babbs]

I bought this one but have not had enough time with it to say much. It came yesterday! https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GR5B3YW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Niels

I look forward to finding out what you think of it.

 

[njlarsen]

I look forward to finding out what you think of it.

I have still only early days. I downloaded an app called Voice Record Pro which seems to work ok with the mic. I have only used it once for birds, some of our local Ring-necked Parakeets. They were not particularly close, maybe 30 meters. The attached is the file that the app deposited into my dropbox, no editing at all. With a MP3 or similar file, you could increase the output-level and resave the file, I am not sure if this is doable on a .wav, but anyway, it has not been done.

Niels

 

[njlarsen]

I forgot to mention that the app allows me to change the output gain so a slightly low recording can be played Back louder.

Niels

 

[ownerd]

I use the rode mic me but it needs a headphone jack. Some of the new phones are missing this so probably wont work.

 

[MikeMules]

to add to this thread, I use a Boya BY-MM1 mini shotgun microphone into an Android smartphone. Results are pretty good: the links here are to a Grey Butcherbird taken in windy weather in the rain, 20m from a main road, and a Scarlet Honeyeater that was 20-30m away, but surrounded by other birds -mostly Red Wattlebird and Little Raven- that were actively calling (giving some idea about its directionality).