David and Others..... I have been saving e-mails from several Birding Lists for the past year or so. See no reason why they should not work on Frogs. Have pasted them in below. Thanks.
Mike Nolan....see below I was looking through Surfbirds and came across a nice article on recording equipment. Lots of good info and objective reviews. http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/tomstips/5214/Tools+for+Attracting+the+Unknown...Field+Recorders+and+Shotgun+Mics.html Subject: RE: Portable Audio Recorder Suggestions? Body: Fred, My experience with this is similar to Jeff's. I began sound recording in the early 1980s using simple hand-held recorders with built-in microphones. This worked OK in some situations but was very poor for most. Here's the best recording (Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush) I got with this setup: http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/AZXTZTQJRO/Catharus_mexicanus_MX_R DC_19830607_S2_ATC.mp3 In the late 1980s I "graduated" to the Sony TCM-5000 cassette recorder and a 12-inch parabolic microphone which worked better. Here's an Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush recording made with this setup: http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/AZXTZTQJRO/Catharus_aurantiirostri s_CR-LosCus_19920326_S1_ATC.mp3 In 1994, I upgraded again to a Marantz PMD-222 (bird model) recorder and Sennheiser ME-66 shotgun microphone. This setup has been excellent, though expensive (~$600 for recorder, ~$700 for microphone and accessories). This recorder is not the best for playback as it doesn't have much of an amplifier, but I don't do much playback. Here's a brief Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush (with high-pitched Pirre Bush-Tanager calls) recorded with this setup: http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/AZXTZTQJRO/Catharus_fuscater_hellm ayri_PA-Pirre_20001228_S1_ATC.mp3 Last year I decided to go digital and went with the Marantz PMD-660 with "bird recording modifications", still keeping the Sennheiser ME-66 microphone. This seems to be an excellent recorder, and is half the size of the PMD-222, though it too is not great for playback. Although it is not comparable to the other thrush examples I've provided, I've attached a recording (converted to MP3 from WAV) I made in Panama in November 2007 of the cricket-like song of a Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant as he sang about 50 feet away. I guess my main point here is that there are many good recorders, but the microphone will have at least as mch of an impact on your recording quality, so you should be considering that component as well. One thing that most of the recorders designed for human speech have is some sort of auto cutoff that switches off the recording device if a sound above a certain volume reaches the microphone. For wildlife sounds, you absolutely don't want this! And all the better recorders allow this "feature" to be turned off. ---------- If we are on another line or away from the phone, please leave your number, best time to return your call and/or your e-mail address. After hours and weekend phone appointments are available upon request. Sincerely, J. Michael Nolan, Director Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit ************************************************************************************************** "Outstanding-Affordable Field Courses in Rainforest & Marine Ecology" "Spanish/Cultural Immersion Programs: Spain, Mexico, Central and South America" Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit 334 Ottawa St. Coopersville, MI 49404 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49514-1543 USA Local/International Phone: 001.616.604.0546 Toll Free U.S. and Canada: 1.877.255.3721 Skype/MS IM: travelwithrandr AOL IM: buddythemacaw E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Note: Please send inquiries to both e-mail addresses Web: http://rainforestandreef.org **************************************************************************************************
