And can't resist pointing out that Wildlife Acoustics (I happen to work there!) has a night flight call recording package including a NFC mic and stand alone weather proof recorder. The microphone operates on the same "plate" principle as the flowerpot
press release: http://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/news/pr20100802a.php and site info: http://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/sm2_birds.php Apologies for commercial plug, it just seemed to be appropriate for the discussion. Sherwood Snyder On Jun 14, 2011, at 1:32 PM, Bill Evans wrote: > Hello Laurent, > I would not recommend any preamp for less than $50 USD -- in fact the Rolls, > while it works, is not really that great in the sound quality department. At > the time I mentioned it on the Old Bird website, it was just the cheapest > functional preamp I could find offered online. It is convenient in that it > offers multiple input and output connector-type options (i.e., XLR, phone > plug, miniplug). The better overall option I think now is to bypass your > computer's sound card and use a USB audio interface, such as: Creative Labs > E-MU 8740A 0204 USB 2.0 Audio Interface. However, these devices are geared > toward music and have bells and whistles beyond what is necessary for night > flight call monitoring. By the time you factor in their added cost (~$130) > with the parts for microphone & your labor, you might be better off buying a > fully-built, ready-to-go, microphone system specifically designed for > monitoring night flight calls. If you are on a tight budget, the cheapest > preamps are those contained within old cassette decks -- you simply use the > cassette deck in the pause-record mode as a preamp, running the signal from > your mic into the cassette player's microphone input and out its line-level > output to your computer's audio input. With a little searching around one can > find an old cassette deck for free or <$10 at a garage sale or junk shop. > > Regarding recording system, yes folks use digital recorders and transfer to > computer for later analysis. This is typically done if you are just > monitoring on a night-to-night basis. If your intentions are to record > nightly for a whole migration season, then it is much more convenient to set > up a computer in a permanent location so it can automatically record each > night -- you are then hands-free until you choose to analyze your data. > Bill Evans > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "laurent fournier" > <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 10:15 AM > Subject: [nfc-l] hardware question from a beginner, recorder, preamp, etc > > > Hi All > > I am currently in the process of building the "flower pot mic" described in > the > "oldbird" website. > > 2 questions : > > - any tip about which preamp I should use? (does everyone uses one?). The old > bird website only mention the Rolls MP13 preamp ($70 on Amazon.com), but I > noticed others available for a much lower price ($20). > > > - Does everyone here does their own recording using a laptop, as suggested in > the oldbird? Does anyone use a digital recorder, and later transfer their > files > on their computer for further analysis? > > > Any comment or advice would be greatly appreciated! > > > Laurent in Michigan > > -- > > NFC-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > > > > -- > > NFC-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
