My 8 x EM272 rig (going via a 9v battery box) is lower noise than a normal EM272 pair but it is also quite a bit more sensitive (around 7.5dB). 

In a very dynamic situation like a thunderstorm, I like to record at the lowest possible level to avoid clipping. On the Sony PCM-A10 you can set the gain right down to level 3 without introducing any additional noise (with a normal EM272 stereo pair). Levels 1 and 2 add quite a bit of recorder self noise.

I wanted to test recording at level 1 with the 8 capsule rig, to see if the lower noise of that rig would mitigate the effects of the increased recorder noise.

In this clip you hear a standard EM272 pair recorded at level 15, followed by the 8 capsule rig at level 1. Recordings were made simultaneously to two separate Sony PCM-A10 recorders and subsequently normalised to the same level using a 1kHz test tone played from my phone.

The result was positive. The 8 capsule rig still has less noise, despite the added recorder noise due to the low gain level.

Sony PCM - A10 Low Gain With 8 X EM272 Capsules

The European fire-bellied toad is, in fact, a frog. (No fire, either.) However, this is more than compensated by its satisfyingly fun-to-say Latin name: Bombina bombina. They also produce antimicrobial peptides in their skin secretions – the even more fun-to-say ‘bombinins’. 

Native to eastern mainland Europe – recorded here in the protected land of Poland’s Barycz Valley Landscape Park – they use their internal vocal sacs to produce their “whoop” call: the mournful, slow-motion honk immortalized here. Imagine the sound that clowns might make when they cry and you won’t be far off.

Bombina bombina mysterious call

Rooftop Morning Seagulls And Crows, Istanbul, Turkey

Street Vendor On Megaphone, Da Nang, Vietnam

Northwestern University Library - Vent

Rotary Gas Meter

Recorded on the land of the Peramangk people.
Deep, slow, careful listening required.
Read the Playlist description for more information: https://soundcloud.com/hearingbeings/sets/2023-iron-curtain-autumn-and-summer

2023.03.16 Iron Curtain. Early Autumn.

An hour before sunrise in a secluded valley mire in Dartmoor National Park. Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) are performing their "winnowing" courtship display, flying up and diving downwards so their tail feathers vibrate with a distinctive thrumming sound. Tawny Owls and Cuckoo call across the valley.

Recorded on 1st May 2023 with 2 x AT4022 microphones in an Olson stereo array (www.trackseventeen.com/mic_rigs.html) and a Sound Devices 722 recorder.

May Day Snipe

This is a very high-gain recording, the forests are so quiet in this part of Sweden, I like the idea of really opening up the gain.  MixPre3 the gain set to 74db, with a pair of Lewitt 440's.  Recording 4000.

Stream (1) -  12 May 23 - 11am - Dalsvallen

At the crossroads of day and night, diurnal birds meet nocturnal animals for a precious hour. Thus the black-crowned night herons, doves, ducks meet the roar of the deer, the fleeting bats and the tawny owl, in a unique and precious soundscape in the heart of the forest of Orléans, the biggest forest in France

Crépuscule Automnal À L'étang Du Ravoir (Automn Nightfall At Ravoir's Pound)

Recording I made while waiting in a parking lot to get out until the rain shower was over.

Rain on the roof of a car - interior

PodCast

Rain on the roof of a car - interior (September 21st, 2023)

Stereo soundscape recordings. Sometime nature, sometimes people, sometimes machinery. Sometimes quiet things like a single branch creaking in the wind on Dartmoor, sometimes odd moments in the city. Mostly local, but sometimes travelling. 

Sony PCM - A10 Low Gain With 8 X EM272 Capsules

Douglas Langley

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Douglas Langley

Douglas Langley

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