This is a comparison of the Olympus LS-11 and Tascam DR-40 recorders.

Both recorders were handheld simultaneously while they recorded the calls of a Pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis)  in the South Texas Brush.

The calls were high pass filtered, brought down to a sampling rate of 8Khz and gain increased to equalize the gain of the actual calls.  I only kept the part of the recording below 4Khz since that is the range I am mostly interested in.  I did apply some high pass filtering below about 500Hz as well.

Although they were both recorded in stereo, the have been reduced to mono for comparison.  The first call is what was recorded with the LS-11, the second with the DR-40.

Olympus LS-11 versus Tascam DR-40

This Victoria Crowned Pigeon was recorded at the San Antonio Zoo.  Their deep booming calls must be truly impressive when heard in the rainforests of New Guinea.
There are a variety of other species in the background.

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

This is the scolding call of an American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus</o>) from around 13,000 feet up the Pike's Peak access road in Colorado. These high elevation squirrels are constantly scolding any hikers who dare to encroach into their domain!

American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) - scolding call

Testing a microphone set up and processing.

Madera Canyon Test

A short recording comparing the sound of the Zoom M3 (in 150° stereo "mode") with the Zoom F3 with Immersive Soundscape Earsight Microphones.
Both files were amplified to -12dB and some low pass filter was applied (6dB at 300Hz) because I had the low pass filter enabled on the M3.
The recording is in 15 second segments (first 15 = M3, then F3, them M3, then F3)
The Zoom M3 seems to have performed well here.   I think the humidity might have made the Earsight microphones noisier?

M3 Vs F3 - Earsight

Take 2 on my M3 vs F3 (earsight) test.
Same as last recording but with no high pass filtering.
Both recordings normalized to -6dB and cut into 15 second clips.
First F3, then M3, then F3, then M3

Zoom F3 vs Zoom M3

This is a chorus of Canyon Treefrogs recorded in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.  
You also hear the high pitched trill of a Red-spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus) in the background.

Canyon Treefrog (Hyla arenicolor) - chorus

This is a short recording from a very crudely constructed SASS array that I carved out of a foam Yoga block and a pair of Clippy EM172s from micbooster.com.  The block was carved with a hacksaw in less than 10 minutes as a crude test of concept.  The next array block will be made to more stringent specs.
The recording doesn't really show off the potential for this array and is filtered to removed high frequency insect calls and traffic noise.

Pseudacris fouquettei - SASS array

160530 2221 1324b Stereo LIBE ACBL HYCH

Costa Rican Frog Recordings for Inaturalist

140808 0423 Dendropsophus Microcephalus

140804 0412 Smilisca Phaeota

Hylidae Scinax Elaeochroa 140808 0431

Eleutherodactylidae Diasporus Diastema 140804 408

Hylidae

Pseudacrus crucifer chorus

Pseudacris crucifer - Two Rivers

American Crows from Palmetto State Park, Texas.

160124 0967 American Crows

Finally got a recording of an American Toad calling.
Scott County, Arkansas, May 2017!

Anaxyrus

American Toad (Anaxyrys americanus)

Hyla chrysoscelis from north of Wichita Falls, Texas for Inaturalist

170706 0025 1745 HYCH

170706 0041 1747 ANCO PSCL SPBO

170706 2128 1748 PSCL HYCH

Rio Grande Chirping Frog (Eleutherodactlys cystignathoides campi) calling from my backyard after rain in Bexar County, Texas, USA.
They are introduced into this area, but are very common in suburban back yards.

Rio Grande Chirping Frog (Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides campi)

A few calls from an Antillean Whistling Frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei) from our hotel grounds in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles.

Antillean Whistling Frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei)

These Cliff Chirping Frogs were recorded near Leakey, Texas.
The trilling in the background is Gulf Coast Toads (Incilius nebulifer).

Cliff Chirping Frog (Eleutherodactylus marnockii)

These Katydids were calling near Palmetto State Park, Gonzales County, Texas.

From the Singing Insects of North America website, I believe I have identified them as the Common True Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia) .

Common True Katydid (cf Pterophylla camellifolia), Palmetto State Park, Texas

This pair of Pileated Gibbons (Hylobates pileatus) were recorded at Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, Texas.
For anyone who has lived in the few remaining forested areas in Southeast Asia, these gibbon songs are nature's alarm clocks.   Unfortunately, our undending desire for Palm Oil will eventually silence these beautiful, mournful calls forever.

Pileated Gibbon (Hylobates pileatus)

A Carolina Chickadee singing at Kreutzberg Canyon Natural Area in Boerne, Texas.

Carolina Chickadee

A quick comparison of some outdoor recordings (crickets/birds) in a relatively quiet area in southern Texas.   
The recordings were made simultaneously on the Roland 07 and Zoom H4N recorders using their onboard microphones.  Both recorders set to 96Hz/24bit.  Neither recorder was using a windscreen but winds were calm.
All low frequency filters were turned off in the recorders and samples were treated identically in Audacity -
- high pass filtering to 500Hz
- amplified to peaks at -6dB
Identical sections of each recording were cut out and played right after each other.   The five second seconds are in the following order:

First five seconds - Roland 07 - cut 1
Second five seconds - Zoom H4N - cut 1
Third five seconds - Roland 07 - cut 2
Fourth five seconds - Zoom H4N - cut 2

Rozorozo

This is a comparison recording of the Sennheiser ME66 versus the Olympus LS11 mics versus the Sennheiser ME62.
All three recordings were made of the same chorus of frogs (Great Plains Narrow-mouthed Toads - Gastrophryne olivacea) calling beside a fairly noisy road in south-central Texas, USA.
The first part of the recording is the Sennheiser ME66/K6 combination.
The second part is the Olympus LS11 mics alone.
The thirds is with the ME62/K6 combination.

All recorded with the LS-11.  All recordings were high pass filtered to remove some of the road noise and all were independently amplified up to 0db.

It isn't a great subject or recording, but I wanted to see how they performed when recording in a "less than perfect" environment.  The recordings were not done simultaneously so the traffic noise varied a bit.

Sennheiser ME66 vs ME62 vs Olympus LS11

This is a chorus of frogs recorded in McMullen County, Texas in July 2010 after Hurricane Alex dumped 10+ inches of rain here in less than 24 hours.
The main calls you hear are the loud, nasal background whine of the Great Plains Narrowmouthed Toads (Gastrophryne olivacea).

Frog Chorus from McMullen County courtesy of Hurrican Alex

This Balcones Barking Frog was calling from a wooded canyon southwest of Kerrville, Texas on a rainy spring night.

Popular tracks by sandboa