Hi Jerry- Continual monitoring of the world outside with a couple of
mics is how I became obsessed with field recording fifteen years ago.
A way to greatly reduce relative ambient background sounds in your
reproduced sound is to consider means of getting the mics close to
favorite perches, feeding spots etc. A "PZM" mic is a type of
boundary mic where the capsule faces way from the elements towards a
collector plate. This makes the mic very resistant to wind with no
fluffy water absorbing protection needed. If mounted under a small
overhang, they're not bothered by rain or moisture at all. I had a
set of Radio Shack PZM mics outside nailed to two tree trunks under
simple 10" X 10" cedar overhangs for over 3 years and the mics still
work fine today. The PZM design is also less sensitive to secondary
sound reflections (echoes which increases the relative level of
direct sound picked up, like nearby birds. Another neat feature
about the Radio Shack mics is they can be re-wired to be powered from
phantom power. I ran long cables from my PZM's to a sound mixer
inside that supplied phantom power. I never had to replace batteries
in the mics. Crown International makes a PZM mic called the "Sound
Grabber II" that runs on one AA battery. Maybe someone can report
whether these mics can be modified to run on phantom power? Links to
these mics and a possible mixer are below. This mixer will support
four phantom-powered mics so you can set out four mics in prime spots
and have fun adjusting a stereo mix to your liking each day. The
mixer also has bass tone control knobs for adjusting the amount of
city "rumble" to your tastes.
Here's the link to the mics ($120 a pair):
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Live/Sound/Microphones/Wireless?sku=
=3D278420
Here's the link to a Behringer Eurorack UB1202 Mixer that would work ($80):
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Live/Sound/Mixers?sku=3D631236
There are stereo line level outputs on the mixer that will connect to
your recorder's line level inputs.
Rob D.
At 10:01 AM -0500 1/20/06, Jerry Berrier wrote:
>I'm looking for suggestions on a mic I can permanently mount outside my
>house to monitor bird sounds from indoors.
>I currently have a device called a Bird Bug that I purchased several years
>ago. It consists of a fairly inexpensive parabolic mic, 50 feet of coaxia=
l
>cable, and a amplifier speaker box. After having it outside for several
>years, it has deteriorated and no longer works well. I cannot find the
>company from which I purchased it; evidently they have gone out of busines=
s.
>
>I'm not looking for extremely high quality equipment, as there is too much
>noise around where I live for high quality recordings. I just want
>something that works reasonably well.
>
>I'm aware of two devices currently on the market, the Mother Nature's
>Monitor and the Nature's Window. From what I've read, the first one sound=
s
>a little too "low quality". I read one article about Nature's Window that
>said it's excellent. Have any of you tried it?
>
>Any thoughts?
>Any suggestions?
>
>
>Jerry Berrier, Shrewsbury, MA
>
>508-845-9944
>
>http://www.townisp.com/~jerry.berrier
>
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