Ramsay:
Sorry, my previous post in response to your message seem's to have gone
astray! Welcome to this group and good luck getting geared up for the
pending arrival of migrants.
There's lots of technical discussion about high-end equipment in this
group, which is very informative. But you'll also find many posting that
repeat the message that equipment like small MD recorders do a great job
--- especially for the price and weight.
I've used an ME62 in a Tellinga parabola and connected to an old (not
HiMD) minidisk for years to record the same kind of subjects you're
interested in. I'm generally pleased with the results. Email me if you'd
like to hear a few of my recordings to see if they suit your taste and
needs.
For critical analysis of vocalizations there's the concern that the
compression of MD's (ATRAC of various generations) can introduce
artifacts. But for gross analysis of the forms in a spectrograph,
estimation of song rate, estimation of max/min frequencies of major song
elements and the like, I don't know anyone who's had problems from
ATRAC. For a couple projects, I've used DAT (and/or analog tape) to
avoid the possibility of ATRAC artifacts. But 99% of the time --- as far
as sound analysis goes --- there's more serious problems with my
recordings (ambient noise etc.) than those created by compression.
I can't underestimate the weight advantage of an MD when it comes to
field work either. I can walk a lot farther in a day (mostly back and
forth across a few territories, but far none the less) carrying a small
MD than carrying a bigger device and the batteries to run it for many
hours.
Good luck!
Steve P
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