I agree that SASS rig recordings are nice to listen to, but the aim is to "=
get baseline data on the geophony and biophony". Is it even necessary to ge=
t stereo recordings for that? And is it necessary to use a recorder and mic=
with very low self noise? Would the internal mics be sufficient?
Some important features for the recorder might be the ability to turn off a=
utomatic level control, which some cheaper ones can't do, and time stamped =
recordings. Would it be useful to calibrate the recording level for this wo=
rk? I'm not sure how that's done, but I imagine you'd have to have somethin=
g that can generate a tone with a repeatable volume.
I wonder if Curtis should actually be looking at a dedicated autonomous rec=
order instead of using consumer devices. Apart from being built to be left =
out in the weather, they can be programmed to record at regular intervals, =
they can record relative to sunrise, etc. Some have a built in GPS to recor=
d the location, which would be handy if you're moving it around a lot.
Regarding Benedict's SASS problems, I agree they're bulky, and I'm interest=
ed to know what alternatives you tried. I was thinking of trying tree ears.
Peter Shute
Sent from my iPad
On 24 Dec. 2016, at 6:04 am, <=
rr.com> [naturerecordists] <<naturer=
>> wrote:
I'm glad Vicki brought up the SASS. I built mine after scouring her site an=
d the DIY Stereo Boundary Mics blog:
http://diystereoboundarymics.blogspot.com/
During a trip to Scotland last June I found out the SASS is a little bulky =
for air travel (though actually not much bulkier than a typical zeppelin). =
So I went on a bit of a binge, trying to find a more compact stereo micing =
system that delivers comparable performance. Eventually it turned into a fr=
ee-for-all to see if anything else delivers that kind of performance, compa=
ct or not. What I found is that it's really really hard to beat the sense o=
f space the SASS delivers.
I tend to over-complicate my builds, so I can't advocate my way of making a=
n SASS. Vicki's page on her stereo arrays offers much more tractable approa=
ches:
http://caperteebirder.com/index.php?p=3D1_17_recording-gear-1
I think I built mine for under $50. Aside from the capsules, the most expen=
sive part was the cable. Good shielded cable is worth every penny.
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