Assembling cheap, high-performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife: the Sonitor system [version 3; peer review: 3 approved]
Passive acoustic monitoring of wildlife requires sound recording systems. Several cheap, high-performance, or open-source solutions currently exist for recording soundscapes, but all rely on commercial microphones. Commercial microphones are relatively expensive, specialized for particular taxa, and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
F1000 Research Ltd
2021-02-01
|
| Series: | F1000Research |
| Online Access: | https://f1000research.com/articles/7-1984/v3 |
| _version_ | 1818923049530949632 |
|---|---|
| author | Kevin Darras Bjørn Kolbrek Andreas Knorr Volker Meyer Mike Zippert Arne Wenzel |
| author_facet | Kevin Darras Bjørn Kolbrek Andreas Knorr Volker Meyer Mike Zippert Arne Wenzel |
| author_sort | Kevin Darras |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Passive acoustic monitoring of wildlife requires sound recording systems. Several cheap, high-performance, or open-source solutions currently exist for recording soundscapes, but all rely on commercial microphones. Commercial microphones are relatively expensive, specialized for particular taxa, and often have incomplete technical specifications. We designed Sonitor, an open-source microphone system to address all needs of ecologists that sample terrestrial wildlife acoustically. We evaluated the cost and durability of our system and measured trade-offs that are seldom acknowledged but which universally limit microphones' functions: weatherproofing versus sound attenuation, windproofing versus transmission loss after rain, signal loss in long cables, and analog sound amplification versus directivity with acoustic horns. We propose five microphone configurations suiting different budgets (from 8 to 33 EUR per unit), and fulfilling different sound quality and flexibility requirements. The Sonitor system consists of sturdy acoustic sensors that cover the entire sound frequency spectrum of sonant terrestrial wildlife at a fraction of the cost of commercial microphones. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T02:03:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13c7620ad4cd4e189e738282f1c6c321 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2046-1402 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T02:03:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | F1000 Research Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | F1000Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-13c7620ad4cd4e189e738282f1c6c3212022-12-21T19:57:15ZengF1000 Research LtdF1000Research2046-14022021-02-01710.12688/f1000research.17511.354581Assembling cheap, high-performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife: the Sonitor system [version 3; peer review: 3 approved]Kevin Darras0Bjørn Kolbrek1Andreas Knorr2Volker Meyer3Mike Zippert4Arne Wenzel5Department of Agroecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Niedersachsen, 37077, GermanyCelestion, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP6 0NL, UKMess-, Steuerungs-, und Regeltechnik, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Niedersachsen, 37077, GermanyKonstruktion, Geräte- Neuentwicklung, Schreinerei, Schlosserei, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Niedersachsen, 37077, GermanyKonstruktion, Geräte- Neuentwicklung, Schreinerei, Schlosserei, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Niedersachsen, 37077, GermanyFunctional Agrobiodiversity, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Niedersachsen, 37077, GermanyPassive acoustic monitoring of wildlife requires sound recording systems. Several cheap, high-performance, or open-source solutions currently exist for recording soundscapes, but all rely on commercial microphones. Commercial microphones are relatively expensive, specialized for particular taxa, and often have incomplete technical specifications. We designed Sonitor, an open-source microphone system to address all needs of ecologists that sample terrestrial wildlife acoustically. We evaluated the cost and durability of our system and measured trade-offs that are seldom acknowledged but which universally limit microphones' functions: weatherproofing versus sound attenuation, windproofing versus transmission loss after rain, signal loss in long cables, and analog sound amplification versus directivity with acoustic horns. We propose five microphone configurations suiting different budgets (from 8 to 33 EUR per unit), and fulfilling different sound quality and flexibility requirements. The Sonitor system consists of sturdy acoustic sensors that cover the entire sound frequency spectrum of sonant terrestrial wildlife at a fraction of the cost of commercial microphones.https://f1000research.com/articles/7-1984/v3 |
| spellingShingle | Kevin Darras Bjørn Kolbrek Andreas Knorr Volker Meyer Mike Zippert Arne Wenzel Assembling cheap, high-performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife: the Sonitor system [version 3; peer review: 3 approved] F1000Research |
| title | Assembling cheap, high-performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife: the Sonitor system [version 3; peer review: 3 approved] |
| title_full | Assembling cheap, high-performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife: the Sonitor system [version 3; peer review: 3 approved] |
| title_fullStr | Assembling cheap, high-performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife: the Sonitor system [version 3; peer review: 3 approved] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assembling cheap, high-performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife: the Sonitor system [version 3; peer review: 3 approved] |
| title_short | Assembling cheap, high-performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife: the Sonitor system [version 3; peer review: 3 approved] |
| title_sort | assembling cheap high performance microphones for recording terrestrial wildlife the sonitor system version 3 peer review 3 approved |
| url | https://f1000research.com/articles/7-1984/v3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kevindarras assemblingcheaphighperformancemicrophonesforrecordingterrestrialwildlifethesonitorsystemversion3peerreview3approved AT bjørnkolbrek assemblingcheaphighperformancemicrophonesforrecordingterrestrialwildlifethesonitorsystemversion3peerreview3approved AT andreasknorr assemblingcheaphighperformancemicrophonesforrecordingterrestrialwildlifethesonitorsystemversion3peerreview3approved AT volkermeyer assemblingcheaphighperformancemicrophonesforrecordingterrestrialwildlifethesonitorsystemversion3peerreview3approved AT mikezippert assemblingcheaphighperformancemicrophonesforrecordingterrestrialwildlifethesonitorsystemversion3peerreview3approved AT arnewenzel assemblingcheaphighperformancemicrophonesforrecordingterrestrialwildlifethesonitorsystemversion3peerreview3approved |