Playback Advice for Wildlife Recordist

[RobBain]

Hi - I'm looking for some advice, please.

Context

I record wildlife sounds by leaving a little portable Sony recorder (PCM-A10) out overnight in woods and forests. The recorder sits protected in a dry bag with a power-bank that gives me nearly 5 days' worth of recording. The PCM-A10 is a reasonably sensitive, low noise recorder when paired with some nice external mics. I record at 96kHz, 24 bit (WAV files) onto a 256GB microSD card.

I like to listen to these ambient recordings on headphones (BD DT770s @32 ohm) being fed from a portable source. I don't want to be stuck by my PC. I like to be in my armchair with a cold beer to hand! However the PCM-A10 is a good recorder but not a great audio player.

I tried the Sony NW-A105 but the WAVs from the PCM-A10 sit in the card's root directory whereas the NW-A105 hunts for a 'Music' subfolder. I can't read the microSD card directly. I have other issue with the NW-A105 anyway (microSD card is a pain to constantly insert/remove, battery life etc.) - so it will be returned.

Question

I'm trying to get a nice, rich (yet still realistic) sound for my playbacks. A graphic equaliser would be nice. All I generally do (in terms of post) is dampen the low frequencies (stuff below 100Hz) and slightly elevate the mid-range (1k - 10k). I don't know if I should looking at headphone amps or dedicated players or what. Hence I'm open to advice.

I can provide lots more detail if required - but wanted to keep this first post short.

Many thanks in advance.

Rob (UK)

 

[AnalogSteph]

Sounds like (a) you may want to ask a moderator to move this into the portable player forum next door, and (b) you may appreciate something with parametric EQ so you can apply e.g. the oratory1990 DT770 EQ settings.

You say you don't want to be stuck by your PC, but what about a computer small enough to be placed on a coffee table next to said armchair plus a USB DAC / headphone amplifier? It doesn't have to be the most powerful machine ever for what you're trying to do... maybe not an old XP era Atom netbook, but basically anything 64 bit capable with a somewhat recent OS and an ability to hold a decent amount of storage should be OK. I would not rule out a chromebook, tablet or smartypants phone either as long you can attach an external USB DAC and you can find a suitable app... might be a bit cumbersome though.

 

[RobBain]

Sounds like (a) you may want to ask a moderator to move this into the portable player forum next door, and (b) you may appreciate something with parametric EQ so you can apply e.g. the oratory1990 DT770 EQ settings.

You say you don't want to be stuck by your PC, but what about a computer small enough to be placed on a coffee table next to said armchair plus a USB DAC / headphone amplifier? It doesn't have to be the most powerful machine ever for what you're trying to do... maybe not an old XP era Atom netbook, but basically anything 64 bit capable with a somewhat recent OS and an ability to hold a decent amount of storage should be OK. I would not rule out a chromebook, tablet or smartypants phone either as long you can attach an external USB DAC and you can find a suitable app... might be a bit cumbersome though.

Many thanks, Steph

Apols for the misplacement of my post (I'm brand new to the list) and I'll look into the Oratory 1990 thing - thanks.

I could use my laptop - you're correct. I'm a big Audition fan and could simply run my WAVs thru that. But I really wanted to explore the portable route. I'm not always in my armchair! That's why I tried the NW-A105 but it couldn't cut it.

However I think you hit on my dilemma. Should I try to improve the output from my PCM-A10 (headphone amp? If so, wonder what is worth trying?) and just stick with that. Or have a separate, hi-spec, dedicated player that I simply shove my microSDs into?

Whatever, many thanks for taking the time to reply.

Rob

 

[Wes]

Scientists who do this have devices that detect volume above a certain level and switch the unit to record with time/date stamping included.

re the FR issue, where is the mic located? you might want to put it on a tripod

 

[RobBain]

Scientists who do this have devices that detect volume above a certain level and switch the unit to record with time/date stamping included.

re the FR issue, where is the mic located? you might want to put it on a tripod

Thanks Wes. I'm happy with my recording set-up. It's portable playback from the PCM-A10 that lets me down. Hence my question, should I focus on (a) adding a DAC or something that improves the output from the PCM-A10, or (b) consider a separate DAP?

Not sure what you mean about 'the FR issue' (apols) but, in terms of location, I find a tree about the same circumference as a human head and tape my mics (LOM mikroUSIs) to either side of it (sometimes termed 'tree ears'). A lovely immersive stereo listening experience of undisturbed nature at dawn!

Thanks,

Rob

 

[Wes]

frequency response = FR

be aware that the tree will act to shape the FR too

 

[LTig]

What about a smart phone? At 32 Ohm the DT770 should be loud enough, if not you can look for one of the dongles tested here. There's also a page which lists all software EQs.

 

[AnalogSteph]

There's also this thread which may at least be worth going through...