Review: The UltraMic Evo 384K USB Microphone from Dodotronic

The UltraMic Evo 384K USB Microphone from Dodotronic

Not to be confused with The UltraMic 250K, or 384K USB microphone, The Evo 384K is a totally different device: 

The Ultramic 384K Evo is a professional USB microphone, which digitally records both audible and ultrasonic sound. It is constructed of high-quality black plastic, although it is not weatherproof. 

The unit is unique since it employs two separate microphones; which reside behind the opening (opposite of the [male] USB connector).

The Ultramic 384K Evo utilizes USB 2.0 connections at full speed via an audio class UAC 1.1 interface. This translates to a driverless coupling with host devices.

Hardware gain (amplification) is adjusted via a small, recessed, 4-position switch. Note: My microphone arrived with the switch set at 3 - Which equates to 0dB of gain.

More details may be seen on Page 10 of the User Guide; however, the switch gain settings, are as follows:

1.  -33dB
2.  -10dB
3.   0dB
4.  10dB

Just to clarify:

1 being the switch setting closest to the center of the Mic, and correlating to the least amount of gain (-33dB).

2 being the center position (-10dB).

3 Moving toward the Mic's opening (0dB)

4 The position closest to the Mic's opening (10dB)

The microphone itself, is basically omnidirectional. However, there is also an optional acoustic horn available (which typically costs approx. €8).

The acoustic horn is attached to the Mic using built-in neodymium magnets. Attachment of this horn makes the reception noticeably more directional / less sensitive to off-axis sound. Planar plots demonstrating this may be seen on Page 4 of the User Guide.

Physical characteristics of this unit are as follows:

80mm Long X 30mm Wide X 16mm High (thickness).

It weighs only 24 grams.

With Magnetic Cone attached, hook & loop/Velcro also provided.

A few more technical details:

• It uses a 32 bit ARM Cortex M4 microcontroller for it's CPU.
• It uses 15mA of power from whichever host it's connected to.
• It utilizes 2 SPU0410LR5H microphone elements from Knowles.
• Recording format is linear PCM format.

Current price, directly from the Dodotronic Site, at the time of this writing is €220.

Amoung the applications listed for this microphone (as per Manufacturer's site) are:

• Bioacoustics:

Detection/recording of ultrasounds of insects, cetaceans, rodents, and bats.

Bat activity at wind farms.

Mice vocalizations for medical and pharmacological studies, etc.

Various soundtracks which require the slowing down of ultrasounds.

• Industrial: 

Leak detection (gas line leaks, etc.).

Monitoring machine motors for prediction of faults.

Listening for high frequency noises from switching power supplies, LCD screens, various turbines, and energy saving lamps.

The Ultramic 384K Evo is designed to be used with your PC and/or Android phone.

Whether connected to a smartphone or a laptop, The Ultramic Evo is generally easy to use. Having said that, I would advise you to consider the importance of choosing a compatible App, which you find comfortable and convenient to use.

In both domains of smartphones and laptops (PC & Apple) - not all Apps are created equal. 

Luckily, you have a substantial assortment to choose from:

• SEA Sound Emission Analyzer
• Multi-Instrument
• GoldWave
• Audacity
• SpectraPLUS-SC
• Tadaria
• Reaper

For Android devices:

• Bat Recorder
• USB Audio Recorder Pro
• Audio Evolution Mobile Studio

For iOS:

• Ultrasonic Analyzer

As far as mounting goes, I've had satisfactory results when hand holding the Mic - However, the unit is sensitive enough to pick up sounds of even small movements of the hand that's holding it. 

The unit doesn't have a built-in tripod socket; but since it's so incredibly light (and small) there are nearly endless options for temporary mounting locations: All that is required is some good quality masking tape & your imagination.

Again, the Ultramic 384K Evo is not waterproof, so here we're discussing mounting in areas where you can keep an eye on it. For relatively "long-term" recordings, your only real limitations are:

• Your supply of expendable memory/hard drive space.
• The length of time of good weather.
• And how willing you are to search/sort through the considerable amount of recordings later.

I believe there would be a fair number of Ecologists, and those involved in Bioacoustics who would be interested in using this USB microphone.

For instance, it would be ideal for someone who:

• Needs to record both audible and ultrasounds simultaneously. 
• Is ready to move on from all-in-one detectors.
• Requires comparisons of recordings between smartphone and laptop.
• Prefers to have recordings saved directly to a laptop for analysis and processing, etc.

Not long ago, I wrote a post about how I wanted to record mammals heard in my area; at a distance...I was hearing both Foxes and Coyotes vocalizing at night.

I wondered what the best option would be in my situation. The sounds seemed to be originating from between 50 to 150 meters away.

I considered a good digital recorder, along with a fairly good-performing shotgun microphone.

Luckily, it wasn't very long before I received the Dodotronic Ultramic - And realized that it had the potential to capture the sounds I wanted.

I have made several good recordings of our local owls: Barred owls (

, as well as a couple of (as yet unidentified) woodland animals. Sadly, I haven't had the opportunity to record the original mammals I was after.

But, I should still have time...

One of the advantages to keep in mind, when comparing this Ultramic 384K Evo to a shotgun microphone - is the ability to drastically adjust the Ultramic's gain settings. When experimenting with the higher 2 (of the 4) settings, it's easy to overload the device (and cause clipping). 

With more experimentation (combinations) of both hardware and software gain settings, a good balance can be reached.

One where: There's enough gain to properly pull-in/record the distant animal sounds; without any overloading, or clipping of the signals.

Another situation where Dodotronic microphones would excel would be in controlled laboratory environments. 

It is extremely accurate when it reproduces sound. At this time, I've only uploaded 2 recordings to The SoundCloud site - I hope to add more soon:

Here is a non-amplified recording, made with the 384K Evo, of Barred Owls at about 100+ feet distant.

Here is another non-amplified recording, made with the Evo, of what I believe is (possibly) a Whippoorwill (a common night bird in NE United States) at about 100 feet distant.

Pros:

• Records audible and ultrasonic sounds simultaneously. 
• Relatively low-cost (List price on Dodotronic's site: 220 Euros).
• Super portable - Box containing Mic and Directional Horn can fit in almost any pocket.
• Substantial assortment of software available to choose from.

Cons:

• Must be tethered to a computing device.
• Not waterproof/weather resistant. 
• Only one software option available for iOS phone users. 

You may order an Ultramic 384K Evo directly from the Dodotronic website; and I was able to find just a few Dealers who stock it (all in Europe).

I plan to add more to this review - It is a work in progress...

Until next time, Happy bat detecting!

The Song Meter Micro - From Wildlife Acoustics - Another Quick Look

The Song Meter Micro Revisited

A good, inexpensive, static recorder for recording Winter wildlife.

So, in addition to taking this Winter/down time to analyse all the bat recordings we've accumulated, what else are we doing?

Well, if you're like me, you also don't want to miss any neat wildlife sounds still occurring during the cold weather; but how?

Unattended sound recorders like The Micro, are a big help in such situations. Primarily, because of their customizable features. 

First we must consider a couple of factors... Such as where you live, and whether or not you have access to areas where wildlife vocalize. As for urban wildlife sound hobbyists - I have not forgotten you! Nor, have I forgotten how difficult it can be, to capture clean recordings of animal sounds. It's not easy while living in/or close to a city - but it certainly can be done!

In my particular situation, at the start of this Winter, I've had occasions when I could hear coyotes (and sometimes foxes) vocalizing at night. By my estimation, I would say their location was at least 100 meters away. 

I immediately started thinking: how am I going to capture these sounds? I'll run down the thought processes I went through:

• Get a shotgun microphone?
• An inexpensive (affordable) field recorder using it's built-in (X-Y) microphones?
• Maybe a good field recorder with a shotgun?
• Possibly a good-quality trail cam?

Enter The Micro!

Yes, there are other options out there as well...but we won't be discussing them at this time.

Note: The Song Meter Micro's Quick Start is located right at the beginning of the User Manual.  

I have written a full review of The Song Meter Micro, which may be read Here. Perhaps of even greater interest: There is also a full, webinar/presentation review of this unit; viewable to Members of The BatAbility Club.

Also note:

• The Micro allows a wide range of recording schedules/flexibility. 
• Wildlife Acoustics has excellent Customer Service & online resources available.
• Wildlife Acoustics provides a handful of silica gel packs with the unit.

The next review (coming soon) will be of the recently released book 'A Miscellany Of Bats'

Followed by a review of The TeensyBat (Ver. 4.1) DIY bat detector. Webinar/presentation review is already up and available to members of The BatAbility Club.

Until then,

Happy sound recording!

A Quick Review of the book: 'Is That A Bat?' by Neil Middleton

Book Review: 'Is That A Bat?' by Neil Middleton

'Is That a Bat?' is a book which intrigued me since I first learned of it (probably while pursuing books on the NHBS site).

Okay, I decided to just simply google: is that a bat by Neil Middleton

Exactly as it reads above, with no capitalization, and no question mark, just to see what would happen. The 1st link listed is of the same title, from 'goodreads' where it states "5/5" (Rating).

Below that, is the link to the publisher Pelagicpublishing.com And below that, is the link to the book on amazon.

Some details:

The complete title of the book is: Is That A Bat? A Guide to Non-Bat Sounds Encountered During Bat Surveys 

It is available in paperback, or e-book (electronic) format. It was published on January 6, 2020. It is 288 pages in length, with 257 figures (illustrations), and 36 tables. 

It features 7 chapters: 3 appendices, a glossary, references, and an index.

It measures 234 x 156mm and weighs 650 grams.

I may be getting a little ahead of myself here, but this is how the table of contents reads:

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
The Sound Library
1. Well, what on earth could it be?
2. Terrestrial mammals
3. Birds
4. Amphibians
5. Insects
6. Electronic and mechanical
7. Weather, people and other nuisances
Appendix 1 Supporting figures and tables
Appendix 2 Problem solving
Appendix 3 Additional resources
Glossary
References
Index

The price varies a bit depending on where you order from, and especially which format you choose; but NHBS currently has the paperback, in stock and available for only £34.99

This book would be quite suitable for a range of readers: Anyone from a hobbyist or citizen scientist, all the way up to professional bat workers and researchers - There is something of interest for anyone who works with bat detectors.

...Now, once I got myself (an electronic) copy, and started to look through it - Wow! I realised straight away that this review might not be so quick and easy:

Not only is there a lot of great info packed into this book; but when you buy a copy, you get access to on online sound library! (via the publishers site). I had no idea, and was pleasantly surprised by this. 

Several of the first sounds & spectrograms, are presented in a quiz/self-test format. This thoughtful inclusion helps make this book a real learning experience.

The next thing that dawned on me, was this book would also be excellent for those involved in wildlife sound recording in general. Definitely a nice cross reference, which is also pleasant to read. As I continued reading, I found myself thinking about getting my own recording equipment out...I eventually did in fact!

When visiting the dealers websites, you will commonly see some sample pages of the book made available, as a preview. The Author uses graphs, and other useful illustrations. As well as some very useful spectrograms & screenshots of various recordings. These were made using Pettersson's BatSound software (from Pettersson Elektronik). 

I found the illustrations to be lovely.

What I liked: 

• A very thorough book!

• Well written, and put together in a logical progression.

• Along with it's online sound library, it is reminiscent of having a course in wildlife sound recording.

I enjoyed 'Chapter 5 Insects', the order orthoptera was discussed (which includes crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers). As a long time fan of singing insects, I liked the included oscillograms  & spectrograms. As well as the concise facts shared about each species mentioned. 

This treatment is repeated when the subject of amphibians is covered, as well as: Small and large terrestrial mammals, birds, and rodents. To a lesser extent (for obvious reasons) even 'Electronic and Mechanical' sounds are touched on in Chapter 6. Very interesting stuff!

I was also happy to see the appendices (neat stuff), and suggestions for further reading. In Appendix 3 for instance, the Author shares some very neat websites.

Considering the wide range of acoustic subjects covered: mainly the animals which are also recorded while one is focusing on bats - This book would be great for anyone venturing into the field - both figuratively and literally!

Without a doubt, anyone who intends to record bats in their natural environment, would do well with a copy of this book. You may also be interested, in seeing the assortment of books dealing with bats, currently offered by Pelagic Publishing here.

Until next time (when we'll be discussing bat detectors), 

Happy bat detecting!