My Dream Field Recorder…Doesn’t Exist
Presently, there are no field recorders on the market I’m wild about.
Certainly, there are some good options available like the Zoom F3 and Sound Devices MixPre II series, but none are ideal for nature field recording.
Moreover, the king of portable field recorders, the Sony D-100, has been discontinued since 2021 with no substitute to take its place.
For these reasons, combined with the drawbacks I experience daily as a professional nature sound recording artist, I’d like to introduce you to the field recorder of my dreams.
Maybe someone will read this and make one…
Introducing the Forest Seeker Pro
Embark on an auditory adventure like never before with the Forest Seeker Pro, a meticulously crafted field recorder designed to capture the quiet wonders of the natural world. Elevate your recording experience with a suite of advanced features, ensuring every nuance of nature's tranquility is captured with unparalleled clarity.
Features:
Ultra-Quiet Microphone Preamplifiers: Dive into the heart of silence with the Forest Seeker Pro's ultra-quiet microphone preamplifiers boasting an impressive -130dBu equivalent input noise (EIN). Immerse yourself in the pure sounds of nature, free from unwanted noise.
Versatile Microphone Inputs: Adapt to your surroundings effortlessly with x2 XLR-1/4" TRS microphone inputs. Whether you choose condenser mics, contact mics, or hydrophones, the Forest Seeker Pro ensures compatibility with a diverse range of recording options.
Distortion-Free 32-Bit Float Technology: Capture the delicate nuances of nature with pristine clarity using the Forest Seeker Pro's 32-bit float technology. Experience distortion-free audio that faithfully reproduces the intricate details of your environment.
Rugged Aluminum Body with IP65 Weather Sealing: Built for the elements, the Forest Seeker Pro features a robust aluminum body with IP65 weather sealing (when used with Neutrik X-HD connectors). Rain or ocean spray, your recorder stands up to the challenge, allowing you to capture nature's moments without hesitation.
Intuitive 3 x 1" Color LCD: Take command of your recordings with ease using the 3 x 1" color LCD. Choose between daylight readable (black & white) and amber light display modes, each offering programmable brightness settings. Maintain control in any lighting condition, ensuring your focus remains on the beauty of your surroundings.
Spectrogram Display: Delve into the intricate details of your audio recordings with the Forest Seeker Pro's advanced spectrogram feature. This innovative tool visually represents the frequencies and amplitudes of live and recorded sounds, providing a comprehensive and intuitive way to analyze your audio landscape.
Identify sources of noise pollution invisible to the human ear. Make sure your wind protection is sufficient. Review unattended drop rig recordings in the field, making fine-tune adjustments to the position/location of your mics without the need to return to your computer.
Advanced Scheduled Recording Function: Efficiency meets innovation with the Forest Seeker Pro's programmable recording schedule. Set multiple recording intervals per 24-hour period or sync your Forest Seeker Pro to your locale using the “Dawn Chorus” function allowing the recorder to initiate recordings automatically and save on battery life. Never miss a moment, even when you're away. Ideal for bird enthusiasts, professionals, or researchers.
Specifications:
Portable Recorder
| Number of Tracks | 2 |
| Number of Microphone Inputs | 2 |
| Maximum Sampling Rate | 192 kHz / 32-Bit |
| Display | 3 x 1.5" Color LCD |
| Touchscreen | No |
| Memory Card Support | CFE (32GB-2TB) SDXC (64GB to 2TB) |
| Internal Storage | 128GB |
| Built-In Speaker | No |
| Built-In Microphone | No |
| Special Features | • Spectrogram • Display: Daylight Readable, Amber, and Drop Rig Modes • Programmable Recording Timer |
Recording
| Audio File Formats | WAV, FLAC |
| Sample Rates | 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 192 kHz |
| Bit Depth | 32-Bit (Floating Point) |
| Signal Processing | Low-Cut Filters |
| Timecode Support | No |
| Included Software | No |
Connectivity
| Analog I/O | • 2x Combo XLR-1/4" TRS Female Balanced/Unbalanced Line/Mic Input • 1x 1/8" / 3.5 mm TRS Female Unbalanced Line/Mic Input • 1x 1/8" / 3.5 mm TRS Female Unbalanced Line Output • 1x 1/8" / 3.5 mm TRS Female Unbalanced Headphone Output |
| Digital I/O | No |
| Phantom Power | +24 / 48 V (Selectable on Individual Inputs) |
| Plug-In-Power | Yes, 5 V |
| System Connection | x1 USB-C |
Performance
| Frequency Response | 10 Hz to 80 kHz ±0.5 dB (at 192 kHz) |
| Gain/Trim Range | • Mic Inputs: + 6 dB to + 76 dB • Mic/Aux Inputs: +10 dB to + 40 dB |
| Headphone Output Power | 300 mW per Channel |
| Dynamic Range | 142 dB |
| Impedance | 4k ohm (Active-Balanced, Line Level, Mic Level) |
| THD+N | -10 dBu (0.005%) |
| Equivalent Input Noise (EIN) | 130 dBu, 150 ohm source, A-weighted filter |
Power
| Power Options | USB Bus Power, AC/DC Power Adapter |
| AC/DC Power Adapter | 5 VDC |
So What Does It Look Like?
I am in love with the look, feel, and function of the Sound Devices 702.
To me, the Forest Seeker Pro is a clone of the 702 with the following changes:
Spectrogram display
32-bit float
Larger display
Amber (night) lighting mode
Weather sealing
Scheduled recordings
Internal storage (like the 722)
Updated I/O to modern standards
Features Explained
This section provides further details about the features that are most important to me.
Spectrogram
To me, this is the flagship feature.
Having a spectral view would be immensely helpful and extremely cool.
Detect Noise Pollution
Sometimes, I’ve recorded a landscape that I thought was quiet. I was unable to detect any noise pollution with my ears and while monitoring with the gain cranked.
However, when I got home and loaded the sounds into Izotope RX’s spectral editor, it was immediately obvious that the landscape was not pure.
Having a spectrogram in the field would help detect these sources and immediately inform me if I’ve struck gold, or should seek silence elsewhere.
Review Drop Rigs in the Field
Additionally, a spectrogram would be useful for reviewing drop rig recordings while still in the field.
My present workflow with drop rig recordings is as follows.
Meticulously identify a location for my drop rig and start the recording.
Return 1-2 days later to retrieve drop rig.
Hike back to my car.
Drive to my office.
Review the recordings on Izotope RX spectrogram.
Take notes on adjustments I’d like to make.
Drive back to the field.
Hike to previous drop rig vicinity.
Make adjustments to the location/position of my microphones and start recording again.
If I had a spectral display in the field, this would greatly increase my efficiency and accuracy, resulting in better recordings for less work.
Detect Wind Leak
On windy days, it’s often difficult to tell if your microphones are sufficiently protected.
While monitoring live, the sound of the wind on headphones and their attached cables sounds identical to wind leak.
Wind leak is the low rumbling sound, often very loud, created by moving air directly contacting a microphone. I call it “wind leak” because despite your best efforts, the wind has gotten past your defenses (usually a furry windjammer and careful positioning within a landscape), and created this unwanted noise intruding on the natural soundscape.
Headphones and their cables are resonant. When the wind blows over them, the resulting vibrations are carried to the ear cups and you hear them.
I’ve tried using long XLR cables and even zipping my head into a sweater in an attempt to counteract this effect so I can truly hear what my microphones are capturing. However, these techniques rarely work.
You can use your audio levels to try and “see” if and when wind leak is occurring, but this isn’t entirely reliable since a strong gust of wind can be very loud, causing a natural spike in levels (without any wind leak).
Having a live spectrogram would immediately inform the user if their wind protection is adequate. Wind leak is very loud and would appear as bright spikes on the spectrogram.
I would love to be able to record wind without so much difficulty and uncertainty.
Important Spectrogram Features
Must have zoom function - individual files may be as long as an hour. On a small display, it will be difficult to see the necessary details. At minimum, I’d like to see duration zooming (x-axis zooming while still having the full frequency range visible). Y-axis zoom would be nice to help separate the frequencies and see more detail.
Must have adjustable magnitude - sometimes recordings are very quiet. Without adjusting the magnitude (dB values and their associated colors), it is difficult to discern any details from the spectral view.
Shortcuts for zoom and magnitude - these adjustments need to be made while viewing the spectrogram to eliminate “guess and check” (the painful process of navigating menu settings, making adjustments, and then backing out of the menu to see if the settings are good).
To elevate the user’s experience, these shortcuts should be made by turning a knob, rather than clicking buttons repetitively.
Future Possibilities
Introducing a spectrogram into a field recorder would pave the way for future recorders to have the ability to identify wildlife species.
There are already many apps and programs that can do this based on the spectral signatures of certain wildlife vocalizations (mainly birds and bats presently).
Display
I’ve used a lot of different field recorders:
Zoom H1n
Zoom H5
Zoom F3
Tascam DR-40
Tascam DR-05X
Olympus LS-10
Olympus LS-10S
Sound Devices 702
All of their displays have disappointed me in the field, primarily for night recordings.
Adjustable Brightness
Each of the field recorders on the list above (except Sound Devices 702) cannot adjust backlight brightness.
For recording nature sounds, this is unacceptable, intrusive, and potentially dangerous.
Imagine you’re alone in a remote wilderness at night. Miles away from any road and hours away from civilization, the landscape is alive with more sounds than you’ve ever noticed before.
Numerous species of frogs near the edge of a mountain pond sing their hearts out, melodic, haunting echos of whip-poor-wills bounce between the trees, fish jump and splash across the water, the organic, engine-like hum of a beetle brushes past your ear, barred owls greet with jovial lunacy, and the trill of innumerable crickets and other night insects surround you.
Inspired by the soundscape, you power on your recorder to capture the moment, but you’re blinded by the intrusive, blaring-white light of its display.
Not only does this sensory shock break the magic of the moment, it’s disorienting and you cannot move for fear of tripping until you’ve started the recording, navigated the menu to turn the backlight off, and waited several minutes for your eyes to readjust.
Not only is this experience unenjoyable, it also puts you at risk.
Not being able to see means you’re not able to react to any threats present in your environment. A threat can be as mild as a branch or rock underfoot, or as serious as a grizzly bear coming to check you out (which can move surprisingly quietly despite their size).
Although the grizzly encounter scenario is unlikely, my point is that interacting with current field recorders at night is an unsettling experience that can be partially solved by introducing backlight brightness settings.
Amber Mode
An “Amber Mode” would completely solve the night recording issue, when paired with adjustable brightness.
I’m sure you’re already familiar with this idea, and most devices already offer such.
Many computers and phones offer this feature to help reduce eye strain and make for more comfortable viewing in dark and low-light scenarios.
On the Forest Seeker Pro, the option to toggle between white and amber modes should be mapped to a dedicated button.
I’d also like to see fast access to brightness adjustments. My suggestion is to hold down the lighting mode button while turning the gain knob.
The Sound Devices 7-Series line of recorders has many such shortcuts.
Scheduled Recordings
Out of all the recorders I’ve used, only the Tascam DR-05X offers scheduled recordings.
I want the Forest Seeker Pro to have this ability with more advanced settings.
Ability to set multiple recording intervals per 24-hour period - for me, bird enthusiasts, and researchers, this feature would be extremely useful. It would allow you to selectively target intervals where desired species are most active and help extend battery life. You could potentially record for days before having to return to the field to swap the memory card and battery.
Sync to locale - Sync the Forest Seeker Pro to your specific location. The Forest Seeker Pro will record at your specified interval before sunrise and automatically adjust to changes in day length.
Internal Storage
Regrettably, there have been instances where I forgot to reinsert the SD card into my recorder after editing and before heading back to the field.
Trust me, there is no worse feeling as a nature field recordist than hiking several miles into a remote wilderness, finding a sound you’re excited about, powering up your recorder, and reading “No SD Card” on the display.
Having an internal memory would solve this issue.
With the advancements in compact storage, I think 128GB is realistic to ask for, but the more the better!
At 96kHz / 32-bit, 128GB is enough storage for ≈ 46 hours of audio. Enough for a multiday expedition.
While I appreciate the compactness of my Zoom F3, I’d sacrifice a little space and weight for this feature.
Power Modes
Drop Rig Mode
A “Drop Rig” is simply an unattended recorder and microphone(s). They’re useful when attempting to capture the sounds of secretive species, increasing your chances of a noise-pollution-free interval, and recording night ambiences while you sleep.
The Drop Rig Mode on the Forest Seeker Pro should turn off the display and all indicator lights. You’re not going to be there so this information is unnecessary, a waste of battery, and intrusive on the environment if the emanating light leaks out of your dry bag.
Scheduled Recording Mode
When using the timer function, the display and all LED lights should remain off while in “standby”. However, the Forest Seeker Pro must still draw power from the USB power bank while in “standby”. This should prevent the power bank from going into sleep mode and not sending power to the Forest Seeker Pro when it’s ready to start recording.
It would be great if the Forest Seeker Pro could reduce its voltage draw while in “standby” to maximize battery life and enable many days worth of recording (depending on programmed recording intervals).
I own a Tascam DR-05X and have the firmware update that allows for scheduled recordings. However, while in “standby” the display remains on and I see no increase in battery life. I get about 14 hours of battery life whether I’m recording for that entire duration, or if the DR-05X is in “standby” mode the whole time.
Conclusion
I know I sound like a greedy child with my extensive list of “wants”, but we’re talking about a dream here so why not dream big?
If you are inspired and capable of manufacturing such a device, feel free to contact me with any questions. I’d love to be a resource for the development of such a device.
The most important features for me are:
spectrogram view
-130dBu EIN (same as Sound Devices 7-Series)
dimmable display brightness
amber (night) mode
a really smooth gain knob
aluminum body
Fellow nature field recordists, have I missed anything? What features would your dream recorder have? Please let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading,
Jared
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