<p>I would highly recommend the Rode i-XY stereo microphone for casual field recording. Although I haven't used BirdNET, I would be fairly confident that the Rode microphone would be compatible.</p>
<p><a href="https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/i-xy" rel="noreferrer">https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/i-xy</a></p>
<p>Generally speaking, I've found it to be a highly versatile mic interface and Rycote manufacture a windjammer specifically for the model.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-13T23:24:44.567Z
2022-07-13T23:24:44.567Z
Tristan Louth-Robins
<p>Echometers by Wildlife Bioacoustics is a great smartphone extension for recording and identifying bat species.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/products/echo-meter-touch-2-android-2" rel="noreferrer">ECHO METER TOUCH 2 FOR ANDROID (USB-C)</a>- <strong>$179.00</strong> [Sampling rate-256k]</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/products/echo-meter-touch-2-pro-android-2" rel="noreferrer">ECHO METER TOUCH 2 PRO FOR ANDROID (USB-C)</a> - <strong>$349.00</strong> [Sampling rate up to 384k @16bits]</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/products/echo-meter-touch-2-pro-ios" rel="noreferrer">ECHO METER TOUCH 2 PRO FOR IOS</a>- <strong>$349.00</strong> [Sampling rate up to 384k @16bits]</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/LXlf9.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/LXlf9.png" alt="Image courtesy - www.wildlifeacoustics.com" /></a></p>
<p>You can also use RØDE VideoMic GO for general recording.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/IMILy.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/IMILy.png" alt="Image courtesy www.macaulaylibrary.org" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-14T08:17:05.747Z
2022-07-14T08:47:39.363Z
2022-07-14T08:47:39.363Z
Sougata Sadhukhan
<p>You can take a look to Ultramics:
<a href="http://www.dodotronic.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">www.dodotronic.com</a>
you can record both audio and ultrasound at the same time</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-18T13:27:19.690Z
2022-07-18T13:27:19.690Z
Ivano Pelicella
<p>I would like to get a better microphone for my smartphone for recording wildlife around my home and when out camping. <a href="https://bioacoustics.stackexchange.com/q/214/42">This question</a> asked about very inexpensive accessories, but in this case, I am willing to spend some money (maybe up to $100 USD if that is even reasonable?)</p>
<p><strong>I am looking for recommendations for a casual user-grade microphone that would be an improvement over the factory/base one that comes with phones.</strong> I'm open to opinions on directional or not for this sort of application. I would primarily like it for bird sounds, but there are also bats in the area, so if I'm going to invest in one, being able to record bats as well would be a bonus. (I know from this <a href="https://bioacoustics.stackexchange.com/a/231/42">answer</a> the Wildlife Acoustics EchoMeter Touch is an option for bats specifically but that is more narrow of an application than I'm looking for).</p>
<p>I have an iPhone 12, so specifically an looking for recommendations for mics that would be compatible with that, but I left the question as general for smartphones since I'm sure people will have had experience with other devices and I might be able to find an adapter to use one of those.</p>
<p><strong>Edit</strong> (following @WMXZ comment):</p>
<ul>
<li>I plan to record with the phone either using <a href="https://birdnet.cornell.edu/" rel="noreferrer">BirdNET</a> or using the SpectrumView app for iOS (at least to start - other app ideas <a href="https://bioacoustics.stackexchange.com/a/621/42">here</a>).</li>
<li>I am assuming these apps will allow me to integrate with an external microphone. I'm assuming this because:</li>
</ul>
<p>(1) my wireless headphones have a built in mic and I'm able to make phone calls from them,</p>
<p>(2) for BirdNET specifically, I believe this is possible because I vaguely recall a discussion about this when I was working at the Cornell lab (but cannot remember any of the suggestions!) and</p>
<p>(3) there appear to be lots of relatively inexpensive external microphones available for social media type purposes. A quick Amazon search pulled up lots of hits, which was very overwhelming and is why I in part was looking to this community for feedback! I am guessing most of those mics are meant for human speech and hearing so might not be best for bioacoustics. I found this <a href="https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1079351-REG/zoom_iq6_stereo_x_y_microphone.html/?ap=y&amp;ap=y&amp;smp=y&amp;smp=y&amp;lsft=BI%3A514&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw2rmWBhB4EiwAiJ0mtYJJW-cHBO46M86zaGlKTJ6FZI1nwTGD8PEMceCnkBu7Dtg206s5zRoCgsYQAvD_BwE" rel="noreferrer">Zoom brand one</a> which I actually think might be a great option for birds; BUT, the sampling rate is only 48 kHz, so no bats.</p>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/jfwm/article/12/1/163/464074/Remote-Ecological-Monitoring-with-Smartphones-and" rel="noreferrer">Donovan et al. 2021 paper &quot;Remote Ecological Monitoring with Smartphones and Tasker&quot;</a> given in <a href="https://meridian.allenpress.com/jfwm/article/12/1/163/464074/Remote-Ecological-Monitoring-with-Smartphones-and" rel="noreferrer">this answer</a> has really great detail about setting up an Android phone to do longer term monitoring, but the microphone they used looked like they had to solder/wire it up themselves.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-13T18:46:03.173Z
could you specify how you wanted to interface with phone? Are there apps available that allow external devices?
WMXZ
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-13T19:56:38.657Z
Good question...I just assumed yes since my wireless earbuds have a microphone and that works....will look into that and add to the question
selene
<recording><microphone><hardware><smartphone><recommendations>
Recommendations for external microphone for smartphone for casual recordings (birds, frogs, bats if possible?)
# Recommendations for external microphone for smartphone for casual recordings (birds, frogs, bats if possible?)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-13)

I would like to get a better microphone for my smartphone for recording wildlife around my home and when out camping. [This question](https://bioacoustics.stackexchange.com/q/214/42) asked about very inexpensive accessories, but in this case, I am willing to spend some money (maybe up to $100 USD if that is even reasonable?)

**I am looking for recommendations for a casual user-grade microphone that would be an improvement over the factory/base one that comes with phones.** I'm open to opinions on directional or not for this sort of application. I would primarily like it for bird sounds, but there are also bats in the area, so if I'm going to invest in one, being able to record bats as well would be a bonus. (I know from this [answer](https://bioacoustics.stackexchange.com/a/231/42) the Wildlife Acoustics EchoMeter Touch is an option for bats specifically but that is more narrow of an application than I'm looking for).

I have an iPhone 12, so specifically an looking for recommendations for mics that would be compatible with that, but I left the question as general for smartphones since I'm sure people will have had experience with other devices and I might be able to find an adapter to use one of those.

**Edit** (following @username_1 comment):

* I plan to record with the phone either using [BirdNET](https://birdnet.cornell.edu/) or using the SpectrumView app for iOS (at least to start - other app ideas [here](https://bioacoustics.stackexchange.com/a/621/42)).
* I am assuming these apps will allow me to integrate with an external microphone. I'm assuming this because:

(1) my wireless headphones have a built in mic and I'm able to make phone calls from them,

(2) for BirdNET specifically, I believe this is possible because I vaguely recall a discussion about this when I was working at the Cornell lab (but cannot remember any of the suggestions!) and

(3) there appear to be lots of relatively inexpensive external microphones available for social media type purposes. A quick Amazon search pulled up lots of hits, which was very overwhelming and is why I in part was looking to this community for feedback! I am guessing most of those mics are meant for human speech and hearing so might not be best for bioacoustics. I found this [Zoom brand one](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1079351-REG/zoom_iq6_stereo_x_y_microphone.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=CjwKCAjw2rmWBhB4EiwAiJ0mtYJJW-cHBO46M86zaGlKTJ6FZI1nwTGD8PEMceCnkBu7Dtg206s5zRoCgsYQAvD_BwE) which I actually think might be a great option for birds; BUT, the sampling rate is only 48 kHz, so no bats.

* The [Donovan et al. 2021 paper "Remote Ecological Monitoring with Smartphones and Tasker"](https://meridian.allenpress.com/jfwm/article/12/1/163/464074/Remote-Ecological-Monitoring-with-Smartphones-and) given in [this answer](https://meridian.allenpress.com/jfwm/article/12/1/163/464074/Remote-Ecological-Monitoring-with-Smartphones-and) has really great detail about setting up an Android phone to do longer term monitoring, but the microphone they used looked like they had to solder/wire it up themselves.

**Tags:** recording, microphone, hardware, smartphone, recommendations

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: could you specify how you wanted to interface with phone? Are there apps available that allow external devices?  
> **username_0**: Good question...I just assumed yes since my wireless earbuds have a microphone and that works....will look into that and add to the question  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-07-13. Score: 9

I would highly recommend the Rode i-XY stereo microphone for casual field recording. Although I haven't used BirdNET, I would be fairly confident that the Rode microphone would be compatible.

<https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/i-xy>

Generally speaking, I've found it to be a highly versatile mic interface and Rycote manufacture a windjammer specifically for the model.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-07-14. Score: 7

Echometers by Wildlife Bioacoustics is a great smartphone extension for recording and identifying bat species.

[ECHO METER TOUCH 2 FOR ANDROID (USB-C)](https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/products/echo-meter-touch-2-android-2)- **$179.00** [Sampling rate-256k]

[ECHO METER TOUCH 2 PRO FOR ANDROID (USB-C)](https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/products/echo-meter-touch-2-pro-android-2) - **$349.00** [Sampling rate up to 384k @16bits]

[ECHO METER TOUCH 2 PRO FOR IOS](https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/products/echo-meter-touch-2-pro-ios)- **$349.00** [Sampling rate up to 384k @16bits]

[![Image courtesy - www.wildlifeacoustics.com](https://i.sstatic.net/LXlf9.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/LXlf9.png)

You can also use RØDE VideoMic GO for general recording.

[![Image courtesy www.macaulaylibrary.org](https://i.sstatic.net/IMILy.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/IMILy.png)


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### Answer by username_4 on 2022-07-18. Score: 3

You can take a look to Ultramics:
[www.dodotronic.com](http://www.dodotronic.com)
you can record both audio and ultrasound at the same time


---

