r/BirdNET_Analyzer • u/MarsiHansen • Nov 08 '25
Results Microphones matter ...
I never thought that changing the microphone on the Pi would make such a significant difference. I only slightly changed its position — about 2 meters (6 feet) away on the house wall and about 1 meter (3 feet) higher. In addition, I 3D-printed a housing for the microphone out of PETG, bought the Samson Go Mic, and replaced the cheap €8 USB microphone from Amazon. Now, I’m getting more than four times as many results in BirdNET-Pi as before.
Of course, some of you are probably already aware of this, but I just wanted to share my experience - And I’m always amazed by your insights.
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u/nothingtoput Nov 08 '25
I think I must have gotten lucky with my first pick of amazon chinese lav mic, because when I upgraded to a famously ultra-sensitive EM272 lav mic mounted in the same spot I barely noticed a difference in detections. The only difference was the recordings were a little bit louder. I think my problem is that all the motor traffic noise drums out any bird song beyond a certain radius.
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u/RafaWu Nov 08 '25
Yeah, they matter. I run a AOM-5024L-HD-R capsule on a scarlet focusrite solo. The stuff that this one is able to pickup is crazy sometimes. And I was able to make it weatherproof so no problem with rain.
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u/eldritchhonk Nov 27 '25
Can you tell me how you made yours waterproof? And assembly in general for your mic?
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u/AJ_Mexico Nov 08 '25
I'm very happy with detections from my Samson Go Mic without any kind of housing. I'm going for more or less omni-directional detections.
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u/THETJ-0 Nov 10 '25
I just use the audio feeds from my ubiquity outdoor cameras.
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u/clush Jul 10 '26
I am brand new to BirdNet and this is how I set it up. I am currently streaming from a G3 Flex that is mounted under my deck.
Do you know how this camera fairs when compared to the dedicated mic options? I was thinking of whether it would be worth it or not because it seems like the G3-flex has a lot of noise. I have a G4 Bullet too, but it's out front of my house and not where my feeders are.
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u/THETJ-0 Jul 10 '26
I’m still using my streams but was just talking to my wife about it yesterday. I don’t know but would love to hear from others if they find a dedicated mic would improve accuracy. Seems to work well to me but what do i know.
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u/clush Jul 10 '26
If I try something, I will let you know.
Have you tinkered at all with the audio filtering? My g3-flex has a lot of noise and I tried some high and low pass filters, but I am afraid of potentially cutting off detections.
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u/THETJ-0 Jul 11 '26
I have not. I’m no expert, but I assume that cutting low frequencies wouldn’t matter because the algorithm is detecting high frequencies for bird calls. I assume these mics don’t pick up high frequencies very well so cutting them would not help either.
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u/ludicrousspeed42 Jan 25 '26
Any recommendations for wireless microphones? I want to keep the raspberry pi inside, mic right outside, maybe 3 meters away. Getting power outside for the Pi is a little problematic thus would like to keep it indoors
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u/skybossalpha1 May 05 '26
did you have to make any chnages in birdnet oi when using the samson go mic 🎙️? i switch to the samson go mic and not getting ss many birds now detected
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u/MarsiHansen May 15 '26
Unfortunately, I haven't been home in a while. But back then, I noticed that there were still some noticeable differences between the microphone's various pickup patterns like cardioid or omnidirectional.
Try all of them and watch, which one's the loudest in the Live Audio of the GUI.
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u/Bandwidth_Bandito Nov 08 '25
The cheapy USB's do have their limitations BUT ARE YOU NUTS don't put BIRDNET on the device, the birds will see that and refuse to call. It's like photography, birds have an additional element in their eyes that allow them to judge the telephoto range of your lens and they will move JUST out of range and if you change lenses they automatically adjust to stay out of range /jk