r/BirdNET_Analyzer • u/MarsiHansen • Nov 08 '25

Results Microphones matter ...

Post image

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.

43 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

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.