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snoozefestaudioThe device used to record Snoozefest tracks is a Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, running an app called, Field Recorder.
When I started Snoozefest, it was still my main phone, but a couple years later I got an S10, so now the S8 is a single purpose device, dedicated only to recording audio.
I had my doubts, at first, about whether the microphones were good enough. The short answer is, yes they are!
The most striking example I have right now, is the difference between, Tue Thunder 2, and Jun Thunder Jove (both embedded below).
Both were recorded with the S8, but Tue Thunder 2, recorded in 2018, sounds a lot more, "canny," while Jun Thunder Jove, recorded in 2021, is crystal clear.
Same app. Same device. But the big difference was one of technique.
For Tue Thunder 2, I put the phone on a window ledge, facing a screen, and shut the glass paned sash behind it. The idea was, it'll pick up all the outdoor sounds, but it won't get the indoor sounds. Which was true. But the mikes are actually so good that they picked up the, "reflection" from that closed window behind them.
By 2021, I started using a new technique, where the S8 sat on a tripod in front of the open window, and was free to pick up sound exactly as your ears would, if you were standing in front of an open window. I just have to be a LOT quieter... because they WILL pick up anything!
When I record a storm now, I have to mute my phone and my watch, unplug the minifridge, and take the battery out of my analog wall clock... because they will pick up even that ticking... unless the rain is just pouring down.
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I'll share a few more examples of how sensitive the mikes can be, below, but the other big technique that improved the sound quality, was just switching from MP3 format to FLAC format, as the way the files are compressed.
Field Recorder records in WAV format, which is very high definition. And for stuff like music, MP3 is a great compression format to get the file size down to a few Meg. But cricket and rain recordings are not music, and they do sound, "lossy," when converted to MP3.
But FLAC is a lossless format, and the result sounds more or less identical to the original WAV file.
Anyway, back to the mike testing anecdotes...
------------{=0=}------------
One of my first clues that the mikes were actually great was back in 2018 recording crickets outside, and then I'd listen back to the track and hear this crackling sound. Just this... crinkly... crackly sound in one ear or the other... with occasional pops... loud ticks.
I thought for sure, something was wrong with one of the microphones. It was frying out or something. This wasn't going to work! But as a test I did recordings inside, for spans of several minutes... and the crackling was gone!
Long story short, the mikes were picking up some kind of beetle, or bug down in the grass! Some kind of bug that was scratching at stuff, or munching, or I dunno what! But in one recording, when the phone was actually laying in the grass, on the ground... that bug came up to the S8 and started scratching at the phone case! And it was super loud!
Because of the scratchy bug, I started to put the S8 higher up... first on a lawn chair... then on a tripod... and eventually on a tripod, sitting on the old jungle gym, which gets the best results... but it does still pick up scratchy bug from time to time, and I have to edit him out.
------------{=0=}------------
Another test they passed was... I used to hear this kind of washy, white noise in the distance that would come and go. I'd hear it for a minute or two, and then it would clear up.
I thought the problem was that microphones couldn't resolve super distant sounds, so they were just getting confused from time to time, and interpreting the collective sonic wash in the distance as... a kind of washy white noise. And then they'd regain their focus and it would clear up.
But testing revealed that, in fact it was picking up the air conditioner condenser fans of my neighbors houses! The mikes could hear those condenser fans kicking on and off from... a good hundred feet away!
Similarly, they would pick up the slight hum of a neighbor's back yard flood light, which was on a motion sensor, and so would turn on from time to time and then turn back off.
------------{=0=}------------
So, they are extremely sensitive mikes that don't lie. If a window is closed behind them... you hear that glass. If a bug is scratching, a clock is ticking, or a flood light is buzzing... you hear it.
And they're also great at resolving distant sounds, like, Speeder! One of the reasons I love Speeder, is that you can hear him speed waaaaay off into the distance... and speed around in the distance... before coming closer again.
The S8 is a solid field recorder, and the quality of the recordings is all on me... to situate it properly... lanscape the yard... use the right compression format... and other techniques I've yet to discover and develop.
The only thing I would put on the listener is... it's better in headphones... but wireless headphones are all garbage!
°¦}
COMPARE TUE THUNDER 2, TO JUN THUNDER JOVE
SPEEDER IN THE DISTANCE, 2020
When I started Snoozefest, it was still my main phone, but a couple years later I got an S10, so now the S8 is a single purpose device, dedicated only to recording audio.
I had my doubts, at first, about whether the microphones were good enough. The short answer is, yes they are!
The most striking example I have right now, is the difference between, Tue Thunder 2, and Jun Thunder Jove (both embedded below).
Both were recorded with the S8, but Tue Thunder 2, recorded in 2018, sounds a lot more, "canny," while Jun Thunder Jove, recorded in 2021, is crystal clear.
Same app. Same device. But the big difference was one of technique.
For Tue Thunder 2, I put the phone on a window ledge, facing a screen, and shut the glass paned sash behind it. The idea was, it'll pick up all the outdoor sounds, but it won't get the indoor sounds. Which was true. But the mikes are actually so good that they picked up the, "reflection" from that closed window behind them.
By 2021, I started using a new technique, where the S8 sat on a tripod in front of the open window, and was free to pick up sound exactly as your ears would, if you were standing in front of an open window. I just have to be a LOT quieter... because they WILL pick up anything!
When I record a storm now, I have to mute my phone and my watch, unplug the minifridge, and take the battery out of my analog wall clock... because they will pick up even that ticking... unless the rain is just pouring down.
I'll share a few more examples of how sensitive the mikes can be, below, but the other big technique that improved the sound quality, was just switching from MP3 format to FLAC format, as the way the files are compressed.
Field Recorder records in WAV format, which is very high definition. And for stuff like music, MP3 is a great compression format to get the file size down to a few Meg. But cricket and rain recordings are not music, and they do sound, "lossy," when converted to MP3.
But FLAC is a lossless format, and the result sounds more or less identical to the original WAV file.
Anyway, back to the mike testing anecdotes...
One of my first clues that the mikes were actually great was back in 2018 recording crickets outside, and then I'd listen back to the track and hear this crackling sound. Just this... crinkly... crackly sound in one ear or the other... with occasional pops... loud ticks.
I thought for sure, something was wrong with one of the microphones. It was frying out or something. This wasn't going to work! But as a test I did recordings inside, for spans of several minutes... and the crackling was gone!
Long story short, the mikes were picking up some kind of beetle, or bug down in the grass! Some kind of bug that was scratching at stuff, or munching, or I dunno what! But in one recording, when the phone was actually laying in the grass, on the ground... that bug came up to the S8 and started scratching at the phone case! And it was super loud!
Because of the scratchy bug, I started to put the S8 higher up... first on a lawn chair... then on a tripod... and eventually on a tripod, sitting on the old jungle gym, which gets the best results... but it does still pick up scratchy bug from time to time, and I have to edit him out.
Another test they passed was... I used to hear this kind of washy, white noise in the distance that would come and go. I'd hear it for a minute or two, and then it would clear up.
I thought the problem was that microphones couldn't resolve super distant sounds, so they were just getting confused from time to time, and interpreting the collective sonic wash in the distance as... a kind of washy white noise. And then they'd regain their focus and it would clear up.
But testing revealed that, in fact it was picking up the air conditioner condenser fans of my neighbors houses! The mikes could hear those condenser fans kicking on and off from... a good hundred feet away!
Similarly, they would pick up the slight hum of a neighbor's back yard flood light, which was on a motion sensor, and so would turn on from time to time and then turn back off.
So, they are extremely sensitive mikes that don't lie. If a window is closed behind them... you hear that glass. If a bug is scratching, a clock is ticking, or a flood light is buzzing... you hear it.
And they're also great at resolving distant sounds, like, Speeder! One of the reasons I love Speeder, is that you can hear him speed waaaaay off into the distance... and speed around in the distance... before coming closer again.
The S8 is a solid field recorder, and the quality of the recordings is all on me... to situate it properly... lanscape the yard... use the right compression format... and other techniques I've yet to discover and develop.
The only thing I would put on the listener is... it's better in headphones... but wireless headphones are all garbage!
°¦}
