Bird recording equipment setup

My complete bird recording gear setup.

Equipment summary

This is the current equipment setup I am using with my shotgun microphone. The basic idea of components remains the same regardless of specific equipment.

Component	Equipment	Notes
Microphone	Sennheiser ME67	No longer available. Consider MKE600 or look on eBay
Recorder	MixPre-3 II
Peripherals	K6 Power Module	Optional but saves battery draw on the recorder
	Rycote Shock Mount Grip
	Rycote Softie Windscreen	The fuzzier the better
	Over-the-ear headphones	Optional with this kind of microphone
	Angled XLR cable

Microphone

I originally selected this shotgun microphone after reading a guide from Audubon on recording bird songs. They have a fleet of these microphones in use. I like it for its directional sensitivity. It does a good job of filtering out ambient noise but not so much that a pair of headphones are required. The microphone can be powered by phantom draw (taking power from the recorder) or by using a K6 Power Module.

Shotgun microphone

Sennheiser ME67 and K6 power module

Type	Shotgun
Brand	Sennheiser
Model	ME67
Accessory	K6 Power Module

Recorder

Dedicated recorder

Sound Devices MixPre-3 II (a 32-bit float recorder)

This MixPre-3 II recorder by Sound Devices is an amazing piece of technology. Its ability to record in a format called 32-bit float allows you to not have to set gain levels while recording and prevents bird song audio files from clipping if they are unexpectedly loud.

Handheld recorder

Zoom H4N Pro handheld recorder

Type	Omnidirectional handheld
Brand	Zoom
Model	H4N Pro