BlackRockBigfoot Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 10 hours ago, hiflier said: Been sort of testing these things out. The sound amplification is impressive. The fit is firm but not tight. And the ear cups are hinged so that they fold/rotate to nest inside of the headband. BRB, you mind reader you! I was just typing about the directional capabilities of the mics. Tomorrow I'm going to try them on reversed with the mics toward the back. I'm thinking eyes front, ears behind. It may not make a difference but I'll try anything. The idea here with getting them is to help take some of the time pressure off the thermal at camp. Plus, I probably won't have a dog on my next trip out so these might be the next best thing for early sound detection. I usually just keep an eye on my dog for advanced notification. I have been wanting a pair for a couple of decades but was always leery of damaging my ears with a sudden loud sound. These are perfect as a guard against that. And even though the first half millisecond before they kick in can come in loud at least it should be brief enough to help deter any hearing damage. These are part of a camp set up I have envisioned. I can hang out outside with these on and read or do whatever until I hear something. Then the thermal will come out. I'll have a trail cam watching the camp as well as having a NV device with optional IR capability if I wish to use it. I had also been looking at parabolic dishes and thought these would help simplify things in that department. and be directional as well. I've looked into whether or not I can record from them because of the enhanced volume level but I think that unless I jam a small recorder between the ear cups I'm kind of out of luck there. Worth testing though just to see.........or in this case, hear. I also like that they have an auto shut off after four hours. It will remind me to climb into the camper and get some sleep LOL. I have fired many rounds through an unsuppressed AR pistol wearing them and have never noticed a delay in when they kick in. You should be good to go. I could never figure out a way to record with them using the input jack. If you devise a way please let me know. 25 minutes ago, MIB said: Despite actually being able to hear better, wearing headphones in camp at night causes one of the most naked and exposed feelings you'll likely ever experience. I don't like it, don't like it a bit. MIB It does make you aware of every faint sound around you. It definitely takes some getting used to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, BlackRockBigfoot said: It does make you aware of every faint sound around you. It definitely takes some getting used to I have to say that is the point. Of course one doesn't have to have the volume wide open either. The volume control has large knurling that I could actually count to know how much would be comfortably enough. I don't need to hear a toad at 50 ft. LOL. The goal is heavy footfalls at say 30 yards give or take, and the direction that they might be at. The thermal and NV both are good out to 100 yds,, so 30-50 yards for good resolution is what I'm thinking of. Having a buddy walk heavily at different distances while I pay attention to different volume levels via the fingertip notches molded into the control knob would be helpful. That's why I purchased them this time of year. So I could experiment BEFORE I am at camp. Otherwise I would just turn the device up to the max........and end up just hiding in my trailer all night because everything sounds like T-Rex Thanks, BRB, that's good to know because in the past it was a risk I was unwilling to take. I should have guessed no one would buy these things if they didn't do what you said. I too thought about the audio input jack. I doubt recording is feasible except for the way I mentioned. Unless My electronics genius friend can tap in on one of the ear speaker circuits. That guy can do anything! But I'm not ready for such a mod at this time, even if it could work. Maybe after the warranty period is up. Edited January 7, 2020 by hiflier 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWind Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 2 hours ago, hiflier said: ... Unless My electronics genius friend can tap in on one of the ear speaker circuits. That guy can do anything! But I'm not ready for such a mod at this time, even if it could work. Maybe after the warranty period is up. Should be simple to add a small stereo output jack that could patch into a digital recorder. Or even patch it into a small transmitter so people back at "base" can listen in on a receiver and enjoy the ride from the comfort of the campfire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, NorthWind said: .........so people back at "base" can listen in on a receiver and enjoy the ride from the comfort of the campfire. Whoa there pahdnah, I'm supposed to be the one sitting at the comfortable campfire. It's why I got the danged things in the first place. Now if I could just figure out a way to quiet the side my spouse will be sitting on.... J/K of course. She's my BEST field friend even though I'm the only Bigfooter in the family. Maybe I should say he's the only one that puts up with my idiosyncrasies day in and day out. Edited January 7, 2020 by hiflier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiiawiwb Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 For those who have tried both, how does sound from earmuff amplifiers compare to a parabolic dish and mic/recorder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 One advantage I like with earphones? My hands would be free to grab a thermal imager or NV scope while holding a nice cup of coffee Another is compactness for ease of set up, but a disadvantage would be what has been discussed: Inability to record, but a recorder could still be used as a standalone. Good question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRockBigfoot Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 10 hours ago, wiiawiwb said: For those who have tried both, how does sound from earmuff amplifiers compare to a parabolic dish and mic/recorder? I have a fairly inexpensive starter model parabolic coming in on Thursday. I will compare them to the headphones this weekend and let you know. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIB Posted January 8, 2020 Moderator Share Posted January 8, 2020 It depends on whether you want directional pickup or not and how much gain you want. My power muffs are stereo w/ 4 pickups. They amplify a little while chopping off high intensity signals like gunfire. I can sometimes get an idea what direction the sound came from, but since it is passed through mics and speakers inside the muffs, a lot of the directionality is lost. The parabolic (mine is fairly cheap, $200 range) amplifies sounds from far away iff you have the dish pointed the right direction, otherwise the earmuff / headphones mute nearby sounds in other directions. Tradeoff. For best amplification of nearby sound, but without any directionality, I use the mic w/o the parabolic dish directly into headphones. It picks up a lot. With no suppression of loud sounds, though, something like a fire popping or a car door slamming nearby will melt your eardrums. MIB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 The mics on the Bolt's are stereo so sound direction is truer though I'm not sure if one have the pinpoint accuracy of a parabolic. Not being familiar with either set up maybe the muffs are better than I think? I would be happy with sound around 3 o'clock as opposed to something generally between 1-5 o'clock. But I do have a thermal so some generalities should be okay. There is no question on left or right sound sources and with a bit of practice I think I will get better at directional accuracy to say, within 30 degrees. They're new and I'm new at it so some experimentation is in order. I saw Daryl Colyer with a pair on in the NAWAC video Norseman posted so from that I do have a level of confidence with sound source direction? I will assume that a sound that possesses a nearly equal level left and right would be something behind me Between working on different volume levels, as well as known sound direction, I hope to fine tune my sort of echolocation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NathanFooter Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I use my olympus LS 7 audio recorder like game ears, this recorder has a fairly low noise floor and I can lift the gain a bit to amplify sound. The recorder will record and live export the sound to my headphones/earbuds. I put my recorder in my car and mount external omnidirectional microphones on the top of my car with 8 ft of cable, I sleep with my earbuds in so if something happens outside I am 100% going to wake up as well as have it recorded. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted January 9, 2020 Admin Share Posted January 9, 2020 22 hours ago, hiflier said: The mics on the Bolt's are stereo so sound direction is truer though I'm not sure if one have the pinpoint accuracy of a parabolic. Not being familiar with either set up maybe the muffs are better than I think? I would be happy with sound around 3 o'clock as opposed to something generally between 1-5 o'clock. But I do have a thermal so some generalities should be okay. There is no question on left or right sound sources and with a bit of practice I think I will get better at directional accuracy to say, within 30 degrees. They're new and I'm new at it so some experimentation is in order. I saw Daryl Colyer with a pair on in the NAWAC video Norseman posted so from that I do have a level of confidence with sound source direction? I will assume that a sound that possesses a nearly equal level left and right would be something behind me Between working on different volume levels, as well as known sound direction, I hope to fine tune my sort of echolocation. I think they are noise canceling. He is trying to protect his hearing from gun shots is my guess. They may not be the best choice for someone simply trying to amplify their hearing. I have a pair, but I usually just use them turned off for hearing protection while shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Yes, they are noise cancelling with the volume off and do a darned good job of that. I won't be shooting so with an enhanced audio of around 5x I look forward to being able live monitor the areas I will be in. Loud noises will be attenuated to around 82 dB in hopefully the claimed 1/2 millisecond though I don't expect anything much louder than that. As far as Daryl goes, I would think having the volume feature on would be better being alone in a blind. One could rely on movement only but to hear anything as an advanced alert would be advantageous, hence my reason for picking up a pair. And like I mentioned, they are pretty amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted January 9, 2020 BFF Patron Share Posted January 9, 2020 (edited) If anyone hopes to record infrasound do not introduce anything designed to noise cancel gunshots into the electronics. The infrasound signature I recorded is nearly identical to a series of rapid gunshots. I am not sure if the earphones would be of any benefit if you have a BF that wants you to leave because it is affecting your body as whole instead of just your ears like a gunshot. It might reduce visual disturbances because your ears would be covered and your audio canal would not conduct the sound into your head. Someone getting campground activity might have use for this geophone. Bipedal footfalls would be very distinctive and with a triangular deployment you could figure out where they are coming from. Since these operate way down into the infrasound range would pick up footfalls at great distances. These are available on Amazon: roduct features Geophone - Sm-24 Product description Description: Need To Put Your Finger On The Pulse Of The Earth? Did I Just Blow Your Mind? A Geophone Works By Translating Ground Movement Into Voltage, Which Can Easily Be Read By A Microcontroller. The Sm-24 Geophone Element Is Designed To Offer The Highest Performance In Seismic Exploration Based Upon Field-Proven I/O Sensor Technology. Low Distortion, Combined With Excellent Specifications, Provide High-Fidelity Data. Basically, It'S A Super Low Frequency Microphone For The Ground. Perfect For All Of Your 2-D & 3-D Seismic Exploration Needs With Bandwidth From 10 Hz Up To 240 Hzfeatures:Tight Specification, Low-Distortion Vertical Geophoneextended Spurious Over 240 Hz, Allowing Full Bandwidth At 2-Ms Samplingsensitivity Of 28.8 V/M/S. Product details Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies ASIN: B06ZYY4NTT Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,998,466 in Industrial & Scientific (See Top 100 in Industrial & Scientific) #23612 in Electrical Testing Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here Would you like to tell us about a lower price? Edited January 9, 2020 by SWWASAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted January 13, 2020 BFF Patron Share Posted January 13, 2020 I was watching that Exploration Bigfoot show last night and had an idea. They of course were using hand held FLIR cameras and presumably IR illuminators. When they moved they turned on red lights to move and see where they were going. They deploy normal game cameras, do not hide or camouflage them, and one had been moved around most likely by a curious BF. No results with the game cameras other than deer. And we even got a dose of whoops from one of the characters. I thought I was seeing a Finding Bigfoot rerun. Well after the hype about the algorithm, high tech gear etc, they resort back to tired old techniques that have not produced much. Oh there was a FLIR blob that we are supposed to accept as BF. One of the problems with game cameras other than just hanging them in plain sight on trees is the IR trigger. That and the flash are what makes them expensive and probably the biggest factor in bigfoot avoiding them. I had an idea. Why not just make a stripped down camera that is radio controlled and very small. Very easy to hide. Antennas can be wires that look like vines. Deploy dozens of them to pretty much cover an area and try to get daytime pictures. Then when anything indicates BF activity, transmit signals every 30 seconds or so, to all the cameras. Could even trigger the transmitter with trip wires placed some distance from the cameras. Several trip wires could be deployed. Take the IR out of the equation. That way something well outside of normal game camera IR trigger range might catch a BF moving about. A distant well lighted day image is many times better than a poorly illuminated night picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madison5716 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Our advantage over bigfoot is technology. Until we use that it the woods, playing to OUR strengths, the forest ninjas will win every time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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