Hydrophone tests d-series vs dpa8011

D-SERIES HYDROPHONES WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM JUNE 18TH !

          
                                                     Hydrophone tests d-series vs dpa8011

testing my new 'd-series' hydrophone design (available from June 2012 from hydrophones.blogspot.com) against the DPA8011's.

The DPA's are no longer in production but did used to cost over £1000 each & if you want one now you'd be lucky to find them below £2000 each second hand.

So, my d-series will be priced around £60 each & though I say it myself i'm very pleased with the way they stacked up in comparison with the DPA's.

The DPA's have a stronger signal as they have a built in additional pre-amp, however the most interesting difference is the way the two hydrophone designs pick up all the same sounds but at different levels. The DPA's seem to focus on the higher end sounds & the d-series cover a wider range of sounds more equally. I know i'm biased but I much prefer the sound of the d-series, which to my ears capture a more diverse, richer & more complex sound world.

Another interesting fact is that the DPA's had hardly any low frequency response. I tried applying various low pass filters on the Sound Devices recorder to them & none made any difference to the sound. This was a surprise indeed & i'm somewhat puzzled by that.

Both recordings were made directly into the SD7 series recorder, with gain levels equal & in the same location: 2 hydrophones of each model either side of a small wooden pier on an inlet on the east coast of sweden in May 2012.

Of course, the d-series are my design so as I said earlier I am biased, but lets just say that i'm very pleased by the way they perform next to the high-end DPA's.

£2000 + for a DPA8011 (if you can find one)
or
£60 for a JrF d-series

hmmm....

C-SERIES pro hydrophones

a step up from the basic JrF hydrophones - features:

. high spec, low noise, flexible cable

. large diameter element, housed in an injection moulded capsule - providing, in conjunction with the JrF exclusive 'acoustic-transfer' coating, an even stronger & wider range signal.

. available with 1/4 inch connector only.

(for a range of adaptors to connect to XLR inputs & 3.5mm inputs see the accessories page by clicking here)

. available as single mono hydrophone or in stereo pairs.

. come with 5metre cables as standard.

extra cable (per metre) can be purchased on the accessories page

(cable colour & width is subject to change depending on supply - but only high spec cable with the same characteristics will be used)

recent comment received: these hydrophones provide a better sound / signal than dolphin ear pro's costing over $400 ! I tested both over the course of a field trip in europe & was stunned by how much better the JrF ones are. Considering the price it's amazing what JrF offers. Fantastic !

price / postage options

one C-series hp 5m cable (uk)£60.00 GBP stereo pair C-series hp's 5m cables (uk)£120.00 GBP one C-series hp 5m cables (rest of world)£65.00 GBP stereo pair C-series hp's 5m cables (rest of world)£130.00 GBP

C-series hydrophone - Hozugawa river, japan - june 2011 by JezrileyFrench

as part of the new series of 'bang goes the theory', the BBC science series, you can watch Chris Waston as he listens to the sounds of snails, centipedes & maggots using one of my JrF c-series contact microphones.

here's an extract of the centipede recording (thanks to Chris Watson for permission to use this recording here)

The programme is available to view online via the BBC i-player for the next few days:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00q6vht

for those outside the UK the clip is also available on the BBC's youtube channel:

if you've seen the trailer for the new series of 'bang goes the theory' (BBC One) the sound of snails eating was recorded with one of my c-series contact mics by Chris Watson. The episode will be broadcast on 19th March - should be fun !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dzmbs

hydrophone tests - Lake from jetty by JezrileyFrench

I began selling my own make of hydrophones because, quite simply, I felt the range of products out there wasn’t that good considering the prices being charged. I don’t ‘compete’ with other manufacturers as my hydrophones are custom built by a field recordist for other folks interested in this area of sound exploration & my prices are designed to make this technology accessible to as many folks as possible. Over the years lots of people have asked me for advice when deciding which make of hydrophone to buy & i’ve always give un-biased advice based on whats available at the time. Since I launched the c-series hydrophones i’ve had lots of requests for comparison tests & my reason for doing this now is that, simply, people want to get the best value for their spend & I believe in the products I offer. So, here is the same lake, recorded on the same day with 3 different types of hydrophone - the recorder (Sound Devices 702) settings were identical on all sections.

(4 seconds silence between each sample)

first 2 minutes recorded with JrF c-series hydrophones (£60 per unit with 5metre cable - longer cables currently at £1 per metre extra)

second 2 minutes recorded with Aquarian audio hydrophones ($169 per unit with 3 metre cable)

third 2 minutes recorded with Dolphin Ear Pro hydrophones ($399 per unit with 10 metre cable)

Chris on BBC's Springwatch xmas special 2011 - with one of my c-series contact mics

CHRIS WATSON using some of my contact mics to explore the hidden inner sounds of trees on BBC's The One Show (originally shown in march & just repeated this week - july 2011). In the same series of films he also uses some of my units to explore rock pools & ponds.

also you can hear results possible by using c-series contact mics in this way on this great recording of beetles in an oak tree by Peter Toll:

click here to listen

field recording badges

set of 3 designs

price / postage options

uk £3.00 rest of world £3.50

C-SERIES pro contact microphones

new addition to the JrF range

sound sample here

a step up from the basic JrF contact microphone - features:

. high spec, low noise, flexible specially designed cable as used by film sound crews all over the world.

. large diameter element providing, in conjunction with the JrF exclusive 'acoustic-transfer' coating, an even stronger signal.

. strengthened top of element for increased placement & handling durability.

. available with 1/4 inch jacks only.

(for a range of adaptors to connect to XLR & 3.5mm inputs please see the accessories page by clicking here)

. available as single mono contact microphone or in stereo pairs.

. come with 2metre cables as standard.

extra cable (per metre) can be purchased on the accessories page

(cable colour is now black)

prices / options below
NB. standard contact microphones are of course still available - click here

price / postage options

one C-series contact microphone 2m cable (uk postage)£35.00 GBP stereo pair C-series contact microphone 2m cable (uk postage)£70.00 GBP one C-series contact microphones 2m cable (rest of world)£40.00 GBP stereo pair C-series contact microphone 2m cables (rest of world£78.00 GBP

here's a few more sound clips:

new addition to the specialist range of field recording equipment available from JrF

parabolic reflector / dish

£45 inc p&p (uk)

(the size of these means posting abroad varies from country to country - do contact me for a quote)

Designed & built by a highly respected maker, now retired - LIMITED NUMBER of his remaining stock left - all the 'a-grade' ones are now sold out but I have 35 'b-grade' ones left. These have slight scuffs, marks or nicks on the surface or edge of the dish but of course these don't affect how they work at all. grab one now !

parabolic reflectors are an essential addition to the kit for any serious field / sound recordist. In essence the act as a natural 'zoom' for sound - noise-free amplification enabling the listener / recordist to isolate the sound of distant sound sources. Developed with the wildlife recordist in mind these dishes have been used for years to record the sounds of birds for example & are used all over the world by film, tv & radio crews.

The 'parabolic curve' is a specially designed shape, scientifically formulated to provide natural amplification.

I use one to not only capture natural sounds but to achieve interesting creative effects in all kinds of environments - such as locating small sounds in busy locations.

These particular reflectors are supplied ready for you to adapt for your own microphone option & without pre-cut holes. They have a focal point of 4 inches (this is the point where the beams of sound hit the microphone capsule) & are 23inches diameter, 7 inch depth. They were built by a respected sound recordist who has recently retired.

Constructed from vacuum-formed ABS thermoplastic.

For more information on the use of parabolic reflectors there is an article on the website for the Wildlife Sound Recording Society - click here to read.

please note: these come as just the disc itself & one has to create / attach ones own mic system (hence the lower cost). However a chap on one the recent courses I teach on came up with a really handy way to do this: basically it's an industry wide standard fitting for (wait for it) a toilet flush handle & when you mount one of those (complete with its handy collection of washers & twist caps) as a handle on the dish the 'bolt' of the handle protrudes into the dish to a height of 4inch - which is the focal point of the curve ! Then one can mount small microphones either onto that bolt or use it as a point at which to structure a further mic holder. I'm not sure if toilet handles are the same size in the rest of the world though ! (but I could always get one & supply it with the dish if not).

below are some photos of one of these dishes being set up with the above handle / mount solution:

reflectors will be sent in double-walled card boxes by standard parcel service.

& here's another microphone mounting solution sent to me by Gisle Tveito (norway) - the picture shows field recordist Fredric Vogle (norway) using one of these parabolics with an AKG480.

induction coil pick-up *now available*

for picking up electronic signals / sounds ie. the internal sounds of a laptop, lightbulbs, recorders, household gadgets etc etc.

A fascinating & rewarding method used by myself in performance, installation & on several releases. Also used by sound artists & field recordists around the world.

you can hear some of the sounds these can pick up on an exclusive MP3 track I created for THE WIRE magazine by clicking here on this piece you will hear field recordings of the general wire office ambience along with the inner sounds of their computer systems, alarm boxes & light fittings.

I've managed to buy up some stock of these prior to the changes made by the EU that will restrict the sale of certain induction coil units.

They come fitted with a 3.5mm jack plug. Myself I use a decent mini-to-1/4inch jack adaptor.

Please note: the signal from these is strong & has been boosted in comparison with the other UK ones i've been using.

postage options

UK inc p&p £15.00 GBP rest of world £16.00 GBP