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I am working on a project; detecting the sounds made by pests in stored grain while eating. I know that the ultrasonic disturbances occur when the pests tear the materials during feeding.

I need a microphone that can detect these 'ultrasounds'. I will connect the microphone directly to a PC and carry out the frequency extraction in National Instruments' Lab-View software. I searched and found that the Panasonic wm-61a and Primo em-172 can detect ultrasonic frequencies. Can I use them? Or are there any other alternatives?

Also please elaborate if I require anything else to detect ultrasonic frequencies. I am new to this and any help would be hugely appreciated.

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  • How did you come to the conclusion that both microphones you mention do detect ultrasonic waves ? Documentation for these ( primomic.com/products/pdf/EM172.pdf , industrial.panasonic.com/lecs/www-data/pdf/ABA5000/… ) does not says anything about what happens above 20 kHz. – audionuma Aug 3 '15 at 14:45
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    i found it in this site.wildlife-sound.org/equipment/technote/micdesigns/… it says that the mike can handle up to 60khz – Darshan N Aug 3 '15 at 15:28
  • ok, seems promising. – audionuma Aug 3 '15 at 16:02
  • Can it detect the ultrasound based on that article? The insect frequencies lies between 25-45 khz. Also what does flatness of response mean? Does un-even frequency response mean it cant detect a particular frequency? I might be asking too much but i really don't know anything. Please guide me. – Darshan N Aug 3 '15 at 16:30
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    "Connect the microphone directly to PC" - Using the built-in PC microphone input? That input is unlikely to be able to convert frequencies above about 20 kHz. You really need an interface that has a sampling frequency of at least 96 kHz - 192 kHz would be better, plus you'll need a mic preamp that doesn't top out too soon. – Todd Wilcox Aug 3 '15 at 20:58
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Sanken made a mic called the mo-64, some call it the insect mic. I think its the most sensitive in that frequency range that you can find but is about $3,000

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This B&K measurement mic goes up to 140 kHz. http://www.bksv.com/Products/transducers/acoustic/microphones/microphone-cartridges/4138

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I've not used one before, but have been thinking about getting one of these Dodotronic USB ultrasonic mics:

http://www.dodotronic.com/index.php/ultramics/

I'd love to hear any feedback from anyone who has used one.

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