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Cory Redman
Cory Redman

AudioMoth stopped recording months early

Deployed 19 AudioMoths units over 8 sites in the southern half of the lower pennisula of Michigan. AudioMoths were deployed the end of February, with batteries and memory cards changed out the end of July and all devices collected the middle of November.


Based on the configuration  they should of lasted ~150 days.

(Sample rate: 48 kHz; Med gain; Enable sleep/record cycle; 00:04:45 sleep duration; 15 sec recording duration; Enable LED; Enable battery level indicator; 24 hrs/7days recording period = Each day will produce 288 files, each 1440kB, totaling 415 MB; Daily energy consumption approx. 19 mAh).


AudioMoths stopped recording after ~30 days (btwn Feb. 24 and March 29) and after ~60 day (btwn July 22 and Sept. 24).


I was using Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA Batteries and Amazon Industrial Alkaline AA batteries with Amazon basics microSD XC1, 64 GB, V30, Class 10, U3, A2.


Batteries were a couple years…


45 Views
Cory Redman
Cory Redman
3 hours ago

Alex,

Thanks for helping me out with this issue. I haven't been able to create a CVS summary using the 'Summarise AudioMoth Files' option, because it won't recognize my wav. files. Based on my Googling, I need to use the AudioMoth-Utils library to do this, but I have been unsuccessful in making it work, which almost certainly reflects my lack of coding knowledge. If you can provide me with a step by step guide or direct me to an instructional video to accomplish this task, I would appreciate it.

Cheers,

Cory

Friedel Nollet
Friedel Nollet

two audiomoths showing same problem

Hi,

I ordered one audiomoth (Labmaker, Germany) May 2025, version 1.2.0,

flashed it with 1.11.0 (can't remember if I had to switch off the USB HID flashing, I think I needed to). This one is working perfectly, recording already for two months now in the field.

End of sept 2025 I ordered 2 extra Audiomoths 1.2.0. Flashed to 1.11.0 (needed to switch off USB HID flashing for both). Configuration with same .config as first one. But for both a lot of electronic noise is heard, the spectrogram shows horizontal lines at 4, 8, 12 kHz and sounds seem to repeat in between. I tried downgrading to 1.10.0, but the problem was the same. What is your advice?

ree
183 Views

Hi,


These have a hardware manufacturing problem affecting the external SRAM chip. That’s why the USB HID flashing doesn’t work (the firmware is written to the external SRAM and the checksum compared before it is applied to the flash). It looks like a data line or adddress line has a bad connection. Can you post a WAV file here and I can check.


If you install the AudioMoth USB Microphone firmware you’ll find that they appear to be working okay then as that firmware doesn’t use the external SRAM.


Ask LabMaker to send you replacement devices.


Alex


Edited

AudioMoth microphone issue

Dear Open Acoustic Devices team,

I’m writing from Spain regarding an issue with my AudioMoth v1.2 unit, which I purchased about 8 months ago through GroupGets.

Since about a month ago, the device has stopped recording properly. It still creates WAV files of normal size and I can hear the typical background noise, but no real audio is captured — just constant white noise.

Here’s what I’ve already tried:

  • Updated the firmware to version 1.11.0 (latest release).

  • Tested with several SD cards (properly formatted) and new batteries.

211 Views
Andy
Andy
Oct 21

Thanks for the thorough troubleshooting list. From these points I'd also suspect a damaged microphone, which can occur when exposed to water. Is there any signs on the board of water damage or corrosion. It would be worth getting in contact with GroupGets to see if they can help before considering any DIY repair.

Laura Rosario Sánchez
Laura Rosario Sánchez

Some are recording well, others don´t

Hello,

I am conducting my undergraduate thesis on amphibian bioacoustics in the Dominican Republic. I’ve been experiencing some issues with my recordings; out of my seven AudioMoths, only three recorded properly. Some devices recorded for only four days, others for about twenty, and only a few completed the full month. I’m wondering what could be causing this.


Could it be due to humidity? At my study site, humidity often reaches 100% and rarely drops below 75%. Daytime temperatures are around 25 °C, while nighttime temperatures can fall to 7 °C. I noticed that some of the batteries showed signs of corrosion, with bluish residue on the devices. I use the protective cases for the AudioMoths, but they might not be sufficient against moisture. I’m considering placing them inside Ziploc bags with silica gel, as I suspect humidity might be the main issue.

All units use Duracell AA alkaline batteries, Kingston…


185 Views

Hi, It looks like it was all operating fine up to the point when it stopped. There are no SD card write errors reported beforehand so power loss or a reset due to corrosion/humidity would seem more likely. Do you have any photographs of the batteries? The case looks to be a custom 3D printed case. Do you know what acoustic vent it is using? Does it have an o-ring seal to make it watertight? Alex

Jaclyn Tolchin
Jaclyn Tolchin

recordings have blank spots

Hello,


We're using audiomoths for a largescale monitoring project and we noticed a few recordings having "blank" spots. It's very intermittent and seemingly random. The files attached show the recording "blanking out" after some amount of minutes and remaining "out" for the rest of the file. In all cases, the sensor continues to record the next file that day and the following days with no issues. Ie, these are not files that are recorded as the battery is dying or the card is filling up. This project has over 100 sensors and this has happened with about a dozen of the sensors, usually one time per sensor (with one exception where a sensor had recurring blank spots and thus we stopped using it). Does this indicate an issue with the sensor, microphone, or something else? Can anything be done? Files are too large to attach so I've shared via googledrive. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CI83Keo-8pMcCXT-KrX00rfRZR7zQuCS?usp=sharing


Thank…

283 Views

Hi Jaclyn,


Can you confirm what make and model of SD card you are using?


The blank spots are all aligned with 512 byte SD card sectors and the AudioMoth carried on assuming it was writing okay, so I would initially suspect the SD card. Can you double check that if you copy the file from the SD card again then the blank patches are identical, or if you run DIFF on the two versions (on your laptop and on the SD card) that they match.


Alex

Edited

Recording issue, fails to start recording

Hi there, I have managed to use many audimoths and have got them to record on schedule.

I now have two that just fail to start recording. I have done software updates, firmware updates and even manually flashed the firmware too. It seems like something else is wrong. Tried different memory cards, all formatted first, new batteries etc. Once set in custom mode, just get the green flashing led approx every 2 seconds. At the time of scheduled recording, it give a single long green flash then returns to the two second interval flashing led. I wondered if you have ever come across this, these units have been used previously in the field. I was asked to try and get 6 units working. I have now got 4 working but these last two are being stubburn. Many thanks, Sean

125 Views

Hi Sean, Flashing both LED together indicates an SD card write error. I wonder if this is what your AudioMoth is doing and the red LED has also failed. When you reflash the firmware using the USB HID route, both LED should light for about 2 seconds whilst the AudioMoth restarts. If you only see a green LED then, there is definately a problem with the red LED. An SD card write error can be caused by SD cards taking high current (we only use SanDisk Extreme cards), low batteries, or a hardware issue due to corrosion. It sounds like the third cause might be the problem here.

Alex

Audiomoths stopped recording early

Hello!


I work for a non profit and we are currently using AudioMoths to conduct some bird research on our restoration sites in the San Joaquin Valley and Merced County in California. We thought we had them programed to drain the battery and fill the SD cards in ~30 days but we keep having about half of them die due to low voltage around 2-2.5 weeks.


Current set up and settings:

Model: Audiomoth 1.2.0

Schedule: 1min sleep / 29min recording between 5am-9am. March15-July 31.

Sample rate: 48kHZ


74 Views

The battery profile looks quite normal with the battery voltage dropping during the day and then recovering overnight. There is quite a lot of temperature variation but batteries are generally good with high temperatures. I suspect the cause is the energy consumption of the SD cards. We haven't measured 64GB SanDisk Ultra cards, but the 267GB ones have about four times the energy consumption of the SanDisk Extreme (red and gold) cards that we recommend. https://www.openacousticdevices.info/sd-card-guide


ree


Alexandre MODI
Alexandre MODI

Mecanical or electrical noise ?

Hi everyone,


I got all my recordings with this kind of noise (in picture) on a Hydromoth Firware Basic 1.11.0. We used SD card SanDisk Extreme 64 Go.


Could it be the SD card when is writing? Do you have any recommandations?


Thanks,


ree

83 Views

Hi Alex,


Thanks for the clarifications! Yes, please find in attachment one WAV file. We used 3 piles AA Energizer lithium.



Clara Thomas
Clara Thomas

AudioMoths stopped recording early - firmware issue?

Hello AudioMoth support community,


I have been having troubles with my AudioMoths recording half as long as expected for my Master’s research project. I deployed AMs at each of my urban sites in Stockton, CA, in February and March 2025, expecting to get 8-10 weeks of recordings, but instead the batteries have somewhat consistently died at around 30 days.


Here are my configuration details (file also attached below):

  • My recording schedule is: 1.5 minutes of recording every 15 minutes from 10:30-6:30 UTC (2 hours total of recording per day)

  • Sampling rate: 48 kHz

  • Gain: medium-high


72 Views

Hi Clara,


If you use the 'Summarise AudioMoth Files' option in the Config App under the 'Process' menu, you can generate a CSV which shows the battery voltage. This should look something like this for rechargeable batteries and a will show a more steady continuous decline for Alkaline batteries.


ree


Most times this is caused by the different SD cards makes and models using different amounts of energy. The calculations are performed using values for SanDisk Extreme 32GB cards. The 64GB card uses a bit more energy but not enough to explain the difference here: https://www.openacousticdevices.info/sd-card-guide


Can you check on the back of the SD card to see where it was made. We've seen a couple of reports of SanDisk Extreme 64GB cards that say 'Made in Taiwan' on the back which consume 3 times that of ones marked 'Made in China' and 'Made in Malaysia'. Are they the red and gold cards? Can you post a picture of one. Alex


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