Hello! I’d appreciate any recommendations on an Android app capable of making higher-quality (44.1 or 48 kHz) audio recordings, preferably with an external USB mic. RecForge is often recommended for this, but for the life of me, I can’t get it to work consistently/reliably on my device (Samsung S20 ultra).
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Hi,
Have used this with excellent results:
https://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/products/usb-audio-recorder-pro
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Not being sarcastic, but the stock app Voice Recorder works wonders for me, seriously.
I’m an audio engineer by trade, I know all about directionality of mics, quality ad/da converters and preamps yadayada…
I value that the app loads really fast, has no ads, will reject calls when recording audio, and offers a few decent options for conversion quality.
I usually have a dog or a dslr in the other hand so I value a a simple fast interface that will allow me to get an acceptable recording for documentation or identification later…
I don’t think the final output is completely “lossless” in audio conversion quality, however I can imagine it’s significantly better than a lot of the analog field recorders our predecessors utilized in the 60s-80s to obtain a lot of the famous samples we have of certain rare specimens.
keep me posted on if you find a better solution, I’m not a complete miser I just don’t like spending money on audio that doesn’t generate income for me, I have a zoom and external mic kit and rental resourses if I need to capture something worth monetizing.
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Same, but I’m going for good enough to ID, not “high quality” like the OP. 
If you wanted to isolate or amplify sounds, I think in addition to the software, you might need some hardware like a directional mic and maybe some sort of wind screen or filter for ambient noise.
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I made a group on my WhatsApp with me as the only member. I then use it to do recordings by facing it towards the sound.
A simple online edit site converts it to mp3 which I then upload.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/113421973
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108532375
if you have a Rode USB mic, i think you can use the Rode Reporter app, though the reviews on that are definitely mixed.
I am not an audio person. I have been using AudioLab Pro with good success. It has a lot of tools to clean up and trim a recording. You can even autotune a frog if you wish. Sample rate is to 48kHz.
Unstable android? Read here for some insight and make sure your recording app is not competing for use of the microphone.
Https://joyofandroid.com/fix-microphone-problem-on-android/#6-force-stop-bixby-voice
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That’s an interesting work around.
Like I said, the Samsung native voice recorder works well enough for me.
It’s what the iNat app seems to integrate with, and has the added bonus that I can trim it.
I can’t trim within iNat, but I can go to Voice Recorder’s list & iNat recordings are preserved there (much like photos taken in the iNat app are saved in the DCIM folder in the photo gallery) & edit there.
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I’ll try some recordings with just the Samsung Voice app and the front mic and see how those sound. My main issue is not being able to select/use my USB mic (Comica). Last Fall when I was experimenting with audio recording, I could select it by going into the phone’s “Pro Video” mode, which would give you various microphone options. At that time I was able to select USB mic, but that is no longer showing as available (greyed out). I know connectors (USB C to the 1/8" audio the mic uses) can be an issue, but the connector I’m using worked last Fall. Maybe Samsung updated something so the mic is no longer showing? In any case one one reason a separate app appealed to me was perhaps the ability to select the USB mic? But if Samsung’s own Pro Video/Camera app can’t “see” it, it’s unclear why an app would. So if I decide the built-in front mic is inadequate, looks like I’ll need to try some other connectors in an effort to get my mic recognized by the phone.
I know almost nothing on this subject but I just bought an external mic that plugged into the headphone jack. The native camera app for my Nokia 6.1 didn’t allow me the option to let a microphone plugged into a headphone jack work. I researched the issue and downloaded another app (Open Camera) and that did let the microphone plugged into the headphone jack work.
So, the same might be true for your phone.
I’m still not at a place where I can easily record sound with an external microphone on my phone. I did get the microphone to work but the set up is so cumbersome it’s not a good field option. But my phone is an older, less expensive model so I’m working with what I’ve got.
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