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DDDOOODDDOOOTTTRRROOONNNIIICCC

ULTRAMIC384K Ultrasonic USB microphone and recorder

USER GUIDE

0.3.2

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OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................................................... 3

Applications ............................................................................................................................................... 3

Precautions ................................................................................................................................................ 4

Micro SD card ............................................................................................................................................... 5

Amplification settings ................................................................................................................................ 5

Connector ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

HOW TO USE ................................................................................................................................................. 7

ONE HOUR MODE .................................................................................................................................... 7

XML RECORDING MODE ....................................................................................................................... 7

FLOW CODE ................................................................................................................................................. 10

LED STATUS AND LED ERROR CODES .............................................................................................. 11

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS .............................................................................................................. 13

Microphone .............................................................................................................................................. 13

FIRMWARE UPGRADE .......................................................................................................................... 14

FAQ ................................................................................................................................................................. 15

GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................................... 16

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 17

3

OVERVIEW

Ultramic384K is a high quality professional digitalizer and it can work as:

- USB ultrasonic microphone

- Smart autonomous recorder

Ultramic384K has got an integrated analog to digital converter able to reach 500 kHz sampling

rate (384 KHz sampling rate when connected as USB device, 500K available in future upgrades).

The USB 2,0 Full speed port allows an easy connection to PC, iOS, Android smartphone, tablet

and embedded Linux systems.

Ultramic384K is composed by the main body with digital and differential analog amplification, and

the waterproof high performance audio and ultrasonic microphone with FG sensor and the

preamplification circuit.

The sensor can be replaced with other sensors such as infrasonic microphone, vibration sensor,

hydrophone etc.

Its low power integrated 32 bit microcontroller makes it the perfect device for long term

autonomous recording device with an external USB battery. Only 30 mA @5 Volts power required

when operating at full speed.

High performance omnidirectional audio and ultrasonic microphone.

The 6 pole connector for multipurpose communication with 5 Volts out power supply, IO digital

interface and differential mono input.

USB 2.0 full speed connection with a standard audio class driverless for an easier interface with

host devices.

Hardware amplification gain via two switches.

Easy disassembly to access the SD card, preamplification switches and button.

Applications

Ultramic384K can be used in scientific research for:

Detection and recording of biological ultrasounds for bioacoustics studies on insects, cetacean,

rodents and bats.

Environmental studies to assess the impact of wind farms on bats.

Recording and analyzing mouse ultrasonic vocalizations for pharmacological researches.

Soundtrack, special effect (slowing down the recorded ultrasound).

In industrial applications for:

LEAK detection

Predictive motor fault monitoring

Detection of the high-frequency noises emitted by switching power supply, LCD screens, and also

turbines of car and truck engines.

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Precautions

Ultramic384K is designed to be waterproof in order

to operate in outdoor environment.

Even if Ultramic384K is designated to work outdoor,

it’s a good precaution to provide a shelter to

prevent the direct action of the rain. If the

windscreen is wet, the sound can hardly be

captured by the sensor.

Pull down the USB cable to prevent possible water

infiltration from the grommet.

Bare circuit

The bare circuit is available to create your custom device. The use of this circuit out of specification can

completely damage the circuit itself.

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Micro SD card

Commercially-available SD cards can be used in this recorder. Faster transfer speed is better.

FAT 32 and exFAT compatible.

To remove the SD card pull out from the micro connector.

• The recorder may not correctly recognize some SD, SDHC or SDXC cards depending on the

manufacturer or card type due to compatibility.

• If the SD card is not recognized, remove the SD card and then insert it again to see if the

recorder recognizes it.

• The processing speed may become lower depending on the type of SD card. The processing

performance may deteriorate if the SD card is repeatedly written to or deleted. In such a case,

initialize the SD card again with the following free software:

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

This software MUST be used for all the SD card inserted for the first time in the

recorder. The way to format is related to the formatting software.

The device is a standard USB audio microphone with higher sampling rate

and no driver is needed!

This decision is done when powered; if an SD card is present then it works

as a recorder else it works as an USB ultrasonic microphone.

When used as USB audio device the yellow led blinks every 8 seconds.

Amplification settings

Ultramic can be opened, via a screw on the back.

The amplification can be changed acting on the integrated switches.

Grease must be put on the o-ring.

Unscrew the ring on the back of the device, near the USB cable.

Pull the aluminium tube.

Pulling down the right switch we got a 10 x amplification.

Pulling down the left switch we got a 100 x amplification.

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

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Connector

The waterproof 6 pins connector has got the following pinout:

NOTE: Ultramic384K has no internal filter so a voltage applied to IN+ and IN- will result in a DC

sampling proportional to the voltage itself. This can be very useful to capture very low speed

signals such as vibration, infrasound and other very low speed signals.

PIN

NUMBER

FUNCTION NOTES

1 +5V Directly connected to USB port

2 GROUND Directly connected to USB port

3 SDA (I2C) – RS232 RX TTL levels

4 SCL (I2C – RS232 TX TTL levels

5 IN+ Positive differential input

6 IN- Negative differential input

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HOW TO USE

It’s possible to record autonomously in two ways:

- One hour shot

- Time programmed (via XML file)

In One hour shot you can do single recording one hour length each time the microphone is

powered.

ONE HOUR MODE

- An XML file is not present: when powered it will record for one hour and then It will go in low

power mode. Every time Ultramic384K is powered it will create a progressive folder i.e

PWRxxxxx with max 6 files each 480 Mbytes wide (about 10 minutes of recording). During

recording the green led blinks every 8 seconds.

How to setup the autonomous recording mode:

- Open Ultramic384K

- Insert a micro SD card according your recording needs (without the file FIRMWARE.UM upgrade

file)

- Power the device via a power bank battery or PC or smartphone

- The green led will blink every 8 seconds.

- Wait one hour, if you need to terminate the recording before the end of the hour please push the

button inside Ultramic384K.

- If you need another one hour recording, then repower the device again.

- Note: for an easy recording system you could use an external timer connected to a usb wall mount

adaptor. In this way each time the timer will power the microphone it will do one hour recording.

XML RECORDING MODE

- Download UMconfig app from www.dodotronic.com (secure way) or via a text editor such as

notepad (not secure way) and it contains all the information for an autonomous recording plan.

- Store the XLM file in the root of the micro SD card.

- Open the Ultramic384k and insert the micro SD card

- Power the Ultramic384K (the time stamp will be set according when the device will be powered)

- Ultramic384k will record according the information stored in the XML file. After the recording

session the device will go in sleep mode until the integrated timer will wake up for the next

recording session.

Don’t turn off the power while recording, this could destroy the FAT of the SD card

and all the stored files could be lost!

If a XML file is present in the micro SD card:

Recorded files will be stored in folders so composed YYYYMMMDDD where YYYY is the year, MM the

month and DD the day and each file has the following label: YYYYMMDDThhmmss.wav where the

last part of the file name is the starting hour, minutes and second respectively.

http://www.dodotronic.com/

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During recording the red led blinks every 8 seconds.

It’s not hard to configure the file and it is composed by tags.

Every tag defines a specific parameter.

The first tag <xxx> defines the start and the second one </xxx> the end of the xxx tag

<filesize> Defines the max dimension of the file in megabytes. If your recording exceed this

limit the file is splitted in two or more parts.

<devicename> This tag specify the device name.

In the <scheduling> section resides the way how to record in autonomous mode.

The <modetime> indicates the setting of a single recording section.

<start> … as the word says, states the start time in 24h format. The <duration> is defined by

the second tag.

<timeleft> defines when the led blinking changes from status due to the end of

memory.

Comments are made with the following tag:  where xxx is the

comment.

The XML file must have the following tag format: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>



<UltraMic384>

<config>

<defaultsettings>

<filesize>460</filesize> 

<devicename>OFF</devicename> 

<timeleft>1</timeleft> 

</defaultsettings>

<scheduling>

<modetime> 

<start>19:55</start> 

<duration>03:00</duration> 

</modetime>

<modetime> 

<start>04:55</start> 

<duration>03:00</duration> 

</modetime>

</scheduling>

</config>

<setdatetime>2016-06-31T09:00:00</setdatetime> 

</UltraMic384>

NOTE: the button battery is needed to power the internal clock and the whole Ultramic384K!!

How to setup the internal clock

The tag <setimedate> defines the date and time. When the device is powered and the CPU finds

this tag then the internal clock is set with the date stored in this tag.

This is the only way to set the internal timer so be careful to set this tag with the date and time

at which you know to turn on the microphone. After the clock is set, the software will rename the

file to “old”.

The complete flowcode is visible in the next page.

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Program deletion

NOTE: Ultramic384K stores the recording mode and ALL the programmation in the internal

memory and even if it is disconnected from the USB all these values are retained in the RAM

protected by the coin cell battery. If you want to delete the program you need to use an empty

XML file (see below) and proceed with the XML recording mode.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>



<UltraMic384>

<config>

<defaultsettings>

<filesize>460</filesize>

<devicename>OFF</devicename>

<timeleft>1</timeleft>

</defaultsettings>

<scheduling>

<modetime>

<start></start>

<duration></duration>

</modetime>

</scheduling>

</config>

</UltraMic384>

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FLOW CODE

STARTUP

SD card? USB audio

YES

NO

XML PRESENT?

SET TIME AND DATE

LOAD ALARMS

SET THE FIRST ALARM

START ONE HOUR

RECORDING

LOW POWER MODE

SET FOR THE NEXT ALARM

NO YES

RENAME THE XML TO “OLD”

WAKEUP - RECORD

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LED STATUS AND LED ERROR CODES

Recording status: one LED blink quickly every 8 seconds.

The yellow led for USB Audio.

The green led for recording after a PowerUp, without a XML file.

The red led for recording using the XML file with timer specification.

The microphone enters the Standby configuration:

The GREEN led and the YELLOW led blink for 3 seconds.

The device blinks quickly for 3 seconds the yellow led if the SD Card capacity

is below 1 hour registration aviability.

Errors indication: the RED led ON, a second led blinking quickly for 6 seconds

XML file errors: malformed or incomplete tags, no matching starting and ending

tags. Solution: verify the XML file using an editor with XML highlight like

NotePad++ or create a new one using UMconfig app.

No Timer configured. Timer configuration corrupted, solution: copy on the

SDCard a new XML file.

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The RED led alone is blink quickly for SDCard error. Problems may be for

reading and/or writing to the SDCard. Solution: a fresh format with SDFormatter

4.0 utility.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Recording format Linear PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) format

Recording medium SD card

SD card (512MB to 2GB)

SDHC card (4GB to 32GB)

SDXC card (64GB to 256GB)

Input IN+ IN- 0 – 3.3 differential voltage input

USB B connector USB2.0 Full Speed

USB audio class

External dimensions Length 220.0 mm without ultrasonic microphone

280 mm with ultrasonic microphone

Diameter 25 mm

Weight 280g (Lithium-ion battery included.)

Reference input level Switch setting

HI

LOW

Level value

114dBSPL

74dBSPL

Sampling frequency 384 K sampling per second

Resolution 16 bit

Amplification High quality, and low noise, differential analog

amplification with no filter

CPU 32 bit integrated ARM Cortex microcontroller

Dimensions 200 mm long x 20 mm in diameter (260 with the sensor)

Power 27 mA power requirement in USB mode

30 mA mean power requirement in autonomous

recording mode

Update Software upgradable via firmware file stored in the micro

SD card

Microphone The microphone sensor is an FG23629 from Knowles.

Inertial aluminium component to reduce sensor vibration.

The FG microphone is the world's smallest electret condenser microphone.

microphone is very sensitive, with a good signal/noise ratio and small form factor.

Guide to continuous recording times.

Formula: time = SD card capacity / (sampling rate x 2)

Example 32GB SD card at 384KHz = 41666 seconds = ~11 hours

Recording format Capacity Time

384kHz 8 2:53

384kHz 16 5:47

384kHz 32 11:34

384kHz 64 23:08

384kHz 128 46:17

48kHz * 8 23:08

48kHz * 16 1 day & 22 hours

48kHz * 32 3 days & 20 hours



* Available in future releases

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Waterproof GORE membrane GAW324

CR1220 coin cell backup battery

NOTE: replace backup battery when the voltage drops below 2Volts. Reprogram the clock after

the insertion of a new battery.

FIRMWARE UPGRADE

Download the FIRMWARE.ENC file from www.dodotronic.com.

Store the file in the root directory of a micro SD card.

Insert the SD card in the Ultramic384k.

Power the microphone, the green led will blink up to the end of the firmware update.

Remove the SD card.


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FAQ

Q: How can I record 10 minutes without programming it?

A: Insert a formatted SD card in the slot. Power the microphone, after the startup the green led

will blink every 8 seconds. Push the button when you need to stop the recording. The green and

the yellow led will blink. Remove the SD card and analyze your files with your preferred app.

Q: How can I connect Ultraimc384k to my own recorder?

A: Ultramic384k doesn’t need a recorder and cannot be connected to it since the only output is

digital (USB). Use the integrated recorder instead!

Q: I want to record each day from 8:00 to 8:55 and from 13:00 to 13:15, how can I do it?

A: Take a look at XML RECORDING MODE.

Q: Can I record at 48 KHz or lower?

A: Not at the moment, it will be possible in the future.

Q: I don’t want to record but just listen or visualize spectrogram.

A: Connect your Ultramic384K to your smartphone, tablet or PC and use your preferred app. The

list of compatible apps is available on www.dodotronic.com.

Q: I need to record cetacean vocalization

A: Connect your preamplified hydrophone to the 6 poles connector of the Ultramic and use it as a

standard USB microphone or recorder.

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GLOSSARY

Description Sampling frequency (sampling rate) [Hz/kHz]

The rate or frequency at which an analogue signal is analyzed to determine acoustic delicacies. The higher sampling frequency produces less difference in forward/backward sounds.

Quantization bits [bit depth][bit]

The number of quantization bits helps determine how much data is required to save a record when digitizing analog signals (such as voice).

Bit rate [kbps] A Bit Rate indicates how many data bits are transmitted per second. A 128 kbps file, for example, uses 128 kbits per second to encode data. The smaller the bit rate you select, the worse the quality, and the smaller the size it will output. The sound quality varies depending on digital audio compression algorithms (such as MP3), even if the bit rates are the same. Even if the bit rates are the same, sound quality varies depending on the digital audio compression algorithm (such as MP3).

Linear PCM format A linear PCM format is used so that no data gets lost due to compression and original sound stays intact. This format is used for music CDs (CD-DA).

Memory (media) This is a storage system that does not lose the data stored on it even when the power is removed. In this manual, it refers to the built-in flash memory and the SD card.

Encoding Encoding is a process in which the information obtained from a source is converted into data according to certain rules. Or it is a process in which data is converted from one format to another (such as audio compression) according to certain rules.

Technical assistance and support

Send request to:

[email protected]

Ultramic has been developed with the scientific support of CIBRA /

University of Pavia.

For customers in Europe

mark indicates that this product complies with the European requirements for safety, health, environment and customer

protection.

This symbol [crossed-out wheeled bin WEEE Annex IV] indicates separate collection of waste electrical and electronic

equipment in the EU countries. Please do not throw the equipment into the domestic refuse. Please use the return and collection systems available in your country for

the disposal of this product.

This symbol [crossed-out wheeled bin Directive 2006/66/EC Annex II] indicates separate collection of waste batteries in the

EU countries. Please do not throw the batteries into the domestic refuse. Please use the return and collection systems available in your

country for the disposal of the waste batteries.

mailto:[email protected]

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SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Before using this device, read this manual carefully to ensure that you know how to operate the Ultramic384K safely and correctly. Be sure to keep this manual on hand so that you can refer to it at any time. Important safety instructions

Important safety instructions are indicated by symbols and text as shown below. Be sure to follow these instructions to protect yourself and others from personal injury or damage to property.

The meanings of the symbols are as shown below. Instructions for use

Do not leave the product where it will be subject to high temperatures and/or in direct sunlight.

Do not use organic solvent such as alcohol or thinner for cleaning. Do not apply strong vibration or shock to the product. Use appropriate cables

Warning

Do not disassemble, repair, or modify the product except for the instructions reported below. Do not insert a card other than SD, SDHC or SDXC card into the recorder.

Caution Stop using the product if you notice an abnormality such as unusual odor, abnormal sound, or smoke.

Do not leave the product where it will be subject to high temperatures.

Trademarks and registered trademarks Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Media are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. • SD, SDHC, and SDXC are trademarks of SD Card Association. • Macintosh and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Corporation. All other brand names and product names in this manual are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective owners.

Conformity declaration

model: ULTRAMIC384K Ultramic is in conformity with the protection and compliance requirements of the following EC

Directives:

2004/108/CE

2006/95/CE

Dodotronic di Ivano Pelicella

via Giuseppina Saragat, 6

00073 Castel Gandolfo RM

Italy

VAT IT07343571001

www.dodotronic.com

[email protected]

Made in Italy rev.0.3.2 20161103

Danger This sign indicates that incorrect handling could lead to serious danger causing death or severe injury.

Warning

This sign indicates that incorrect handling could lead to death or severe injury.

Caution This sign indicates that incorrect handling could lead to injury or property damage.


mailto:[email protected]

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