Hi C-Birders, Lang Elliott has just posted the following announcement on the nature recordists' email forum. I don't usually recommend products. Indeed I have not seen this particular product and fortunately I do not need it yet. But I do know lots of CarolinaBirders who complain about not being able to hear birdsong. This product might help. It is not cheap, but check it out if you need it. Lang is a very reputable guy, and I trust his claims. Robin Carter rcarter@sc.rr.com Columbia, SC If anybody in this group has high frequency hearing loss and cannot hear the high pitched birds and insects, then you must check out the new SongFinder, a Digital Bird Song Hearing Device: www.naturesound.com/songfinder/songfinder.html As many of you know, I myself have severe high frequency deafness and I have been active for years in developing a solution to my own problem. The SongFinder is the invention of myself and my engineer partner Herb Susmann. It is designed for birders who are high frequency deaf but who can still hold a conversation without using hearing aids. It takes high bird and insect sounds in the 3-10 kHz range (and higher for the SongFinder Plus) and then pitch-lowers these sounds into a range where one's hearing is normal. There are three "divide-by" algorithms employed in the Basic unit: 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4. The device is absolutely amazing in the field. Utilizing a binaural headset fitted with full range condensor mikes, the user is not only able to hear the high bird sounds but is also able to determine the location of singers in the surroundings. The pitch-lowered sounds are clean and natural, and seem to come from "out there" in 3D space.