Many years ago I had used Car Stereo Players to play
Swiftlet sounds in Swiftlet farms. This is because Car Stereo Player is durable and much more
reliable than a CD or DVD player. I am referring to those days of the early 90s.
At that time,
Amplifiers with SD card and USB Ports were not available in the market.
I still remember while we were using the CD & DVD players some were still using cassette
players particularly in Indonesia.
( Car Stereo CD Player)
As we know the Internal sound runs 24/7 non-stop, often the
CD player overheated and caused the motor that spins the CD jammed. The CD player is not designed to
play 24/7. It was made for home entertainment purposes and any abuse of such
kind could easily damage the CD player.
But CD player has its advantage, it produces superb quality sound which I
believe many would agree with me. The only setback was (poor reliability) poor durability. With no
other option, we turned to Car Stereo Player. I could still remember, I was
using the Pioneer Car Stereo set and occasionally switching to Kenwood. These
were my favorite brands. The Swiftlet
sounds that came out from these Car Stereo players were superb crystal
clear, sharp and crisp. No other brands of Stereo set could come close at this
reasonable and affordable price. Their range of frequency
response is suitable for Swiftlet sounds.
The Car Stereo Player is built for harsh condition. The car
under the sun is hot, manufacturers of Car Stereo player had anticipated such
condition therefore the motor inside Car Stereo Player is of heavy duty type
unlike the CD and DVD player motors that are made to operate at room
temperature. The car stereo player has a longer life span compared to CD and
DVD players. Most Car Stereo players have
auto playback, auto start and
auto repeat. Not all CD or DVD players have these features.
( Modern Swiftlet Farm Amplifier with SD/USB ports)
The Car Stereo player has a low harmonic Intermodulation
distortion which is 1khz-200mV. It also has a good frequency response because
it is specially made for playing sound and sound is its main priority while the
CD and DVD were made for playing movies and sound is secondary.
The only setback is, all Car Stereo players run on DC
(Direct Current) while CD and DVD run on AC which is most convenient to us.
In order to use the Car Stereo player we have to have an AC/DC
converter. This means additional cost involved. But with its sound quality it
is worth compensated for.
Then later came the Amplifiers with SD & USB ports. This
new generation Amplifier with SD & USB ports changed the Sound system of
Swiftlet farms. Initially many were
using those that are made for Karaoke that come with the SD & USB ports.
Some of these Karaoke sets were designed for Singing (Vocal) and some for
acoustic ( Instrumental) use. They weren't designed for Swiftlet sounds. The
frequencies produced by some of these Karaoke sets were not suitable for
Swiftlet sounds.Which I believe not many knew about this.
( Modern Swiftlet Farm Amplifier with Fan & AC/DC)
Out of so many types of Karaoke Amplifier sets we chose
those that have the frequency response
suitable for Swiftlet sounds. Those were the days , I have to crack my head to
test one by one until I found one that produces the best quality sound for
Swiftlet chirping.
I told the Amplifier suppliers this what we wanted, later
they came out with Amplifiers that specially made and tuned for Swiftlet
sounds.
Obviously now we don’t use Car Stereo Player or CD & DVD
player anymore as there are plenty of
Swiftlet Sound Amplifiers on the Market. Todays Amplifier has a built-in
fan for long hour use. It has a bigger capacitor which supports the use of large numbers of tweeters. Some even have a
built-in timer. It could also set to play multiple sounds at any one time. Some
even produce similar sound quality like those Car Stereo Players. There are
some with ready AC/DC inlet for Swiftlet farm that uses Solar power.
But choosing the right one is not easy. In order to choose a
right Amplifier, one needs to have some basic knowledge about Swiftlet sounds
and Swiftlet chirping frequency range.
(This is in response to an email from a reader who wants to
know why some people are using Car Stereo player).
