The SM5's recordings are saved to its SD cards, and the file names indicate valuable information for organizing your data.
File Formats
The SM5 can record audio in multiple different formats, each indicated by a different file extension.
- Waveform Audio File Format (.wav)
- The default file format used by the SM5. This is an uncompressed, full-spectrum audio format that is compatible with a broad range of audio analysis, editing, and playback software.
- W4V (.w4v)
- W4V is a compressed, full-spectrum audio format that is used when Compression is enabled. Wildlife Acoustics' Kaleidoscope software can be used to view this format or convert it to other formats.
File Naming Convention
Acoustic recording files are named with the format RecorderName_AC_YYYYMMDD_hhmmss.wav or .w4v, where the prefix RecorderName is the custom name assigned to the recorder. The time and date in the name indicate when the recording started, according to the recorder's internal clock and time zone setting.
If GPS sync was set to Continuous, and the SM5 had a strong enough GPS/GLONASS signal to synchronize its internal clock to satellite time for the full duration of the recording, the _ character between the date and time fields is replaced with a $ character. For example, the file named S5A00032_AC_20260306$154513.wav began on March 6, 2026 at 15:45:13, and the recorder maintained clock synchronization with GPS/GLONASS satellites for the full duration of the recording.