Baby monitor?
Ping...
***I’ve pinged the outdoor/wildlife folks here on FR. For what it is worth, Auslander... you are a good nephew and I hope you find your answer for your Aunt. I know there are CD’s and tapes that have wildlife sounds but your Aunt sounds like she is missing her own backyard beautiful sounds. Good luck to you. (((Hugs))) Mom
“The chimes are about 30 feet from her bedroom window.”
Can you open the window?
Record the chimes and play them back in a loop on an MP3 player.
I’ve done this at my rural location. Freedom being what it is (not) these days, be careful of running afoul of criminal eavesdropping laws, electronically monitoring people without their knowledge or consent, which for all I know is probably a felony these days, just like everything else is.
Just go on eBay (Americas best China shopping center) and search for “wireless microphone FM transmitter”. Skip over the tiny ones that a pictured next to a coin and for under $10 you’ll find some that have a digital display that shows the FM frequency they transmit on, which is necessary if you’re using a modern FM receiver with a digital dial. There are models that can be powered with a standard phone charger, which is $6 from Walmart. Just pick an FM frequency that is unused in your area and you can leave it on 24/7. Who knows you might pick up some interesting conversations if anyone wanders into the yard...
Will the microphone be covered or exposed to the elements?
Try creating a stereo or quadraphonic set up — two or four microphones, and then two or four speakers connected to the respective pickup sources outside. Place the output speakers in the corners of the room where she spends most of her time. For ambient sounds, instead of using microphones use six-inch or eight-inch speakers as pickups. Place a light layer of foam behind the protective grill to dampen wind noise. Get an inexpensive pre-amp/mixing board to adjust the balance of each out put until it sounds like it should.
I tried to record thunder echoing in the clouds during a spring rain once. All I got was the sound of the rain. Seems you need to capture the frequencies below 50 hz, down to about 5 hz and be able to reproduce them. That pretty much eliminates consumer grade equipment.
You’re a darn good nephew.
Do you know what she can and cannot hear?
Is it a reduced frequency range or reduced sound levels that are the problem?
Once you know that you can address the specs of the microphone. With limited frequency perception a super sensotive and expensive mike is over engineering.
Maybe a shotgun mike at the window will do the job. Higher frequencies generally get lost first in the elderly. What you don’t want is automatic gain control to cut out what she wants to hear.