Hi there! I see you're encountering that "unable to record. Sound recognition may be enabled." error with the Merlin Bird ID app on your Mac running OS X 10.15.7. And you’ve mentioned sound recognition is not enabled on your device, correct?

To help narrow things down, can I ask a couple questions first?
- Are you trying to use the app’s Sound ID feature directly on your Mac, or are you perhaps running it on an iPhone or iPad connected to the Mac?
- Have you recently updated the Merlin app or your macOS version before this issue began?
- Is your app fully updated to the latest version available from the App Store?
- Could you confirm if the app has proper permission to access your Mac’s microphone?

These details will help me guide you better. But in the meantime, here’s a general step-by-step you can try based on common fixes:

1. Check Microphone Permissions
- On your Mac, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy tab.
- Select “Microphone” from the left panel, and ensure Merlin Bird ID is checked/enabled.

2. Toggle Sound Recognition Settings
- Although you mentioned it’s off, sometimes toggling this setting on and then off again refreshes the connection.
- You can find this under System Preferences > Accessibility > Sound Recognition. Try enabling, then disabling it.

3. Restart the App and the Mac
- Fully quit Merlin Bird ID (Cmd + Q), then reopen it.
- If that doesn’t help, please restart your Mac and try again.

4. Update or Reinstall the App
- Visit the Mac App Store and check for updates to Merlin Bird ID.
- If up to date, you can try uninstalling the app and reinstalling it fresh.

If none of these steps resolve it, there might be a need to check for a software conflict or deeper setting issue, and I can guide you through those next.

Let me know how it goes after trying these, and we’ll get you back to identifying birds by sound soon! Are you satisfied with this initial guidance so far?