I built an esp32 with 48khz mic soldered on, feeding rtsp stream to server in living room. Works amazing. Need to build more mics.
I basically used this guide, but a different ESP32 device (so I had to change the pinout, but otherwise...). It's currently plugged into mains power, but in the future when I make additional, I'm aiming to make them solar + battery powered so I can stick them in more 'remote' areas.
Give it a go! The quality is astounding vs a security cam.