Freesound Forums

Does anyone have a strategy for improving the effectiveness of the Zoom H4 windscreen? It works, but not well enough for southern California's coastal areas.

yes, good question... Tasmania also has some wind problems (as you can probably hear from some of my recordings with my Zoom H4) and I'd like to know..

Jeez, wind it's everywhere... Even using ultra-expensive profesional windscreens all too often you simply cant record anything. I guess it's wind what in the end makes sound recording so different from making photographs.

Anyway, a DIY solution developped originally for binaurals. With some creativity & elaboration might adapt to the H4 or any other small recorder (H2, R09):
http://www.rockscallop.org/how/183/183mount01.html

The trick to an effective windscreen is a volume of completely still air around the mic, this volume being as large as possible. So the larger the windscreen the better the isolation. But again there's no way of recording if windspeed > 70 km/h. If you are in a gale you better take pictures

Saludos

afterguard
Does anyone have a strategy for improving the effectiveness of the Zoom H4 windscreen? It works, but not well enough for southern California's coastal areas.

I have been collecting links, put it in a blimp-device...

http://www.joelandkaren.com/mic-zeppelin/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Microphone-Blimp/?ALLSTEPS

http://www.microfilmmaker.com/tipstrick/Issue8/shotwind.html

http://www.mediumrecords.com/random/?page_id=24

http://www.ixi-software.net/content/diy/windshield/

Professional blimps are a blind rip-off BTW.

digifish

Thank you, Folks. My plan was to buy a marble bag and tie that over the top. But these ideas are incredible!

afterguard
Thank you, Folks. My plan was to buy a marble bag and tie that over the top. But these ideas are incredible!

A marble bag stretched over some bent wire coat-hangers could do the trick...similar to this approach (which btw is a jaw dropping $800 USD!)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/largeimages/364118.jpg

digifish.

I've seen one of these overhead! It had "Goodyear" plastered across it!

...browsing I came across theis K-Tek product...perhaps you modify it to fit...

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?ac.ui.pn=popup.imageviewer&itemno=KT9322&w=605&h=700

http://www.calumetphoto.com/resources/images/prod_tnlg/470e32feae8d4a42b4caa530708e1a87.jpg

digifish

digifishmusic

A marble bag stretched over some bent wire coat-hangers could do the trick...similar to this approach (which btw is a jaw dropping $800 USD!) digifish.

These are great, guys! Thank you! Every time I look at that Calumet, I see a Russian android in the winter. :lol:

digifishmusic

afterguard
Thank you, Folks. My plan was to buy a marble bag and tie that over the top. But these ideas are incredible!

A marble bag stretched over some bent wire coat-hangers could do the trick...similar to this approach (which btw is a jaw dropping $800 USD!)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/largeimages/364118.jpg

digifish.

The most expensive condom in the world, the Hindenburg Maxum

:lol: You guys are great!

One of the other Freesounders alerted me to Cine City , at about $180 USD delivered these are reasonably priced blimps etc.

http://stores.ebay.com.au/DV-Shop23

EDIT:

You could probaly take the suspension out of this model and simply slip a H4 inside...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Pro-Cine-Blimp-windshield-windscreen-for-small-mic-new_W0QQitemZ120140906297QQihZ002QQcategoryZ15215QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

http://www.dvcity.com/blimp/Picture4.gif
http://www.dvcity.com/blimp/Picture1.jpg

digifish

Hey, that's pretty neat. I did find something that was ridiculously inexpensive and worked. Of course, I had to test my theory. I placed the "clown nose" windscreen over the H4's built-in mics and recorded a test file holding the Zoom just a foot under a ceiling fan running on HIGH. Then I placed a white paper dust mask--yes, the kind with the metal strip you bend over your nose--over the clown nose windscreen. I stretched the elastic down over the end of the H4 and between the two external mic inputs. The mask stayed put, and I repeated the test. The fan wind could still be heard but it was greatly reduced. I think it worked, but I'm not an engineer. Maybe one of you could duplicate my experiment and share your results here. Imagine this: you lose your blimp and take another one out of the package or you buy new package at the drug store!

afterguard
Hey, that's pretty neat. I did find something that was ridiculously inexpensive and worked. Of course, I had to test my theory. I placed the "clown nose" windscreen over the H4's built-in mics and recorded a test file holding the Zoom just a foot under a ceiling fan running on HIGH. Then I placed a white paper dust mask--yes, the kind with the metal strip you bend over your nose--over the clown nose windscreen.

Innovative. The principle of windscreens is simply to create a dead air-space mechanically decoupled from the mic.

The dust protector will do that. You have me thinking now about using a pair of these as limpets over binaural mics placed on a log/rock or something...cool.

I BTW purchased a blimp from Cine City yesterday, will report with pics when it arrives.

The smaller blimp shown above is $130 USD so is not a bad price...may be worth looking into? You will freak out people who know what it is as there will be no mic cable leaving the blimp

digifish.

No kidding! They'll think it's a raygun and that I'm from outer space. Wait a minute! Most of my family, friends and certainly strangers DO think I'm from outer space!

Wav files of my paper mask windscreen tests can be heard in a separate package under my username. You can listen to them and see what you think. How ironic! I looked around several stores for some sort of adaptable gadget and sought your advice here, and all along the solution was right here under ... er, over my nose. :lol:

I made the microphone blimp on the instructables site [the URL listed on the previous page] & I have a Zoom. I'm currently working on a windscreen for my Zoom using a screen tea ball and some furry yarn from craft stores. The trick is latching it on to the metal mic guards.

I'll let you know how it all comes out soon.

I couldn't find fake fur so used a pair of polish bonnets (guess this is the right English name) fixed with glue around the tea strainers. Quick and cheap, as I like... and reasonably effective

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2291/1535279490_7e7cac007d.jpg

Looks great, but attaching one to the H4 so that it makes no noise: that's the next problem.