Review: Rode Blimp windshield (2014) with Rycote Lyre suspension 

Cheers

Tony Infrared Stamp Can't beat the blast of the wind down at Dymchurch!

Great fun now got test the new camera.

Sudipto Roy Hi, thank you. Foam windjammers are practically useless, frankly. I wouldn't bother with one under a blimp. Even if there appears to be no wind, if you're filming outside, I strongly recommend keeping the blimp on. Any reputable microphone will pick up even the slightest hint of a breeze if it's not shielded and in an instant that would ruin your recording. Blimps are designed to be "audio neutral" ie to have minimal effect on the recorded sound; certainly it would be better to have any tiny change on the sound made by the blimp than the ruinous noise made by breaths of wind. Filming inside, however, you can probably take it off as long as there's no air conditioning vents / fans / open doors / other sources of wind.

Thank you. No real tips unfortunately as I agree it's a tight fit. Just make sure one end is pulled fully on and tight before stretching the other end over. Good luck!

There's no such device that does that - how could it, after all, know what sound you want and what you don't? The blimp is purely to reduce wind noise affecting the capsule.

Of course, the shotgun mic inside the blimp, like any shotgun, pics up more sound from ahead of it than from the sides hence you get less "surrounding" sound such as you'd get in a crowd. But that's a function of the mic, not the blimp.

TubeShooterMag Great, thanks! I'm still an amateur filmmaker, with the accent on "amateur" and I want to focus as much on the audio as possible.

wbrock001 Hi; I'll have to dig it and and check. Stand by...

Not sure, sorry. I would advise emailing or calling Rycote directly; I believe they have good customer service and should be able to answer both queries.

caio The suspension inside or the Blimp itself? As far as I'm aware, Rycote make the best suspensions there are and their "Lyre" system is the state of the art. So yes, you won't do any better than that. Regarding the Blimp, it's a close call between this Rode unit and a Rycote equivalent BUT Rycote have just launched a new class of enclosed windshield called the Cyclone and although I haven't tested it, it's supposed to be even better. Should be getting one in soon for test, I hope.

caio I have the original Rode Blimp and use it all the time with Schoeps MK41 hyper, with blimp part on and off and its just fine. The Lyre is supposed to be the best combination of durability and performance currently available...so the new one should be better and the old one works great so no worries mate!

***** Not that I'm aware of but I haven't really used it much since doing the testing. I doubt it would take violent abuse but hopefully it would be handled gently anyway :-)

TubeShooterMag sounds good do you know if there is a way to put on a tripod mount?

***** Not a tripod mount I wouldn't have thought but if I recall correctly (sorry, I do not have the Blimp in front of me as I type this), the handle has a standard 3/8" screw thread which will go onto a normal mic stand (or light stand for that matter) though you may wish to weight the stand legs with a sandbag or similar.

TubeShooterMag cool thanks

Sudipto Roy Hmmm, well it's officially designed for the NTG1-3 series rather than the NT4. That's not to say an NT4 wouldn't fit inside (though I haven't tried it). Then you'd have to use a custom cable coming out of the Blimp instead of the supplied one. I'd give Rode a call or email, they've got good support.

TubeShooterMag Thanks a lot for taking the trouble. I wrote to them (after hearing from you) and they said while the cable can be changed, the new suspension system won't support the NT4 (the old one would, they said). I am wondering if it will support my K6/ME66 either. In terms of length it is fine though. Have asked them but I wonder if they will advice me on a competitor's product :-( Keeping my fingers crossed.

Sudipto Roy My tests were done with an ME66/K6 and it seemed fine.

TubeShooterMag Thanks a tonne. You have no idea how much of a reassurance that is. I am sorry that I cannot use the Amazon link given here because I live in India and importing electronics makes them 3 times more expensive, not to speak of the killer shipping rate. Sincere apologies and thanks once again.

Sudipto Roy Ouch! And I thought the UK's exchange rate from the US dollar was bad... ;-(

I haven't specifically tested it but it should do, I think.

+TubeShooterMag Id like to know this too

+Pete Styles Hey there. The new blimp does NOT fit the nt4. I ended up getting and old blimp on eBay. (You can tell by the handle, the new one is hollow and the old one solid) The next issue was removing the existing cable threaded into the handle. And because the nt4 cable splits into two, I had to take out s piece of the handle so the cable could thread through there. Aside from these small issues, it does work on the old blimp, although I find it very easily pops out of the clips holding it in. (I need to get an Allen key so I can adjust the position of the clips and maybe that will help.) So yeah, new blimp has a different clip and suspension set up which is too small to house nt4. Either mod an old blimp or pay the extra for the one made by rycote)

@@TubeShooterMag Could be an expensive 'I think so'.