Hi Clay,
The Windpac seems to work about as well as the Rycote for wind
resistance. It's a clever system. It's VERY lightweight, probably
half the weight of the rycote. And it's nice that it can accommodate
quite a few mic sizes, I can put an MS setup in there, or maybe my
Schoeps shotgun along with the MKH50. Also has a neat foam raincover
that should work noticeably better than the Rycote in the rain.
The shockmount is somewhat adjustable, three settings for each band,
and it makes a difference, but not 'that' much. But you can adjust it
from slightly loose, to slightly tight. It feels good, fairly strong.
What I'm not keen about is how one has to use it if hand-holding the
mics. There is no handle. There is a small 'finger' grip, and it's
possible to hold it that way, that's what the tell you. Since it is
so light, it should be possible. My main complaint is that the cable
coming out of the windshield itself is then fairly cumbersome. It has
nowhere to go, but dangle and flop around.
And because of those things, the most important things I've noticed
is that it has a LOT of handling noise. Any slight movement of your
hand (which you're constantly doing because of the way you have to
hold it) makes noise, and on mics like the MKH, these are all
audible. Which really means, INHO, it' unusable for hand-holding. I
think it was designed to go on the end of a boom, where the cable
could be secured to the boom pole. This I can see.
But with my Rycotes, I take the mic cables, terminate them in a 5-pin
XLR in the handle, and cover that handle with a tennis grip. Works
awesome to secure the whole cable system. I can quickly connect and
disconnect to the whole system with a single cable, and handling
noise has never been an issue. The tennis grip helps a bit, it's
quieter than just the plastic handle, it help dampen noise a bit.
And in reality, since the Windpac shockmount doesn't collapse at all,
I'm not sure just how much space one is really saving over a Rycote.
I might end up keeping it, just for those times when I want to head
off with a really light system for tripod mounting, take it, the
MKHs, and my 722, and my carbon fibre tripod, would be a very
lightweight system. And maybe I'll get the Rycote for the times when
I want to do more hand-holding of the mics.
I also worry quite a bit that the Windpac will tear. It has fairly
sharp points inside it that push out against the windshield, and
really seems to me it's going to wear through fairly quickly. DPA
assures us that the material is VERY strong, and it might be. But
there's something to be said for 'trusting' the gear, as Bernie said.
I'd probably be too fearful with the DPA for lots of use.
And it was too expensive for what it is, ultimately.
And lastly, a 20/30 combo? Really? So you're actual stereo field of
view is a 180 degrees, don't you find that way wide? An omni with a
figure 8 basically generates an MS stereo image identical to the
pickup pattern of the figure 8. Am curious how you've found it.
Tim
On Aug 19, 2006, at 11:26 AM, cfmspencer wrote:
> --- In Tim Nielsen <> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I bought a DPA Windpac for the MKHs, thinking it would be a great
> > really portable setup, the windshield collapses, the shockmount
> is
> > small. But so far I've found that it's nearly impossible to hand-
> hold
> > the Windpac. It's just too noisy, too much handling noise. And
> since
> > it doesn't have a handle, it's kind of awkward to handle. I'll
> either
> > return it, or maybe keep it for times I know I'm going to stand
> mount
> > the mics, I think it'd be fine for that.
> >
>
> Tim,
> thanks for sharing feedback on the DPA Windpac.
> I'd been looking at these myself and hoping one would
> show up on ebay someday since it's so darn pricey.
>
> does it work well, minus the handling noise?
> my use would mostly be in conjunction with
> a video camera mounted on a tripod (I need my
> hands for the camera controls) and so
> I might could trade off the handling noise
> for small (packed) size and light weight.
>
> I'd be using it with a 20/30 combo for now,
> and either 40 or 50 with the 30 later.
>
> cheers,
> clay
>
>
>
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