Hi Bruce and Rob
Honesty, with my current windscreen design for my NT1A rig, recording in an=
y breeze higher than 7 mph would likely produce excessive wind rumble. This=
may be a consequence of my choice of windscreen fabric. I can often recor=
d sounds of stronger winds as long as they somehow miss my mics. Topograph=
y and ground cover often buffer the wind to manageable levels at microphone=
level. One solution is to find a spot where you can hear that wind without=
feeling that wind. That could be very challenging for an open coastline s=
etting, and especially with the gale force winds that Bruce is interested i=
n recording. Perhaps building a larger wind blind to record from within wo=
uld help.
My recording of wind in the desert sage I made last year by placing WL-183s=
a few feet apart on the ground below a sage brush worked well for the wind=
, though I'm not sure this approach would sound good for surf also.
http://www.rockscallop.org/ear/jh-080425-1700_sage-wind.mp3
John Hartog
--- In Rob Danielson <> wrote:
>
> At 8:00 PM +0000 6/29/09, brucethehoon wrote:
> >Thank you so much for your reply. The number of private email
> >replies I got rather overwhelmed me and as such I didn't get back to
> >the group in my usual speedy manner.
> >
> >To update, I have purchased the PCM-D50, realizing that I really
> >don't care how much this costs, but ruggedness is a factor.
> >
> >That said, as requested below, my first and most important use will
> >be to record one hour or more of waves / surf at a california beach
> >with 30mph winds gusting to 50mph.
> >
> >I will have the unit on a sand compatible tripod (legs buried) and
> >would like to record the EXPERIENCE of being there. While not
> >necessarily suggesting a binaural setup, I would like to play it
> >back later and be fairly able to close my eyes and be there again.
> >
> >If I was able to pack the whole setup (excluding tripod) into an
> >average sized backback, that would be "portable" for me.
> >
> >Spending ANOTHER $300-500 on microphones seems reasonable to me. I
> >can appreciate that it might seem absurd to drop so much in advance,
> >but I would rather take the risk of spending too much money than
> >take the risk of getting a lower quality recording during a once in
> >a lifetime trip.
> >
> >I am using Shure E5C's as my listening method, so I suppose anything
> >they can't play, I don't care about, when it comes to quality :)
> >
>
> Hi Bruce--
> In the $300-$500/pair price range, the rigs that John Hartog and
> variations others have made for Rode NT1-A's have produced striking
> recordings and these ultra low-noise mics provide the ability to
> record very quiet locations too.
> http://www.rockscallop.org/how/barrier10.html Any condenser mic will
> require phantom powering which the PCM-D50 doesn't have. The cheapest
> way to provide phantom powering (with no compromise in quality) is
> with a portable phantom power supply like an Art Phantom II or Rolls
> PB224.
>
> For dealing with steady winds that strong, Rich Peet has some designs
> made with "Shop Vac" filters that work very well. [Contact him
> directly at If you go with a traditional
> zeppelin approach, I'd favor a larger than usual "basket" size with
> 3-4" of dead air space around the capsules, an inner liner made of
> taut panty hose stocking and an outer layer of long pile fake fur (2"
> or longer). Here are some NT1-A ideas:
> http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-reports/Rode_NT1-A_Mics/NT1-A_index.htm
>
> Another thought. Surf and wind are quite loud so you can get by with
> small electret mics and put some energy into making wind protection
> for them. The tiny Panasonic WM-61A's mics are very accurate in terms
> of tonal response and can be purchased in a variety of packages well
> under $100 a pair:
> http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-reports/PanasonicWM-61A_OtherBinauralRigs/=
docs/CompareCommercialLavs_1_2009.doc
> The popular Shure WL-183's are larger and quieter. You'll find lots
> of discussion about the WL-183's in the list archive. These electret
> mics will produce considerable "hiss" if used in quiet locations
> where the record level is turned up high but they are fine in loud
> locations. Rob D.
>
>
>
> --
>
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