I Sinned And Got K-Tek Softie Not Rycote, Yikes!

K

Kelly Olsen

Well-known member
(Since I posted this I have seen the light and know that the K-Tek fuzzy is great and I explain why in posts further down but you have to read the set up here first)

OK, I don't really have an excuse. I'm mean, I do, but it may not be good enough.

You see doctor, I had been following as much advice of Matt's and others here (but my sin is mostly against Matt in this case) and I got the Oktava with the hyper cap from Paul at The Sound Room. Then I went and got the Rycote Baby Ball Gag from Location Sound, (which made my wallet gag), but I did it.

Just couldn't fit the K-Tek KSSM shockmount with soft bands into my budget but was able to get Location Sound to sell me the Rode SM-3 which has boom pole and hot shoe mount for almost $100 less than the K-Tek. So I figured Matt would cut me some slack here and let me slide.

Really wanted to get an AT 4073 shotgun but since I will be doing very little outdoor work and still needed to buy lights, pole, lav, computer, etc., I opted for the Rode NTG 1 just to have a semi decent boom in case I needed it and was going to get the Rycote softie to put on it since that has been drilled into my feeble mind.

Then at Samys today where I went to pick up the NTG and the Rycote I found out they don't carry Rycote at all but do carry the K-Tek foam and furry slip on. It looks a lot like the Rycote.

Man was I in a conundrum. "Rycote, Rycote, Rycote" was all I could mumble to the salesman. He said that they were very happy with all of K-Tek products and that they didn't like dealing with Rycote and that the K-Tek furry was just as good.

"Yes, I know K-Tek makes great shockmounts and poles, but Matt nor anybody else on the DVXUSER site didn't say anything about K-Tek fuzzy windscreens", I said.

Sweat was pouring down my back, the room started to spin. I kept mumbling "Rycote", then I heard somebody say, can you give me the Rode NTG AND the K-Tek fuzzy for $300? The salesman said, "Well let me take a look."

It all seems a little faint now but as I recall he came back and said, "OK."

I don't remember driving home but my wife tells me that when I got in the house I was holding a mike and something that looked like a gerbil and I was saying over and over "Must confess, must confess." She thought at first that I had just had sex with a small animal and was feeling guilty.

So doctor, that's the story. Now, did I screw up here by getting a K-Tek fuzzy instead of the Rycote? Will I be ridiculed forever. Will I be cursed by the howling wind blowing through my K-Tek model Z-FSO-S?

Please give me your diagnosis.
 
Last edited:
Normally I'd instruct you to say 3 hail manfreds... but actually I'm quite fond of K-Tek gear... ALL K-Tek gear. I think you did fine... Hey back when I dated Pam Anderson she told me about a pseudo-name she used to use, "Kelly Olsen"... and she said if we ever broke up that she'd go back to that again... since she was still called "Pam Anderson" throughout the Tommy years I figured she dropped the idea.

Let's cut the BS... is that you stalking me Pam?
 
MattinSTL said:
Normally I'd instruct you to say 3 hail manfreds... but actually I'm quite fond of K-Tek gear... ALL K-Tek gear. I think you did fine... Hey back when I dated Pam Anderson she told me about a pseudo-name she used to use, "Kelly Olsen"... and she said if we ever broke up that she'd go back to that again... since she was still called "Pam Anderson" throughout the Tommy years I figured she dropped the idea.

Let's cut the BS... is that you stalking me Pam?
Click to expand...

I think you are just being gentle with me before the hammer comes down. I still have the receipt. I can take it back and go over to Location Sound or Coffey Sound and get the RYCOTE (this is where the thunder sound plays). I mean there has been no mention of the K-Tek softie here. What was I thinking? The only thing Rycote does is make wind protection products. K-Tek makes lots of other things and dosen't specialize in stopping wind. Duhh! It seems so clear now.

As far as being Pam, well, I do have long legs and after my mistake today it is obvious that I am blonde. But now that you mention it, Pam did make a video that is rather famous. And somebody had to be there to record the sound. And Matt, you do sound.

So all the credit that Tommy gets can actually be explained by your K-Tek 9 foot carbon pole being in the shot!
 
Last edited:
the k-tek softie is working very well, cost less what leaves more for the main product - the microphone- no need to buy from robbing barons :-)
 
One of the few things that I want everybody to know about me is that I have ZERO brand loyalty... I only want what works best for the price.

It just happens that K-Tek makes some incredibly nice gear with industry leading fit and finish and that's why I suggest them so often. The simple fact is that K-Tek wind protection wasn't an option back when I bought my softies and blimps or else I certainly would have given them a try. I wouldn't lose a second of sleep over that purchase.

Wind protection isn't rocket science... it just has to be well designed. The K-Tek systems appear to be very well designed as far as I can tell (just like all their other stuff). In the "new economy" there won't be too many monopolies on product categories anymore... when you are on the consumer side that is a good thing. Don't ever feel bad about supporting a relatively small shop when they effectively challenge the old giant.
 
I don't remember driving home but my wife tells me that when I got in the house I was holding a mike and something that looked like a gerbil and I was saying over and over "Must confess, must confess." She thought at first that I had just had sex with a small animal and was feeling guilty.
Click to expand...

This had me laughing raucously out loud at work this morning. My co-workers all think I'm nuts.
 
Joe Kras said:
This had me laughing raucously out loud at work this morning. My co-workers all think I'm nuts.
Click to expand...

Joe, I'm glad that there was some good to come from my transgression!

Kelly (aka Pam) Olsen
 
Well, I have recovered today and now I'm glad this has happened.

After doing some research on the product I really like the K-Tek fuzzy and really like doing business with a family run company that takes pride in their product and customer service. I called them today to ask about the construction and fitting of the fuzzy and they were terrific and now I know I lucked into getting something better and less costly!

And they pay attention to what is going on here on this website because they said, "We know who you are, you bought the fuzzy yesterday at Samy's". I was really shocked. I think it is great that they are interested enough to read these posts. They were very very cool. What a great company!

I suggest that anybody who is in the market for a fuzzy look at K-Tek first. And if you have any questions about their products give them a call, they are a joy to talk to!

Kelly
 
MattinSTL said:
In the "new economy" there won't be too many monopolies on product categories anymore... when you are on the consumer side that is a good thing. Don't ever feel bad about supporting a relatively small shop when they effectively challenge the old giant.
Click to expand...

THe "new economy" actually seems to be eliminating the small manufacturer in most cases- less choices not more. The consumer has less choices, with corporate monopolies of scale taking over... but that's another conversation.

It's good to hear that K-tek is a small family run affair. I have one of their booms (it's great, and a great value), they'll now get more of my business.

I'm just about to order an Oktava- which foam and furry screen did you order for the mic ? Do you have a part number by chance ?
 
Hotchkiss... actually you are correct about the new economy... perhaps I should have clarified. Since I'm not going to move to India for a year and then take permanent residence in China I'm going to make specialized video products instead of doing computer programming. (possible example)

Look at the last 4 years or so... other companies such as K-Tek and Lightwave are suddenly a strong presence in wind protection... whereas Rycote had a virtual monopoly on it previously. I meant to say that there are more people scrambling for the same dollar now then there ever were.

You can get the shortest 20mm Softie you can find for the Oktava... but the best wind protection for that mic is a Rycote BBG. CLICK HERE By the way, check out the price of that thing... and it's nearly HALF the price of a full blimp... do you see why I say that products like that are ripe for some competition?
 
light wave was bought by rycote and flashed to toilet
they killed one good,( maybe better product ) for make few more $ on the monopoly bases

i wish for the day rycote will have the same experience every minut that pass without that happen is black minut for location sound recording
 
Thanks Matt both for the link and your audio input (pun intended ;-) ) on this board . Competition is a good thing, the prices of Rycotes products are ridiculous. I'm glad to see others coming along.

Thanks again
 
Matt (or anyone) , do you also have a link or part number to the K-tek windscreen for the Oktava that Kelly Olsen aluuded to? I'd like to find a cheaper alternative to the Rycote for the Oktava that ordered just moments ago.
 
http://www.locationsound.ca/miac.html
check here there are few products for outside usege , also you can drop line to Manfred at k-tek ask if he have something for short mics .

there is another product from halytek that distributes by trew audio ( fat cat ).
another company which make similar products is http://www.koalawindsocks.com/ from Australia , if iam not mistake Coffey sound representes them in USA
of course you can make foam inside foam what i do with my schoepses when i work outside and make small fur to cover
 
Last edited:
i have a fat cat that i use for the AKG ck93 along with its supplied foam screen. the furry does well but only in minium wind. moderate to heavy winds its pretty useless all though im sure it helps somewhat over no furry at all.
 
hotchkiss said:
Matt (or anyone) , do you also have a link or part number to the K-tek windscreen for the Oktava that Kelly Olsen aluuded to? I'd like to find a cheaper alternative to the Rycote for the Oktava that ordered just moments ago.
Click to expand...

The windscreen purchase that started all this was actually for the Rode NTG 1 shotgun, not the Oktava. The Oktava is very short and has a cap that is larger that the rest of the body so it does not lend it self to a long slip-on foam/fury like the Rycotes or the K-Teks.

I did what Matt has instructed and took out a loan and bought the Rycote Baby Ball Gag which is a round plastic cage covered in cloth. You can also buy a round fury from Rycote to put over that but I did not get it because I don't plan on using the Oktava outside in strong wind.

The K-Tek foam/fury is for the shotgun mikes or longer boom mikes and it comes in 3 lenghts and in three forms. You can get it as combined shockmount/fuzzy to put on boom pole or a combined hotshoe shockmount/fuzzy or just a slip-on fuzzy by itself which is what I now have for my NTG-1. Just go to Mklemme.com and take a look.

And the K-Teks slip-ons costs less than the Rycotes. Also the K-Teks slip-ons don't have that rubber gasket at the end like the Rycotes which can get in the way of some shockmounts.

You can also just get a small foam ball for the Oktava for indoors but Matt has convinced me that the over priced Rycote Baby ball Gag is the way to go for the Oktava (plus it looks very high end).

If you do get the BBG you really need a shockmount that is VERY short because after you stick the Oktava inside of the BBG you have very little mike left to put in the shockmount. So that means getting the K-Tek K-SSM (make certain it is the SSM not SM) which is short enough for the Oktava. I am using a different shockmount so I have to put a plastic tube extension at the end of the Oktava to make it a couple of inches longer so the mike will come out further to the end of the inside of the BBG. If you have the K-Tek SSM this will be less of an issue.

But like I said before, if the choice is between two items that do the same thing go with the K-Tek whatever the item is. You will be supporting a small family run company with great service and great products which are all made here in the U.S.

Kelly
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top