K-Tek SoftZep $275.00 List!?!?!

That appears to be the one manufactured by Reinhardt that was discussed on DVInfo a while back. It's basically just a big chunk of foam with a hole in it for a mic. There's no shock mounting of any sort. You'll note they never make any mention of handling noise in their copy, only wind noise.
 
I own one and here's a shot of it....

http://gearninja.com/ADS/SoftZepII.html

I love it and think that this is the way to go forward for ease/speed of use. There is a shockmount. The contact point between the mounting rings and the blimp is wiggly. That's much more shock mitigation than anything other than sloppy rubber bands that I've ever used.
And the open cell foam is not your garden variety either, the cells are about 2-3 times the size of 'regular' open cell used in windjammers. That means more audio transparency but the same great physical heft. And in all honesty, being bale to move my mic from this blimp to emergency interview hand-held to on camera without dealing with time consuming traditional shock mounts is well worth the price of admission. The fur is supper soft, as it should be. Absolutely no complaints as I bury the whole of my mkh 416 into it- so no issues with wind noise on an exposed butt end of the shotgun scenario.

More K-Tek
http://gearninja.com/Images/ZoomH4N_scrn.jpg
 
Thanks for your real world experience with it Zephyrnoid. Nothing like hearing from someone who has used it on real shoots.

Dan
 
puredrifting said:
Thanks for your real world experience with it Zephyrnoid. Nothing like hearing from someone who has used it on real shoots.

Dan
Click to expand...

What's a REAL shoot? I don't show my work because most of it is proprietary. If you want to pay me to document in use, I'll happily take your dough :grin:
 
Easy does it Zeph; Dan was thanking you....

I wonder how this compares to the K-Zep. The K-Zep which seems similar in concept, has worked great for me. I wonder how this compares?

I haven't used a real blimp, so maybe I don't know what I am missing.

Grant
 
It is hard to tell the difference between the K-Zep and this new one. Looks like maybe the k-zep has the traditional cage with foam caps and the soft zep is without a cage and one molded piece.
 
Jordan,

The K-Zep has a wubber band suspension at the back, like half a KSSM and the mic inserts into some kind of foam block at the front. A cat then swallowed the foam and most of the mic and died. FWIW, the K-Zep has proved itself to me in some very stiff breeze and done real well with regard to handling and wind noise. I don't know how much it degrades the sound quality compared to a blimp. For me, that would be the only reason to upgrade. Could anyone offer an opinion on the sound quality?

The Very Best Regards,
Grant
 
Hehe, clearly K-Tek needs to be more creative in their product names. That fuzzy looks like it covers up a lot more of the mic than most do. Do you find the integrated shockmount to be sturdy enough so the mic isn't bouncing/wobbling around?
 
Jordan,

Disclaimer: though I pretend to do sound on my own productions, I am not any kind of professional sound fella. Having said that, I have been very happy indeed with this thing. The mic doesn't warble per se, but the whole mounting scheme is pretty flexy. But I have noticed zero handling noise because of it. And as I mentioned, in a stiff breeze, it has performed well. I purchased it on the recommendation of Mr. Klem who is the "K" in K-Tek. Today, for a few bucks more, you can get the Rode blimp, and that is no doubt a better choice given the more elaborate suspension - versatility. But for the price at the time, it has been a great product.

Grant
 
Yeah, Rode stepping into the market at such a low price point has got to be killing the sales of higher cost fuzzies like that.
 
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