The Rode Blimp System... a quick overview.

MattinSTL

MattinSTL

Sound Modulator
We talked about it for months... we tried to work out group buys... and finally, in the end... we actually affected the global retail price of these things! (with the help of Guy, from DVestore!) Yeah... really... these were originally $400 world-wide... and our efforts to encourage Rode... to really rock the world with these things... actually paid off!

Man what a crazy few months that was...

Anyway... as some of have already done... I finally got my hands on one... so how is it? Am I as impressed as I thought I'd be? Let's find out:

CLICK > Matt's overall impression of the new Rode Blimp.

This is a bit of a rush job... but I've been putting this off... and I wanted to get something up.

Look for some practical comparisons and demonstrations in the coming weeks... I'll show you why a blimp beats a softie... and why a blimp is obviously superior to a simple foam windscreen... and maybe I'll even compare the Rode directly with a Rycote.

If you don't feel like watching a 7 minute video... I'll just tell you that I'm thrilled with the quality of construction... as well as several cool details in the new Rode blimp...

Considering the price they're able to sell for... I'm even more impressed!

If you check the archives... I've been a vocal advocate of Rode for something like 4+ years now... and I haven't always liked every thing they make... but lately Rode is really hitting it out of the park!
 
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Awesome stuff Matt. Managed to watch the first 20 secs of your vid. For some reason youtube wont allow the rest to load. Ill try a bit later. What mic did you use to record this demo? as well, how much did the price drop?
 
I agree Matt, I'm not a fanboy for any company but if I had to choose I'd be fanboy crazy about Rode. Everything they make that I've had the pleasure of using has been awesome, I used the blimp outside with my old NTG1 in decently high wind last week and was stunned with the results, especially for the price. I've been telling the rode reps here in canada for a while now to tell the company they should make a wireless lav, I would never have to use a single sennhieser piece again if they did.
 
Nice video, -- I really like my RODE Blimp also ... and it works great!!!! Yes, it really works well.

I agree with ecking's idea, if Rode made a wireless lav system... :)
....... these RODE guys are leading the way!

Great job Matt!
 
Thanks guys!

I decided to do this around 8p last night... and it took a couple tries to stick with the points and get it out in one take... I wasn't in the mood to edit :)

I'll post a detail video soon. That will be much shorter with tight close-ups on the points I just talked about.

I don't consider myself a fan-boy of any company... because I will never AUTOMATICALLY like a product of a given brand... I like some Sennheiser mics and hate others for example... but I have liked more Rode products then not. My first experience with Rode was with an NT1... years ago... when I read about Rode kicking ass with an affordably priced studio mic... I think I finally got one when it became the NT1a... and I was instantly thrilled with the sound quality at the price... from there I bought an NTK, (2) NT1000, an NT2000, an NT3, and most recently an NTG-3... for all the studio mics I bought Rode's shockmounts... which were HALF the price of comparable Audio Technica mounts (at the time)...

So yeah... while I don't want to be labeled a fan-boy of a particular company... I guess you could say that Rode has been building a pretty good reputation with me.


MontrealAudio... try it again, it plays fine for me. The mic you're hearing is my AKG ck69(short) just out of frame. My G2s and lavs are in NY with the Fat Monster crew... so I had to use something laying around... it had to be either the AKG or a 416 (look for a direct NTG-3 vs. 416 comparison soon). I actually thought the sound was better then expected, considering the empty, echoey basement... and that shows the point that I constantly make about location sound... the BEST way to get the BEST sound on any location is to make every effort to have the mic JUST outside of frame... get it closer is my motto. I took an extra 3 minutes trying to get the mic JUST BARELY outside of frame.
 
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Thanks, looking forward to the video. Just bought a NTG-3 and was thinking of getting the blimp also.
 
Nice! I like the ending where the furnace kicks in and you just roll with it. That was awesome. Yeah, after all that jazz of the initial price being $399 this is cool to see what a tremendous value the RODE Blimp is at under $300. I'm surprised that people aren't gobbling these up. I think your vid will help get the word out so thanks again for taking the time to put it together. Really, thanks a bunch. Beers are on me the next time I hit St. Louis - my brother is a professional fighter out there, and I sometimes lead DVcreators.net Final Cut Pro workshops at Meramec College, so I'll be out there soon.

Back to the blimp, I only had one gripe about it. It's that there is a little plastic piece for the tail cable that can get lost. Now I understand why they had to implement it. If you are running a Stereo mic such as the RODE NT4 or the Sony 680S, the cable is often thicker, so they made the opening wide enough to fit a wider XLR cable through the little outlet. Smart. The sliding rail system is just cool as hell too. I was just looking at the $800 Sennheiser blimp/pistol grip and you can only position the rings in two screwed down spots.

Our company, DVeStore actually did wind up ordering 50 of these on that original deal from a few months ago. We still have a bunch of them in stock for any DVXusers that would like to get one. And Matt, if you ever need any gear that we sell at a special price, I'll definitely hook you up, that's really cool of you to take your time to put this out there. I'm sure you're a busy guy, so props to ya. :beer:
 
Great overview, thanks for the effort Matt!
On thing: the bungee that secures the fur - could the plastic end knop hit the pole while booming?

Before building decent wireless lavs, Rode should REALLY put out a 500$ mobile mixer!!!
Just some clean preamps and a detailed LED meter, can´t be that hard to come up with:beer:
SD and SQN just don´t fit the bill of HVX crews...
Anyone from Rode hear this? Hello? Heeellooooooooo...?
 
Hi guys,

Thanks so much Matt....

From Rode's website:

"Accommodates most shotgun microphones up to 325mm (12 ¾”) in length"

Does this mean I can't use it for my AKG SE300B/CK 98 ??? Coz it's a total of 14". If not, what are my options?

THANKS
 
Guy, the little rubber tail cord spacer piece could easily be glued in. A tiny amount of clear silicone glue would work well enough to keep it in place so it won't disappear. This glue i'm thinking of would allow one to clean it off the rubber piece later on and return back to the original state without leaving a mess.

I've had mics from a small MK102 mic on up to the medium large shotgun mics in the Rode, even a ME66 coming in @ 12.4". It's a real deal folks!
 
Guy and 10s... Thanks for your comments.

I'm one of the guys that's tired of paying through the nose for things like this, only because we previously had no other choice. Considering how much you (Guy) supported us through the whole group buy attempt, and in helping us to get the world-wide MSRP lowered by $100 (people don't realize how amazing this is... that is incredible that we, with your help, had that power! I wonder how many people buy one of these from B&H, happy that the price is $100 less then it would have been... having NO IDEA your role in even B&H's price! That's why I say buy the blimp from Guy, guys!)... and I'm going to do my part and tell everybody about this thing, and why it's the price it is!

I talked about trying to come up with a decent DIY blimp 4 years ago... and once India started making "economy" blimp systems, I almost wanted to give them a try... just to see if I could recommend them for videographers that are new to good sound. Now EVERYBODY has a really good option... where the construction is FIRST RATE (unlike the India models)... and yet the cost is amazingly low. Rode is quickly becoming the 800lb gorilla at the dinner party.

About the little rubber cable clamp... that seals the cable at it's entry, and also holds the cable firm. When that piece is in place it will not easily allow the mic cable to move through it... and when it's free, you can vary cable length easily... as you'd want to do when going from a shotgun to a short hyper. I don't suggest anybody glue that down! The ONLY time it's any risk to misplace it is when the blimp is open, and even then I have no problems sliding it up and then back down again.

About the bungy closure on the fur... the little plastic bit is like you'd have on anything that works like this... the cable clamp slides down to the fur end, and the soft bungy tails hang free... it's the very same closure on my Rycote BBG, so all I do with the excess "tail" is loosely tie it to the mic cable so that it doesn't move, it's not in the way, and has no chance to hit the pole.
 
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Here's a little closer look at the details of the blimp... I'll probably replace this video on the same exact link (today is Friday the 13th) because I decided to try using an old Sony BW cam that I've had laying around... and I'm not too thrilled with the footy... but it's probably good enough to get the point... the music is a little dramatic... a little over the top for a blimp... if you click this link and the video is in color you'll know it's the newer version... CLICK
 
MattinSTL said:
Here's a little closer look at the details of the blimp... I'll probably replace this video on the same exact link (today is Friday the 13th) because I decided to try using an old Sony BW cam that I've had laying around... and I'm not too thrilled with the footy... but it's probably good enough to get the point... the music is a little dramatic... a little over the top for a blimp... if you click this link and the video is in color you'll know it's the newer version... CLICK
Click to expand...

Heh nice. I have never seen adjustment mechanisms so easy to use. Thanks for taking the time Matt.
 
Sorry for being pushy guys, but what about us noobs with long shotguns like the AKG CK98 or even the AT 4071 or some Senns?

I REALLy want to get the Rode blimp.

Thanks
 
Your AT 4071 (nice mic) is 15.55" or 393.7mm. The Rode Blimp only holds up to 325mm. You'll need to go with Rycote S450 kit. Rycote are very nice but twice the cost.

One thing you should do is contact Rode and tell them you need a longer Blimp, ask them to make a longer version to fit shotguns up to the 20.5" Shure SM89. It might happen!
 
10s said:
Your AT 4071 (nice mic) is 15.55" or 393.7mm. The Rode Blimp only holds up to 325mm. You'll need to go with Rycote S450 kit. Rycote are very nice but twice the cost.

One thing you should do is contact Rode and tell them you need a longer Blimp, ask them to make a longer version to fit shotguns up to the 20.5" Shure SM89. It might happen!
Click to expand...

Thanks 10s!

Sounds like a great plan! What is the best way to contact them, I can't find a general info email on their website.

I hope I'm not the only one needing a longer blimp :thumbsup:
 
I once went to their WEB site and found something like a "service" link, (I can't remember 100%) and I sent a letter asking that it be forwarded to the president of the company; I believe it went through to the top. Rode is a responsive company ready to take on new challenges. They're are still young and full of energy for innovation, not burnt out and disinterested.
 
A while back somebody asked me to show a clip of the blimp in practical use... and another member asked how much difference there is in a softie vs. a blimp... so I threw this together yesterday while it was windy in STL.

RODE Blimp Performance in Wind
 
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