Wind Protection

S

spratocaster

New member
Hi,

I am in the market for a zeppelin system for use with an AT 4073a. It seems that the Rycote modular system is the standard high end system. However it is a bit out of my price range. I have been looking at the following, but finding information on them is a bit more difficult (and of a lot of the threads are 4+ years old).

1. Rode Blimp -- Consensus seems to be that they are well made but heavy. May put a hrting on me by the end of the day.

2. K-Tek KZEPP -- I haven't really found much information on this system.

3. Rycote S Series (S300) -- Seems to get good reviews overall but there is some question about it's performance in strong wind

All of these are in the $300 price range. For those of you who have used these, what did you like and dislike about these? If you were buying one what would you get?

Thanks.
 
The K-Tek zeppelin is the only one with microfiber that lines the furry. This pretty much allows it to be used in extremely high wind situations. I just had a customer in the shop last week that said he was using it in an 80mph wind tunnel with no issues. Microfiber is key to really cutting down wind noise because sometimes the furry just isn't enough.
 
davefisk said:
The K-Tek zeppelin is the only one with microfiber that lines the furry. This pretty much allows it to be used in extremely high wind situations. I just had a customer in the shop last week that said he was using it in an 80mph wind tunnel with no issues. Microfiber is key to really cutting down wind noise because sometimes the furry just isn't enough.
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How does the microfiber effect the sound? I tried looking for more information on the k-tek website, but it appears to be a bit out of date and doesn't have any mention of it.
 
It doesn't effect the sound at all. It was chosen out of a wide variety of materials to be as aurally transparent as possible. If it had a negative effect, we wouldn't use it.
 
I have a k-tek zepplin model Z-FZ-M and for the money, I think it performs well. It is smaller and more convenient than a full sized blimp-zepplin from Rycote or Rode which can be a real benefit when traveling light. It isn't as good as a full size rig on a real hootin windy day. I have used it in some difficult circumstances and it has been pretty effective. I leave my #2 shotgun in it with the wired handle shown in the linked photo. The rig stays in my cam bag full time with a shorty pole so I always have a mic ready to go without carrying my whole sound kit. I couldn't do this with a full size zep.

Grant

http://www.mklemme.com/pole/Zeppelin.html

Edit: I have the Rode Blimp also for my NTG-3 and as you suspected it is a bit heavy. Not a real problem for me as my setups are usually pretty short. If I were looking for a full size zepplin, and were going to use it all day long, the Rycote would be a better choice.
 
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The full Rycote kit is the best.

If you can't afford that, I would use the S-series.

The Rycote patented "Lyre" shockmount is the best there is.
 
John Willett said:
The full Rycote kit is the best.

If you can't afford that, I would use the S-series.

The Rycote patented "Lyre" shockmount is the best there is.
Click to expand...

No denying that the full Rycote Windshield Kit is considered the standard. However, since that is not in my budget, is the Lyre shockmount so much better then the K-tek KGPS mount that it's worth giving up the extra wind protection that the KZEPP offers over the S Series? Or am I completely wrong in my line of thinking that the KZEPP outperforms the S Series in wind protection?
 
spratocaster said:
No denying that the full Rycote Windshield Kit is considered the standard. However, since that is not in my budget, is the Lyre shockmount so much better then the K-tek KGPS mount that it's worth giving up the extra wind protection that the KZEPP offers over the S Series? Or am I completely wrong in my line of thinking that the KZEPP outperforms the S Series in wind
protection?
Click to expand...

Yes the "Lyre" suspension is better than anything else - and it's patented so others can't copy it.

Wind protection is done by the volume of trapped air. The larger the volume, the better the protection.

I can't say if the S-series is better than the K-tek in high winds or not. I do know it's very good and only a tad worse than the full windshield kit.

You also need to think about how you will use it yourself and how often you are likely to be recording in hurricane-like conditions.

Personally - I would get an S-series and get an extra Windjammer to pit over it if I was recording in a hurricane.
 
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