In this test I attached the "clown nose" windscreen to my Zoom H4 and then placed an inexpensive white paper face mask over the windscreen. (Yes, this would be the device with the little metal band you bend over your nose.) I extended the elastic over the end of the H4 and placed it between the external mic inputs. Then I held the recording H4 up to within a foot of a ceiling fan turning at high speed. The mic sensitivity was set to most sensitive. I may have moved the H4 toward the center of the fan before snapping my fingers, but you can hear the fan motor and even my breathing over the considerably reduced wind noise. I think I could simply place another mask over the first to muffle the wind completely.
Type
Wave (.wav)
Duration
0:32.914
File size
5.5 MB
Sample rate
44100.0 Hz
Bit depth
16 bit
Channels
Stereo
Comments
14 years, 5 months ago
Awesome!
18 years, 5 months ago
But seriously, there's more space, dead air, to the left and right because the mask shields a larger area than the width of the H4. Yes, I wish the mask looked more like a blimp. I'm looking seriously at the tea strainer devices, but someone's going to have to do some soldering to make a convenient bracket to attach one of those tightly to the H4.
18 years, 5 months ago
That's where my other hobby, sailing, comes in handy. I just make sure the source of the sound is always to windward. Just kidding. No, I haven't tested that yet; pollen's up here, and I had to use the blimp as a dust mask. Just kidding. I'm thrilled that so many bright people are taking this opportunity to work on the H4's wind problem. It bothers me that the company that makes the Zoom H4 hasn't offered their design. But maybe they're not listening.
18 years, 5 months ago
Great to see some experimentaton. I suppose the question I have now, is the performance of the dust-mask when the wind is coming from various angles...your sound source isn't always up-wind :)
