Noise due to wind, especially in microphones with pressure gradient capsules, can be enormous, or very slight, or anything in between. Often it varies considerably from moment to moment, though. As a result, protection from the worst case is generally desirable, even if that worst case might occur for only a small fraction of the duration of a recording.
The Schoeps B 5 is a pop screen, not a wind screen. It's designed to prevent plosive consonants ("p", "b" etc.) from creating popping sounds when a pressure gradient microphone is used for close pickup of speech or singing. It isn't designed, nor is it claimed by Schoeps, to give adequate protection from any but the very mildest (i.e. barely detectable) wind. It might give, as a WAG, say, 8 or 9 dB average reduction of noise due to wind. That's 8 or 9 dB better than nothing, sure--but if >25 dB reduction of wind noise is what you really needed, and your recording is ruined, it's hardly any comfort to tell yourself, "it would have been even 8 or 9 dB worse."
There's a whole science around this topic that I have only ever delved into lightly, but one "upshot" is that effective wind protection can't be as small, simple, and close-fitting as we might want it to be--nor as inexpensive, alas. For one thing there needs to be a volume of still air around the capsule, so the windscreen needs to be large enough to harbor that still air. The B 5 D has a small "still air" space built in, and is a substantially more effective variant of the B 5--but it is still essentially a pop screen, not a wind screen. Wind can have intermittent, turbulent currents as well as those more uniform in speed and direction; for that reason the surface of a real windscreen needs a more complex texture, which is why "fur-like" coverings are often used.
It can be instructive to visit Rycote's Web site and look at the products they offer, which are highly regarded by film and video sound recordists.
--best regards
Topic: Knockoff Schoeps BD5 (Read 2664 times)