Topic: Shure big ass wind screens

[BusDriver]

Movo 'ballistic' series screens are available in many sizes.    Order direct.

https://www.movophoto.com/collections/windscreens/products/wst-premium-ballistic-nylon-windscreen

[voltronic]

Gutbucket,

I do not think the rubber cuff on on the Movo screens is stretchy enough to go over the business end of your X-8. It fits very tightly around 20 mm mics. The inside is also not really foam, but that springy plastic sponge material. It compresses and springs back to shape just fine, but it doesn't feel to me that it would stretch much at all without tearing apart.

For your DPAs, I cannot imagine you would need something with greater depth than the WST50, unless I missed something in your description.

As for sealing the rear - I happened to be at the homebrew store today picking up supplies, and there were bins of drilled rubber stoppers / bungs of various sizes. You might be able to find one that has a center drilled hole of the right size to fit those mics (or you could easily enlarge it) and also an outside diameter to seal the rubber cuff on the screens.

[Gutbucket]

If necessary I can cut a small slit in the Movo rubber cuff to get the X-8 through.  Might also need to cut a notch to accommodate the 4098 gooseneck.  I think the springy plastic low pore-count foam you mention inside the Movo is the same as what is inside the BAS.  Primary difference, other than the Movo's rubber cuff, is BAS using an exterior foam shell with a high pore-count verses the fabric (or fur) shell of the Movo.  I modified the internal foam of the BAS a bit to better fit the X-8 head so that it would not compact the foam too much.

Here's a photo of the Mid/Side pair combination of X-8 & 4098-
 


The only significant difference between this photo and my current implementation is that the X-8 is supported by a mic-clip rather than being taped directly to the mic-bar.  To get the two capsules vertically aligned, you can see how the interference tube of the 4098 extends forward of the capsule head of the X-8, making the assembly longer than either the 4098 or X-8 alone, so a somewhat longer Movo is likely to be needed for this position.  I'll order a few to play around with the single 4098 positions first before I move forward with this more complicated one.

Yes a rubber stopper may work well for the single 4098's.  Could use a double hole stopper, or drill a second hole to fit it onto the short antenna mic-bar which supports it, about the same diameter as the microphone.

[Gutbucket]

Shure A81WS / Movo WST100 comparison-

I received a Movo WST100 yesterday.  Externally, it is almost exactly the size as the Shure A81WS (aka Shure big ass wind screen), maybe a centimeter longer.  Internal depth is quite different however.  The Movo is 4" (100mm) deep while the Shure is 2.5" (65mm) deep.  Difference is due to the Shure having a thicker piece of internal large-cell foam at the front end of the windscreen, preventing insertion of the mic as far as it can be inserted into the Movo.  The Shure design helps keep the mic diaphragm properly centered in the windscreen.   With the Movo one can insert the mic farther, but shouldn't if looking for best wind noise reduction performance, as there would then be considerably less less dead air space at the end of the mic, on-axis directly in front of the diaphragm, than there is out toward the sides. 

This may explain the Movo not working as well as it can for some folks.  When using them in very windy conditions don't push them on as far as they will go, but rather only so far as to achieve about the same thickness of windscreen all around the capsule. [edit- or rather, somewhat more in front than the sides.  The Shure encapsulates substantially more dead air space in the front than the sides, something like twice as much.  That kind of distribution is something commonly seen in the design of slip on foam windscreens, and something I've always wondered about]

The tl;dr- in the Movo lineup it appears that the number following WST is the intended insertion depth in millimeters.. yet one can insert the mic farther if needed, likely the risk of less wind noise suppression.

[Gutbucket]

The Movo is nicely constructed.  The rubber cuff is more flexible than I expected.  I don't think I'll have a problem getting the X-8 mic head through there, but I'll be sending this one back as it is longer than I need, and will wait to receive a shorter one before trying to do so.

[voltronic]

The Movo is nicely constructed.  The rubber cuff is more flexible than I expected.  I don't think I'll have a problem getting the X-8 mic head through there, but I'll be sending this one back as it is longer than I need, and will wait to receive a shorter one before trying to do so.

Thanks for sharing your report on the WST100. I am curious to hear what you find in regards to HF attenuation (or lack therof). Besides the better wind protection, that was the other big benefit I found with the Movo WST compared to all other windscreen types I had tried previously.

[Gutbucket]

Will do, once I reconfigure and tape something in windy conditions.

Here is a visual comparison of WST80, WST100, and A81WS.  The paper strip indicates the "just touching" internal depth of each.  A microphone can easily be pushed in somewhat further with the Movos.  WST100 is about 1cm longer overall than BAS externally, WST80 a bit less than 1cm shorter.

[Gutbucket]

Ordered five WST50 direct from Movo to try in place of the BAS before a weekend of recording but they mistakenly sent WST100s instead.  Returning them today for the 50's.  I asked if WST60 or 70  might be available as those are likely to be a more optimal fit for my use, but was told those have not been made in years and there is no remaining stock.

I did use a single WST80 in place of BAS in the center M/S position in my rig.  In trying to stretch the rubber cuff to get the head of the Naiant X-8 through it I ended up ripping the cuff, but just gaff taped that up.  There was no significant wind all weekend so no test on that account.  I will listen to see if I can hear any difference in high-frequency attenuation in that center M/S position in comparison to other recordings made in the same venue, but the PA was changed and the mix sounded brighter listening live with earplugs out, so a good feel for response differences will have to come later..