In general, if you take the spectrum of directional patterns from omni to figure-8 (with cardioid being smack in the middle), that also tells you the relative sensitivity to wind noise in condenser microphones. Single-diaphragm omni microphones are far less sensitive to wind noise--like maybe 20 - 25 dB less--than comparable cardioid, supercardioid or figure-8 microphones. The same is true with solid-borne sound such as handling noise or mechanical vibration--single-diaphragm omni condensers sometimes don't need shock mounting at all even in situations where a directional microphone would need it badly.
So it really does make some sense to consider which type of microphone is being used. And sometimes, if you know in advance that there's likely to be wind, you might even lean toward using omni or wide cardioid microphones just so that you don't have so much of a problem with it to begin with.
Also, the effectiveness of a windscreen at suppressing wind noise isn't necessarily in any direct proportion to the losses it will cause at the highest audio frequencies. Some windscreens, for example, might reduce the wind noise on some types of microphone by 12 - 15 dB while causing only about 1 to 2 dB of signal loss at 16 kHz. Others might supress wind noise by 25 dB and still only lose 2 or 2.5 dB at the top. Considering the degree of benefit, and the fact that wind noise often can't be filtered out without killing the bass AND the lower midrange--or even all of the midrange--of a recording, I'd gladly accept the protection.
And you can even add back a dB or two at 16 kHz afterward so that you've gained protection without losing anything sonically to speak of--I'd call that a good day.
--best regards
Topic: wind screen on or off? (Read 4925 times)