I was also kind of wondering why there was not more of a suggestion of an all in one device like a R-44. It simplifies the number of pieces of gear you must carry around, give you some really nice flexibility as far as channels go, has decent pre amps and if you sold off your R-09
R44 vs MixPreI have an R44 and the preamps are decent, fine in the studio, at the concert or recording mid to loud sources in the field (waterfalls, the sea, trains passing etc) but are not really suitable for 'quietude' nature recording, birds, ambiances etc. Too much hiss at the highest gain settings...the MixPre is by comparison completely silent at the equivalent of the R44's two highest gain levels (where the R44 starts noticeable hiss)...and the MixPre still has more quiet gain to give above that.
Suspension solutions...I also have a pair of Cine City blimps (you can see one being used in some of those screenshots above). The Cine City blimp does a fine job, you just need to be careful with them (a bit fragile).
I recently got a Rode Blimp and it's a much more satisfying solution than the Cine City, from a mechanical/durability perspective. Sound wise, I doubt they could be separated.
Solution 1 Cine City BlimpHere's the NT4 in the Cine City blimp suspension (with doubled rubbers)...
Solution 2: Rode Blimp, Total ~$250 USD?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LNxAjjKH3MSolution 3: Total = ~$120 <- My recommendation!
A Rode pistol-grip ($99) mount + put a Dead Kitten ($20) over your NT4 foam.
The Dead Kitten...
Solution 4: Total =~ $70 A Rode SM3 or SM4 (prefer 3 as you can tighten the pivot mount, can't on the SM4) + Dead Kitten
...and do this...
Problem with the above, the NT4 is heavy and almost bottoming out the SM3/4 mount, so you don't have a lot of suspension travel to play with.
As noted above, I think Solution 3 (Pistol grip + Dead Kitten) is probably the most cost effective and, importantly, light-weight / transportable.
digifish