I'm sure for most, reviewing windscreens is about the most boring thing a person could do. For a borderline OCD audio geek who has freaked out in the field because he just could NOT keep that [expletive deleted] wind out of the takes, this is like sweet redemption!
Setting up the screen
Being of scientific mind, I wanted to make sure our tests here were as complete as possible. As such, I tested four versions of this setup for the most verifiability and comparative information. For the control setup, I used a bare shotgun mic. Then, to show what many people will initially try to use, my second setup was with the foam windscreen that is included with any of Sennheiser’s shotgun mics. (In this situation, the windscreen was designed to fit the ME-66) Then, for the third setup, I went to the K-FLCY-L, to showcase K-Tek’s more basic windscreen option. Finally, for the fourth setup, I went to the Z-FM-M windscreen, to showcase K-Tek’s more comprehensive windscreen option.
I used a Sennheiser ME-66, mounted to a short mic boom stand (for consistency). I then placed the pick-up end of the mic (not the tip of the windscreen) 12" away from a typical household box fan and recorded it on all three speeds (Low, Medium, and High) for each test. When listening to the audio clips, pay particular attention to the bass frequencies. That's where the rumble from our test "wind" is most evident, as there are a lot of mid/high frequencies produced by the fan itself.
