Wind is very often the recordist´s enemy. Especially if the rumbling noise of „hammering membrane“ is not acceptable.
Some recordists may say this rumbling noise is just normal. Everyone will hear similar rumbling noise when they stay in wind.
For me it sounds like „clipping distortion“.
Wind protection is one of the most important thing for nature recordings, especially in the country where wind below 3m/sec. is almost unique.
I have tried several wind protections. My own, Rode Blimp and Rycote Softie and Modular series. All of them sounds similar. So it was welcomed when Rycote introduced the Cyclone windshield. Cyclone have Floating Basket Suspension, which is very nice. Until now, it has been only be used in the overpriced Cinela products.
Rode NT1a is one of the best cardioid microphones available today for nature recording. But sadly it is not build for outdoor use, so it has some poor futures like handling noise.
So when I choose it on the field, it has been important to keep it in Rycote modular windshield, place it close to the ground (sadly very often too close) and pray for completely calm weather. Then pray again for nice outcome.
I per-order a pair of Cyclone mini windshield last summer and got it in mid September. My plan was to fix them with parallel MKH20/40. But I also gave my modified NT1a a try when I saw it was almost „plug and play“ to fix it .
Without fur Cyclone was not far from to be equal to Rycote modular series with fur. But when Cyclone was dressed in fur the rumbling noise almost disappeared in wind around 5-7 m/s. That was a huge success.
Following recording is a short part of overnight recording from Stafholtstungur, in the west of Iceland. The gust goes up to ca. 7m/sec. and the recorder HPF was set at 80Hz. The rig is about 1 meter above the ground.
Some rumble noise is audible in this recording, but some of it could as well be a vibration from the tripod. Keep it in mind this is NT1a which is particularly sensitive for handling noise.
I will spend more time to test this setup but it looks like I need to order another pair for my MKH20/40 rig.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid level.
(265kbps / 36Mb)
Recorder: Sound devices 744
Mics: Rode Nt1a NOS setup
Pic: Canon EOS-M
HLJÓÐMYND - SOUNDIMAGE 
A difficult decision has to be made about how much protection should be provided to avoid wind buffet and low frequency rumble, which often leads to the inevitable clipping and distortion; before the recording lacks ‘presence’.
I suppose there is a certain threshold of wind speed above which it is not worth going outside to record, irrespective of how much protection you can provide, I suppose it is subjective.
Are my ‘old’ ears now playing tricks with me, or do you feel there is a certain lack of ‘presence’ with this particular recording, as if listening in to the recording, rather than actually standing in the wind and the soundscape being recorded?
Personally, I don’t mind wind buffet & rumble, it’s annoying at times but I’ve learnt to live with it; not my excuse for being unable to prevent it, but for me it does add character and certainly helps to remind me when listening years later of that particular occasion!
Yes, I agree. It is always difficult to decide how much wind protection should be use.
I am used to use as little protection as I think I can, because every new layer of protection will filter out small details, so it will loose sound quality.
I like to record in all weather condition. Wind and heatwaves will change behavior of sound waves, so for sure it can be sometimes a question if it is worth to record.
The weather condition change almost every hour, so therefor I have been more keen to record in many hours.
The following recording is not a quality recording. It sounds a bit out of phase, probably because of wrong angle and distance between the mics. But anyway it gives me a better result than I expected.
For the first time it looks like I have found useful wind protection for NT1a. Even with this double wind protection the „sound transparent“ is pretty good. It is better than expected when listen to the „leaf flaps“ and birds in far distance.
I somehow wish I could agree with you about the rumble. It would be so much easier. But probably it is a part of my game in field recording to avoid the „mechanical rumble sound“ as much as I can.
Hi, nice recording! Do you have an picture of your setup available? Best regards Tobias
Thanks Tobias
No sorry, I do no have any picture. The rig was put up when it was dark.
But the setup is close to be in NOS (30cm/90°)
The „stereo image“ is slightly too narrow in this recording . It could be either because the NOS setup was not correct or because I am too close to nearby wall (around 5-7 meters) and therefore I got some sound reflection.
This winter I will make some „T bar“ with fixed mic setup for Cyclone, so in the future the setup will be always correct.