The Sony D50 is a great little handheld portable recorder. If you are using it outside, unless it’s the stillest of still windless days, you will need some form of wind protection for the microphones. Normally these are womble/dead cat fur affairs that you slip over the top of the D50 like a hat.
In my experience using the Sony version, I found that in terms of wind protection it made the recorder useable outside but it was still sometimes vulnerable to wind noise, plus it’s not difficult for the hat to come away from the recorder.
All round protection
If you were out with a pro mic rig, like a pair of Sennheiser MKHs, they would be in shock absorbing cradles and enclosed in a basket or blimp, with the whole thing wrapped in womble fur to shield the mics from airflow. Of course what this rig does as well is offer some wear and tear protection for those expensive Sennheiser microphones.
"Are you from the Baa Baa Cee?"
So wouldn’t it be cool if someone came up with an all in one wind protection “jacket” for the D50. Well luckily for us Sony D50 users, “the windcutter.com” in the USA, have done exactly that!
The Windcutter StormChaser
Appropriately called “Stormchaser” these jackets completely enclose the D50 with fur protection all the way around. There’s a vinyl window for monitoring record levels and access to front panel control as well as velcro openings on the sides for cables and adjusting the record level and headphone amp.
In a recent storm we had here in the UK I took my D50 and stormchaser jacket out for a test. With a bit of drizzle in the air it was reassuring to have the D50 protected from the raindrops by the vinyl front cover. Below is the recording of the wind I made. Whilst you can’t hold the D50 straight into the eye of the fiercest gusts and expect to get no rumble whatsoever, the results are very impressive.
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My Sony D50 now permanently lives in it’s new “Stormchaser” jacket home.
More details from thewindcutter.com
