AV News 189 - August 2012
We tested 'The Growler' which fits onto the following digital recorders:
· Zoom: H1; H2; H4; H4n; Q3
· Alesis: PalmTrack; VideoTrack; TwoTrack
· Tascam: GT-R1; DR1; DR2; DR2-D; DR3; DR4; DR5; DR7; DR8; DR40
· Roland / Edirol: R05; R09; R26
· Sony: D50; M10
· Yamaha: W24; C24
· Olympus: LS-3; LS-5; LS-10; LS-11; LS-20; LS-100
As you will see from the picture it easily attaches to the recorder body using
a drawstring and locking bead enabling a 'one-size-fits-all' solution.
So how does it perform in a
howling gale? Well John tried it out
on an extremely windy day
recording windchimes in the
garden. Firstly without any shield
at all - the recording was unusable
as the wind buffetted the front of
the microphones causing it to
completely overload. Then he
repeated the test with the acoustic
ball that came with the recorder;
the wind sometimes managed to
catch the microphone but in
general the recording was
satisfactory, although slightly lacking in the high frequencies.
Using the 'Micromuff' and even pointing it directly into the wind the chimes
came through loud and clear but more importantly you could hear the
whistling wind reproduced on the recordings without distortion.
Jill owns an Alesis PalmTrack
and also carried out some
testing. The Alesis comes with a
built in grille windshield, which
does seem to be very effective at
cutting down wind noise. The
recorder clearly picked up the
sound of the wind in the trees,
bird song and the sound of a
fence banging in the strong
gusts.
Although you could tell it was
being buffetted by the wind, the
recording was not overloaded or
that objectionable.
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