Windscreen Foam Sponge or Furry Ball?

LazerBeakShiek

Rad Racing Team
My microphones have come with windscreens made of foam. They help with plosives I cant deny. Would those big woolly hair balls sound better? They look like stuffed animals. Im in. Fur ball me.

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Hair ball audio?
 
The "dead cat/kitten" things are really effective against wind noise outside, and I've only used them on digital recorders and a shotgun mic, i.e., things that are some distance from the source, and not really trying to manage plosives. I suppose they'd help, but I wouldn't ever use one on a stage vocal mic.

The foam is decent for plosives on stage mics and also helps against wind noise, but you have to toss those in the washer (in a mesh bag) periodically. And I kind of shudder when I see them on stage mics at performances where one after another folks get up to use them and proceed to put their lips right on them. (But, I don't know anyone that got ill from one either.) These days, unless it's outdoors and wind is a problem, I'd skip them and just wipe down the SM58's built-in metal screen periodically, and deal with the internal foam between shows.
 
Actually Keith the 'dead cat' is useless against anything but the slightest breeze outside. The only thing that is effective against any wind is a 'blimp' and 'wombat' which is a different animal all together. Please excuse that comparison. :o
 
The dead kitty tickles my nose and makes me sneeze when I sing.

I have used my Zoom H4n with the foam cover. It helps a lot, almost mandatory if you plan to record outside. With a strong breeze you still get some wind noise. I don't have the fur ball to use as a comparison.

I have some pop shields to use for singing. If you don't have one, you can always put a pair of panty hose over a coat hanger and do the same thing.
 
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