Review: DPA Windpac

Mention the word ‘windshield’ to any location recordist and you’ll conjure up images of Rycote’s zeppelin-shaped products with pistol grips and fuzzy coats. Rycote has been the unchallenged market leader for years, so it’s interesting to see an alternative on offer – especially when it comes from DPA, a manufacturer mostly known for high quality microphones and innovative ‘Zen-Danish’ designs for clips, shockmounts and other microphone-related hardware.

The Windpac uses a lightweight but strong fabric, almost like Lycra, stretched over a collapsible helix frame to form an avocado shape. The weave of the fabric is the Windpac’s secret sauce, and DPA are tight-lipped about it. You can place your hand on the outside and blow into the inside and feel the wind coming out, but not the other way around. Hmmm…

As expected from DPA, the Windpac contains a clever universal microphone suspension system that can hold two separate microphones. A threaded mounting shaft also serves as a handle, although for hand-held applications some may prefer Rycote’s moulded pistol grip design.

One of the most appealing aspects of the Windpac is the way its helix frame collapses into itself. Considerable joy can be had by simply squeezing the ends and watching it screw itself down into a compact little muffin-shaped package, then releasing it and watching it unscrew to full size again. Fun for all the family, and educational too!

I figured it would be worthwhile comparing the Windpac to the Rycote used in my location recording rig, but how do you test windshields? First of all, you need some wind. Short of hiring a wind tunnel or a politician, I figured I’d wait for the next windy day; but they’re few and far between in Sydney’s winter. Most of the wind comes in August and September, and I couldn’t keep the Windpac for that long. So one Friday afternoon a few months ago motorists all around Sydney were entertained by the sight of a sporty little station wagon zipping up and down the streets with some idiot (er, me) strapped into the back seat, headphones on and arms stretched upright holding a Windpac and Rycote out the sunroof á la Antonio Banderas. This allowed me to create head-on wind conditions exceeding 60km/h, at which point my wrists collapsed…

I decided to test the Windpac and compare it against the Rycote using a matched pair of DPA 4023 cardioids, one in each windshield. After checking there were no unwanted air leaks where the mic cables enter the windshields (which would severely compromise the wind shielding), I matched their gains and recorded their individual outputs onto the left and right channels of my Nagra V. After listening and analysing the recordings in WaveLab, two things became apparent. Firstly, the Windpac in general blocked up to 6dB more wind noise than the Rycote, but their filtering bandwidths differed significantly, giving each a different tonality. Secondly, in non-wind situations, the Windpac passed more useful sound energy in the extended high frequency areas, giving it the higher fidelity sound of the two.

DPA’s Windpac is an innovative and elegantly-conceived solution to the problem of wind noise that all location recordists should consider, either as their only windshield or as an addition to their existing kit. It is sufficiently different to Rycote’s design to prove a worthwhile purchase, and it’s certainly small enough to bring along without adding any significant bulk.

It is common practice for location recordists to leave their microphone(s) permanently mounted inside their Rycotes, ready for action, with the internal shock-mounting and rugged plastic outer shell providing good protection. In those situations some would probably feel more comfortable with the Rycote design, although DPA assure me that engineers are already using the Windpac in this way with no problems. In situations where very light weight and the ability to pack down into an extremely small package are necessary, or where extended high frequency response is desirable (i.e. 96k recording), the Windpac is outstanding.