Question about using a deadcat.

Yes, that's normal. However, the better the quality of the deadcat the less you will notice the muffling, but even a bargain basement deadcat won't be all that noticeable as long as you have proper boom technique.

Okay thanks. I am using the deadcat that came with the Road blimp. I have noticed this before and it seems to be a judgement call, but it's better than getting too much wind in the mic. It's not huge muffling, it's mild. But I put it on after the wind picked up. So the first half of the scene didn't have it, cause it wasn't needed, and the second half has it though.

Should I record all the rest of the scenes with the deadcat on, so it matches up and all sounds the same?

harmonica44 said:

I am using the deadcat that came with the Road blimp.

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It's not "Road." It's RØDE (or if you're too lazy to figure out the "Ø" you could, I guess, put RODE).

harmonica44 said:

I have noticed this before and it seems to be a judgement call...

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You've had that thing for nearly a year now, at least. Take some time to get to know any new piece of gear as soon as you get it. Put it through the paces and learn how it works. A year later is an odd time to come to this realization.

I have never had significant high-frequency attenuation issues with my RØDE blimp and deadcat, but there will always be a slight amount with every layer of material you put between the mic and the source. That's physics. The better the material, the less it will affect the signal.

As for finishing out the scene with/out the deadcat, do what you want. Ideally you will go for the utmost consistency in a given scene, but the difference in frequency response is probably not anything that a slight EQ tweak can't solve in post to match the two.

Professionals - with a few exceptions - always use the deadcat indoors and outdoors. Plus, a moving mic/blimp can create it's own "wind" if you have to move it even moderately quickly. It's also practical; you set up exactly the same way every single time. Plus, you are always ready for anything; what are you going to do, stop the entire production so you can put a deadcat on your blimp when a mild breeze comes up? That may be okay on a low/no/mini/micro budget shoot, but when the shoot cost is $10,000 an hour that three minutes to wrestle the deadcat onto the blimp costs the production $500.


Again, why didn't you ask over on Jeff Wexlers forum?

Well I have tested the deadcat before when I got it of course, it's only now that I have heard this. I think it was the wind that was muffling the voices and not the deadcat itself.

But when I go from outside to inside, I switch mics from a shotgun to a hyper anyway, so having to switch the mics, and then putting a deadcat on takes even more time. So I just leave the deadcat alone, after switching to the hyper for indoors since it would take longer.