Rycote have just brought out a new range of shock mounts designed for in vision use. There are several different versions for use with different types of microphone. I tried out the Schoeps CCM version (above) and found the isolation to be very good. The mount has a cable retainer at the back which holds the cable very tight stopping vibration noise being transmitted back up the cable to the microphone. The head can be easily adjusted to the desired angle, and the mechanism is strong enough not to “nod”. The actual suspension is made from flexible plastic which allows quite a lot of movement of the microphone. This does remain quiet though and you have to give the set up quite a shake before noise is transmitted to the microphone.

I thought it all looked rather fragile at first but after seeing Chris Woolf at the IBS training weekend take one of these and twist it round I was very impressed to see it all just swing back into place. He then proceeded to throw it on the floor, which it also survived. It’s also survived being carried around in my rucksack for the last few days along with my spare kit and batteries.

The mounts are designed be used, as the name suggests “in vision”, they suit this perfectly as they look neat and tidy and are very low profile. Their smallness will also make them handy for mounting microphones out of vision where space is tight. All in all a very useful addition to the sound recordist’s kit bag.