Boompoles with coiled cables. Are they noisey?

[Les Wilson]

I'm looking at an upgrade to my boompole and blimp. I've settled on the Rycote S-Series. The Rycote A5CC boom pole looks interesting with it's built-in coiled XLR. Speed matters.

Anyone used this boompole? Are poles with builtin cables any harder to control handling noise made by the cable? TIA

[Chris Medico]

I have a k-tek with an internal cable and side exit and it is not noisy at all. Sure if you are rough with it you can get some noise but if you use it within the normal handling parameters it is silent.

Take a look at a side exit for the main section. It may save you a bunch of broken XLR cables.

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Les Wilson

I'm looking at an upgrade to my boompole and blimp. I've settled on the Rycote S-Series. The Rycote A5CC boom pole looks interesting with it's built-in coiled XLR. Speed matters.

Anyone used this boompole? Are poles with built-in cables any harder to control handling noise made by the cable? TIA

Internal cables are an American thing and are popular in the USA.

In the UK we tend to use external cables to reduce handling noise.

Internal cables can be OK, but a cable problem means that you lose the boom and they can get noisy over time as the internal foam disintegrates.

But the Rycote *is* a good pole and the price is reasonable.

[Les Wilson]

Originally Posted by Chris Medico

I have a k-tek with an internal cable

Glad you mentioned the K-Tek. They have a nice one for traveling (79CC). But best I can tell, it has the usual twist mechanism vs the Rycote one that seems to take less twisting. My current inexpensive pole is a pain to grip the stationary part in order to twist unlock. I assume the Ktek is a higher quality. How's the K-Tek twist mechanism?

[Chris Medico]

I've not had any problems with the section locks. They have a texture and are pretty easy to grip. You don't need to put a lot of pressure on them to tighten them up. If you do they are difficult to loosen.

[James Kuhn]

+1 for K-Tek. I've got one and have had no issues. However, if you did experience 'noise', you can always 'by-pass' the internal, coiled cable and wrap the XLR cable around the exterior. Best of both worlds.

J.

[Marco Leavitt]

When I first bought my K-Tek internally cabled pole I was very alarmed at how the cable seemed to rattle when I moved it, but in practice it has never been a problem. It takes a pretty good shake to make it rattle, and in that case your mic would probably flop around on the shock mount and make even more noise.

[Ben Longden]

Not so much noisy, but hard to manage being tethered physically to the camera..
I use a radio transmitter plugged into the grip of the Rode Blimp, on or off the boom pole.

Ben