Schoeps AC 20 Elastic Suspension

I think this is a significant improvement over Rycote's InVision mount, which has been the standard in recent years. It's good to see Schoeps developing new accessory products and regularly improving their product line. Older Schoeps accessories were often expensive and inferior to competing alternatives, but their newer products are excellent and reasonably priced.

This uses a lyre design from Cinela (Schoeps credit them on the packaging as their design partner) and it works very well. That the Schoeps version is significantly less expensive than the full mount from Cinela is a nice bonus.

It's a beautifully designed and high-quality piece. The bottom of the mount is metal, not plastic, with a finely machined insert for different thread sizes. The suspension itself is solid and firm, and holds the microphone well. That firmness takes some pressure to open, but the design allows for faster and easier swapping of microphones than the Rycote, and less risk of marring the Nextel finish.

My use suggests a significant improvement in noise reduction over the INV-6 mount. It's also smaller and more discreet, making it better on stage and camera, and easier to store.

Note that if using the Schoeps CMC 1, it may be difficult to use this mount together with a windscreen.

Schoeps are a wonderful company making exceptional microphones. I'm happy to see them introduce this product.