r/LocationSound • u/noetkoett • Aug 18 '26
Gear - Tech Issue Rycote Stickies suck now?
Anyone recently buy these? Despite Bubblebee Stickies being very good and sometimes better to stick on clothing so that it doesn't show through, I've really liked Rycote for bag work, you can for instance keep the ziplock package between your recorder and the sound bag divider for easy access for quick fixes. However recently I fished through my accessories for a package, and I'm not sure when I bought it actually but this time the stickers were darker than the usual grey, and to my annoyance found out that when removing the mic, the adhesive layer of the stickie tended to peel off to the Bubblebee concealers I'm using and in some cases to the actual wardrobe. Also they're more finicky to actually peel off the sheet for usage.
Anyone buy them recently, is this near-black stickie the new norm? Hoping it was just some unfortunate trial run that's since been reversed.
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u/mjreaudio Aug 18 '26
Rycote suck in general now, products have gone downhill massively and business practices are shady. Tons better companies/products out there for virtually everything they do.
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u/Run-And_Gun Aug 18 '26
The Vitec curse. Buy a great company, then prioritize corporate profits over the product.
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u/noetkoett Aug 18 '26
Yes I've read, I thought they might've at least something as simple as stickers alone but guess not.
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u/Maikele_ Aug 18 '26
Yeah we changed over to Viviana a year or so ago, they’re slightly thicker but can actually stick a whole day
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u/Shlomo_Yakvo Aug 18 '26
You’re not crazy, I had a bag of the grey ones that worked great, bought another bag a few months later and they were the black ones. Bought another small bag to confirm, (the listing was the grey ones) and they did indeed get completely replace by the black ones.
They’re awful, switched to the bubble bee full time and I still have some of the black rycotes 4 years later I use them so infrequently
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u/whoisgarypiano Aug 18 '26
I used them when I was starting out but stopped once better options became available. At this point the only Rycote product I prefer over the competition is their blimp.
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u/BeatsByiTALY Aug 18 '26
yeah they're no very sticky tbh, I prefer super stick. I cut a single strip into 4 or 8 pieces depending on the mount on the lav
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u/BarMountain7 Aug 18 '26
Super stick it is the best. The small strips are perfect if you use 6060s with any of the most common mounts.
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u/Kryptic13 Aug 18 '26
I haven't liked them as much since they changed. I like using Viviana stuff now. It's a little bit more expensive but they stick very well.
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u/stupidN00bie sound recordist Aug 18 '26
I'm a fan of either Topstick, or just plain off the shelf medical tape. Topstick is great for skin contact, and medical tape for fabric if they have an adhesive allergy (or they say they do because ripping it off pulls hair)
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u/noetkoett Aug 18 '26
Sure, but all this is fussing with scissors and the like so this is why I'm lamenting the state of the Rycotes, it is (or rather was) often literally 10-15 seconds to replace a fallen sticky.
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u/dtism Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
The ones that come in a packet in sheets of 16 or so were never that great IMO. I always liked the Rycote Advanced ones and the sticky circles that came in bags of 100.
Haven’t been using them as much lately though as have been mostly using minimounts and therefore just cut supertape straight off the roll.
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u/Peaks_n_Valleys Aug 18 '26
I just bought some older model rycote stickies on eBay, basically about 100 or so of them that were left over from a sound man’s kit. I got them for pretty cheap. I would suggest this route if you wish to acquire any more Rycote stickies. I also think Redding Audio has a stash of the older ones that they sell with all the other Rycote b-stock and liquidation items on their website. I was going to buy one of the Rycote mic flags and some other odds and ends from them.
If you want an alternative that I’ve been using look into the Copkim stickies available on Amazon. This Reddit is very anal about posting links, so I’m not even going to bother with the link here since my phone will ONLY give me the Amazon short link. But if you search for “Lavalier stickies” they should show up in the first 4-5 results on Amazon. There’s also the Canfon undercover sets that should show up from the same search results, these are much more like the Rycote because they come with the foam layer. The copkim’s are just a double sided clear stickie but I really like using them. one thing about them though, they stick VERY well, maybe too well in some situations. So if you want a little less stick, stick them to your jeans or sound bag a couple times first to dull the adhesive a little. And when you peel them off, it’s best to get your fingertip or nail under the side a little and then pull off when you have a good grip.
Personally, I like Ursa and Bubblebee products but they’re just kind of expensive for what they are.
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u/noetkoett Aug 19 '26
Meh, none of these are really an option for me in Europe, German Amazon not showing those stickies, and also don't care about the felt layer just the stickies. Ebay stuff not listing which version it is and I'm not sure I can even deduct that for my business. But cheers!
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u/Peaks_n_Valleys Aug 22 '26
Well there are plenty of UK based companies that sell stickies. Why not buy your stock from one of those? I’m really glad I don’t live in Europe, I think it would be a difficult place to be a filmmaker on a budget. Amazon, eBay, Craigslist, and FB marketplace have been instrumental in building my sound equipment arsenal at a low cost. I love finding cheap alternatives for things that normally carry a hefty price tag.
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u/noetkoett Aug 22 '26
Where do you think I'm sourcing my stickies and stuff from? Not UK to be precise since they're not in the EU any more but of course I'm buying from local companies, that was never the question.
Of course you can find cheap stuff here as well, I mean EU has like 30% more people than the U.S., though of course the industry is smaller and 2nd hand trading might be more in local circles. One reason I don't do eBay and other things so much is that unless I buy from a company it's not as beneficial to myself also as a business owner, missing out on some deductions.
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u/Peaks_n_Valleys Aug 22 '26
Can you expand on your answer? Why would buying on eBay negate being able write off the expense?
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u/noetkoett Aug 23 '26
Actually that was wrong now that I think about it, you can but there might be issues with deducing VAT (European consumer tax meant but businesses can deduct them, in short) as eBay doesn't list that so you don't get a VAT invoice.
It does however make a difference in what might or might not be worth it to buy from eBay. Since VAT depending on the country is around 20-25.5%% if a private person (so someone not able to deduce VAT at all) was selling a mic for instance and wanted to get 75% of the price they paid for it, for a sole trader/company this would still be quite close to the price they would buy as a new one. This would also affect a direct sale (without eBay involved) since while a private person can write a freeform receipt of a trade, they cannot produce a VAT invoice.
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u/Vuelhering production sound mixer Aug 18 '26
They've pretty much always sucked. Sounds like you got some that suck worse.
When they get older, the adhesive comes off and separates from the disc. If they get cold the adhesive stops working, permanently. If they get hot the adhesive stops working permanently. You have to start to peel it first or you're not guaranteed it will peel from the backing—sometimes it's permanently glued.
Overall they are as disappointing as craft services with bad coffee. I moved away from using these to just using moleskin, top stick, ursa circles, and transpore.
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u/AGR-Audio Aug 19 '26
Have you looked into the Viviana brand?
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u/noetkoett Aug 20 '26
I know of them of course. Am looking at other options as well, probably just going with Bubblebee for workhorse stockers since the Vivianas are quite a bit pricier.
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u/AGR-Audio Aug 20 '26
Bubblebee are great too, either one you decide to go with you can’t go wrong.
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u/noetkoett Aug 20 '26
Yeah I am familiar with them, just the Rycote form factor with the sheet is (or rather was, now) much handier.
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u/michaelphon3 Aug 24 '26
Crazy that I've only now come across this post because I was messing around with the exact stickies earlier today and felt like the felt coverings that came with it were quite cheap. Do you know any good alternatives?
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u/noetkoett Aug 25 '26
You've bought Rycote Undercovers it seems. Those things weren never any use if you ask me - they were supposed to cut down on clothing noise on the mic but didn't do any such thing, unless maybe if you taped them to the inside of a shirt with the felt facing skin.
You want to get a concealer like a Bubblebee concealer for your mic, a reusable rubber housing you put the mic in, then tape that with stickies (Bubblebee also makes their own, they're a bit different but good). Another alternative is overcovers, lil furries you use to sandwich the mic, like the felts but instead synthetic fur. Much better for clothing isolation and also wind protection for outside.
There are other brands like Viviana for this kind of stuff, you can check the replies on this thread.
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