Despite the challenges involved in the journey, the
d:screet™ 4060 stereo pair performed exceptionally well and Andia says he is delighted with the sound they delivered.
“We recorded in many different places – sometimes at the seaside and sometimes at altitudes in excess of 5,000 meters,” Andia says. “The microphones coped with atmospheric pressure changes and extreme changes in temperature and humidity. I was nervous about taking them out in the rain because I didn’t want to damage them but they always worked perfectly no matter what I exposed them to and I never had a problem with them. You just have to be careful to take good care of them because it is very easy to lose an accessory when you are travelling, especially when they are so small.”
Hans Andia’s bicycle adventures was self-funded and he was accompanied throughout by his French wife, Rose, who is a poet and also a keen cyclist. Their first trip was in Andia’s home country, Chile, where they rode two ‘gorgeous’ VSF Fahrradmanufaktur TX-400 bikes and spent four months travelling 6,500km from the north to the very south of the country. Sometimes they covered nearly 100km a day and sometimes, when the terrain was really difficult, they managed as little as 10km, yet throughout the entire trip they didn’t have a single puncture. They did, however, often cycled for several days without seeing anyone and sometimes with a very limited supply of water.
“Sometimes it was hard, but we love bikes – they are our preferred means of transport in summer or winter because they allow us to go wherever we want,” Andia says. “Cycling is also a great way to travel with zero noise pollution. On the other hand, it is not very pleasant to ride a bike when you are in big cities or on busy highways. People sometimes do not respect us and riding with the noise of cars is insupportable.”