Mic reflection filter...hmmm

Bobbsy said:
.. One thing I would say though is that putting a mic in a box will never sound like any more than...a mic in a box. The whole idea of the sE Reflexion filter is that the mic is NOT enclosed. You adjust it so the diaphragm lines up exactly with the front edge of the filter, leaving the mic in the open but killing the worst reflections from behind. As somebody else say, a blanket or something behind the speaker/singer often helps too. The sE is NOT just an arc of foam though. It's multi layers of very carefully designed treatment. (No, I don't work for them but, before moving to Aus, lived just down the road from what was then their UK HQ and knew some of them when they were a small company.)
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Wow I think the concept of this 'ball thingie might be fine- And this is brand new to me, just now poked around a bit.
First of all that demo sucked- as noted, you want it with and w/o- nothing else changing.
This one perhaps; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSK0K-r8L0w
From here; The Kaotica Eyeball Soundbytes review | Soundbytes magazine
.. the average RMS noise level was reduced by 1.5 to 3dB in many of the test recordings when the Eyeball was used.
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Ok.
But this interesting..
the peak level in the vocal recording was roughly 4.4 dB louder than without the Eyeball. With the omni pattern, the difference in the peaks was roughly 8.0 dB. The figure 8 pattern had peaks roughly 8.3 dB louder. Across all patterns, the Eyeball greatly reduced early reflections, tail and the general room influence on the sound.
Using the Eyeball made a bigger difference in neutralizing the room than switching mic patterns: the figure 8 and omni pattern recordings that used the Eyeball emphasized the sound of the room even less than the cardioid recordings made without the Eyeball.
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I'm not endorsing- just interested in the concept.
To the extent a mic can't hear from the sides and back, you gain some noise reduction.
And if the sound is absorbed -rather than a boundary, you don't have the effect of a 'box. You could likely do the same with an open ended box of three or four inches of 703.

Now the fact that they are saying a gain in the source, could be, IDK, a bad sign? That would imply a 'horn effect rather than just absorption wouldn't it?
 
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2 things that I think.

1) I don't think the OP is doing "voice overs", so talking about "news reporters" in their closets is pretty irrelevant here.

B) The OP's "professionally treated room" is nowhere near that. "Acoustic Foam" was mentioned in the OP, and then edited out. Who knows how else we're being misled.

3A) Personally, I think the OP already had his mind made up that he "needs" one of these things before posting. So, this has pretty much been a huge waste of time.

C2) Once again, I'm reminded that I should always trust my instincts because my first impression was 100% accurate, as usual.
 
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Yeah. The news reports isn't particularly relevant to this need...but it was in response to a joke about marketing a bag to put over your head for vocals, just to show it's actually done in some situations!

I know what you mean about the "professionally treated" comment then reference to acoustic foam. Foam can have its limited uses but professional treatment it ain't. I also tend to agree that the OP had already chosen what he wanted (or at least had a strong favourite) and was hoping for confirmation that he was right. THAT didn't work out very well!

Anyhow, gotta go. I have some acoustic foam to hang! :)
 
LOL@ the walk-in closet sounded better than the "professionally" treated room.

This thread should be sticky.

Is this the return of Ken D. Webber?
 
Since the original post here was edited by the OP, I feel that the post placed in the 'Introduce Yourself' thread is good to have here:

"Hi guys,

New to the home studio thing, not new to the music thing. Went to a Conservatorium here for music back in the day, very used to being recorded and filmed as a performer for the last 6 years, lots of cover bands, a few original bands and quite a lot of theatre, film and TV as an actor.
As a musician I sing and play keys, as an actor I am forever improving my VO reel and now having moved into my first place, my partner and I have a room we've decided to turn into a studio.

The current setup consists of:

Focusrite Forte interface
Rhode nt2a mic (with shock mount and pop shield)
Behringer b3030a ribbon tweeter monitors on solid jarrah speaker stands (imitations of adams ax line. Narrowed it down to rokit vrx6, adams ax, dynaudio bms. The price of the behringers and comparable tone made them a no brainer; for now, will see if they actually survive a year in the studio)
HD280 Cans (for tracking)
Alesis 61key midi, another with x/y joystick needed
Yamaha CP4 digital piano
Roland VR-9 synth
48 acoustic panels
24 bass traps
(Large thick red shag pile rug on the floor and a large black leather couch against the back wall as other forms of simple deadening)
MacBookPro 2014 i7 laptop
Samsung bx2450 24" LED monitor

I am currently looking for some sort of sound reflection filter, either the SE pro, or the kaotica eyeball.

EYEBALL: Acoustic Treatment Home Studio | Vocal Recording Noise Reduction | Kaotica Eyeball | Kaotica Eyeball

demo of the immediate effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUrcYrpu22o

SE PRO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUlso_ucR7Q

My room is quite well treated, however this is more for a clean, reverberation free, flat response from my monitors, the vocal recordings need a bit more dampening and tightening up.
From looking at reviews and demos, the eyeball gives a beautiful, dry and warm sound which is my preferred tone, however there is a slight low end bump due to the channeling of the voice and the closeness of the surround.
However the SE Pro allows for a more natural room tone as well as tightening up the vox and seeing as there is quite a lot of engineering involved i feel the $300 tag somewhat justifiable.
The eyeball on the other hand, $300 for a ball of acoustic foam? I was toying with the idea of buying a corner fill bass trap (a 30x30 cube of acoustic foam) and drilling out a perfectly round chamber inside (as the eyeball is designed) coming in at a total cost of $25 for the cube which seems to be made of the exact same material.
Would this not have the exact same effect as the kaotica?

And very excited to get this all under way and to hear your advice!

Melbourne Maty"
 
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Only an assumption, but I can only guess that 48 acoustic panels are of the foam type. And 24 bass traps are the same product.

That does not equate to the reply I saw that his room was professionally treated.

I do not wish to harsh on the guy, but it would be nice if he actually listened or gave acknowledgement response to the answers he was given. Other than similar to: 'hey thanks, how about that foam thing ?, and I will make my own business by wasting others time by creating more worthless crap in my professionally treated room that vocals sound like shit in'.

No offense to you personally Maty, but you should pull that thing that makes you think-out of the other place that releases waste product.

I am a nice guy, but it seems you are wasting your own time. And all of ours as well.
 
Not that I NEED to be right, but it's nice when people see things from my perspective. Gives me hope for the human race, just a bit. :)
 
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I tried almost every foam piece of crap on the market before I finally gave up and bought proper traps. I didn't have a single room in my home that I could dedicate to tracking or mixing, which is why I tried my hardest to avoid this. Ended up converting half of my garage. Bottom line is foam filters suck. They only absorb high frequencies and enhance the mud in the bass end. I own the SE reflection filter and it's great for what it is. I'll use it when I'm getting too much room reverb on vocals. Does not change the sound of the mic or room at all. This might not be what you wanted since you talk about "tightening up" the vocals. Its not going to make the room sound less airy or boost any frequencies. It's not going to change to sound going in at all, just make a properly treated room sound sound like it has a tiny bit more treatment.
 
ZiM_XG27 said:
It's not going to change to sound going in at all, just make a properly treated room sound sound like it has a tiny bit more treatment.
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Right...that's what I experienced when I tired the reflection filter...a tiny bit of added reflection filtering, which is all I would want any way.
A mic in a foam box (or ball) is not the dead sound I want for my vocals.
 
miroslav said:
I'm going to design and market a large foam bag that you stick over your head and the mic, combined...which would eliminate all reflections from any side.
It will be called the "Studio In A Bag" reflection filter. It will come with a small flashlight so you don't have to sing in the dark.
I bet I could find some people who would buy it. I just need to post up a few You Tube videos showing how great it is.
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I want one!
Please send me 1 as soon as yoy're ready.
Will test it on my MIL.
Permanently!!!

Edit: don't need the flashlight.
 
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If you want a preview of what it will sound like...
...go stand in the smallest, most filled up closet you have, and sing in there.
Oh...and leave the lights off...since you don't need a flashlight option. :)
 
I'm going to pop down during the week and definitely take a look at the se pro, I don't think anything below pro would have any real benefit, may aswell just stack foam on a mic stand. My av acoustic block should be here on Monday, will get my drill out n start fashioning a nice little sound cave
 
Maty J said:
I'm going to pop down during the week and definitely take a look at the se pro, I don't think anything below pro would have any real benefit, may aswell just stack foam on a mic stand. My av acoustic block should be here on Monday, will get my drill out n start fashioning a nice little sound cave
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Good lord man, are you listening to anything anyone is saying here?

Ugh...
 
Professionally treated room should = no need for reflection filter.
Please check the quality of your professional treatment for professional treatment quality.
Hey folks, remember he's from Melbourne. It's near the bottom of Australia and sound has to travel a long way to get there. It gets tired and reacts differently to its environment - an audio jet lag if you will.
Perhaps sound feels the need for a pouch, not unlike a joey, to recover and get its mojo back.
Don't forget Maty J: you're going to pay at least 40% more than anyone in the northern hemisphere for the foam ball.
Maybe a Nerf gun would be a better investment.
 
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Maty J said:
I'm going to pop down during the week and definitely take a look at the se pro, I don't think anything below pro would have any real benefit, may aswell just stack foam on a mic stand. My av acoustic block should be here on Monday, will get my drill out n start fashioning a nice little sound cave
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Anything with "pro" in the name has to be good.
 
the se pro seems to have somewhat more of an engineered approach rather than just foam wrapped in a metal shield. It appears to be a combination of acoustic grade wool, aluminium foil, polycarbonate, polyester fibreboard with air gaps between each layer, seems like it will be very effective, and against a large range of frequencies. My av cube will arrive tomorrow, hopefully, excited to see what I can engineer out of it, may modify it a tad using some of the se pro build
 
wholly balls, so made my titan av cube into an "kaotica eyeball" the result is night and day, the tone is IDENTICAL to the before and after post of the female jazz vocalist vid using the eyeball! It is by far the closest thing I have head to our vocal booths at uni and it cost me $26.

If anyone is in need of an extremely portable "vocal booth" with a completely professional dead/dry tone (if this is what you are looking for), this is the way to go, it works 100% if you like that sound!

If anyone is considering the eyeball, dont, just grab a bass corner fill cube and a Stanley knife and away u go.

The monitoring sounds fantastic in the treated room, and now the vocals are firkin tight as tight can be.
 
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