Vocal isolation shield

songsj

Member
Can anyone recommend a good lightweight microphone isolation shield. I see several on the market. Are some better than others or are they all pretty much the same. Also will lightweight boom mic stands hold these things. They look like a good idea or is it just a gimmick. I will never have a vocal booth so it is this or nothing.
 
I've also been looking at them. The ones I'm looking at are around $70, probably the same ones you're looking at, they do look cool. I've read some reviews that say they don't hold very well on normal mic stands, you need the ones with heavy duty bases. I was thinking a few heavy pillows on the normal stands feet might help.

I've also thought of the closet/clothes idea, but I would have no way of hitting record, or seeing my screen. I've even considered hanging some blankets or rugs from the damn ceiling somehow. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see who else chimes in.
 
I use an SE screen, sorry don't remember the model. It sits attaches to the mic stand so yeah, you do need a solid mic stand that is stable.

The benefits are incremental. Don't expect them to stop a lot of reflections if you are recording in a crappy environment. They don't do anything about low frequency echos. I perceive a slight benefit in reducing flutter echo from the nearby walls in the small room where I record vocals (demos and oohs and aahs only, at this point). There are other ways of getting the same benefit. The closet full of clothes is one, but the problem there is that you are aiming your voice into a closet that is going to focus and sent right back at you whatever reflections escape.
 
Don't expect them to stop a lot of reflections if you are recording in a crappy environment. They don't do anything about low frequency echos.
Good point. I've heard a few mixes where there were lower mid-range reflections off the walls and sometimes ceiling reflections. However every bit helps.
 
They don't really isolate the mic, since they are behind the mic. What they do is "catch" the vocal and try to keep it from bouncing around the room, and therefore getting the reflections back into the front of the mic.

Fixing the room, or getting something good like an SM7 or an RE20 would probably be a better way to handle the problem.
 
Recently I've been pinning a bed sheet to the ceiling so it fell behind the mic like a curtain. But over the weekend, when I knew that the Mrs was going to be out for longer than normal, I grabbed a double sheet from the bedroom draw and made like a 'U' shaped 'booth'. I think that kinda worked.
 
Recently I've been pinning a bed sheet to the ceiling so it fell behind the mic like a curtain. But over the weekend, when I knew that the Mrs was going to be out for longer than normal, I grabbed a double sheet from the bedroom draw and made like a 'U' shaped 'booth'. I think that kinda worked.
A bedsheet would only work on the high frequencies - not enough mass.
 
Another thing I have noticed on some of my vocals is that my headphones are leaking into the mic. Phones are AKG K240M [older good ones made in Austria,] and the mic is an AKG C3000B large condenser [ I know not the greatest mic but there are a lot worse]. That mic is really hot. I am even keeping my recording levels low, close to -8 or -10 to keep the mic turned down and I am still getting some leakage. And the phone mix is turned up a bit but my ears are not bleeding, no louder than when I have been in pro studios. You can insert a gate for long sections of no vocals in a song but you have to be careful with that route or you will start chopping off your reverb tails. I was hoping one of these new Mic filter/shields would help a lot, maybe they are just a gimmick.
 
They help for a very specific problem. Headphone bleed isn't that problem. All they do is try to block your voice from exciting the room as much as it would without it. Without as much of your voice in the room, the sound of the room doesn't bounce into your mic as much.

The headphones are in front of the mic, it will pick them up if they are not sealed and/or are up too loud. Different headphones that give more isolation would help, so would mixing the vocals a little quieter in the track. Something seems not right about the bleed from the headphones being loud enough in the mix for you to hear it over the band. The headphones are too loud, you are singing loud enough, the vocals are way too high in the mix....something is out of whack.
 
Another thing I have noticed on some of my vocals is that my headphones are leaking into the mic. Phones are AKG K240M [older good ones made in Austria,] and the mic is an AKG C3000B large condenser [ I know not the greatest mic but there are a lot worse]. That mic is really hot. I am even keeping my recording levels low, close to -8 or -10 to keep the mic turned down and I am still getting some leakage.
'AKG K240M Studio Semi-open Pro Studio Headphones'

With semi-open back headphones you will likely get leakage. For tracking with a mic you might want to consider a set of 'closed back' headphones.
 
I did not realize the K240M's were considered semi-open. My next question is what would the best totally closed headphone be. A lot of studios use cheap headphones because musicians are not all careful with them and they break them all the time. I can afford a decent pair, open to suggestions.
 
I did not realize the K240M's were considered semi-open. My next question is what would the best totally closed headphone be. A lot of studios use cheap headphones because musicians are not all careful with them and they break them all the time. I can afford a decent pair, open to suggestions.

Get the Sennheiser HD-202. They are great for tracking and for casual music listening. They have a hyped bass response, so not so good for mixing. You'll like the price.

I looked at the SE reflexion thing. I've heard good things and considered buying one but I don't believe I really have a room problem as far as vocal recording goes.
 
Thanks I was looking at the Sennheiser's, will probably go with those. I still try to use all of the home recording tricks, 1. Don't turn the mic up any further than you have too, 2. Sing as loud as you can without ruining the performance, 3. Sing as close to the mic as possible which helps 1 & 2. 4. Rehearse and really watch the ss's, sh's ch's p's etc because you can only fix so much with a deesser. I am the only singer I record right now so I am used to doing this, most client's would walk out if you tried to make them do all of this. It is becoming second nature to me. My headphone bleed is not audible in the mix but I can hear it when I solo a vocal track, and I see the track meters move slightly during non vocal sections.
 
I ordered the Sennheiser's and that and the vocal shield should be here Friday we will see how much difference it makes. All of this being said, I would trade all of it for clean vocal takes with great phrasing, interpretation and almost perfect pitch.It really is tough to ruin a great vocal take if it is even recorded just halfway decent. Everything else is trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Such is life.
 
If the bleed doesn't affect the mix, it isn't a problem. With the track soloed, you will always hear something.

Singing louder will help with the S's. Unless you overpronounce them, that problem is cause by singing too quietly.

If you get really close to the mic, proximity effect will add low end.

Set the level so that a sustained loud-ish note sits around -18dbfs in the daw. That's about half way up the meter. Don't worry about where it peaks. (Unless it hits 0)
 
Close to the mic for me is I have my pop filter mounted about 2 to 3 inches from the mic and I sing around 2 to 3 inches away from that. A total of around 4 to 6 inches maybe 7. I don't think that is too close. I am recording so my overall peak levels are around -10 to -8 db. And they hang pretty much in that range most of the time. I could turn the trim up and get more gain on the track without hitting 0 for sure but I would pick up more backround noise. Now one could argue that by doing that the signal to noise ratio has not changed and that the relative difference in volume between the vocal and backround noise is still the same so it should make no difference in the end. Could be, it just bothers me to hear it. I am a pretty consistent singer volume wise. I guess I learned that from years of live performing without a real fancy PA system. I record straight in with no FX, no compression, no reverb, no nothing. My volume control was my voice and the distance from my mouth to the mic. I am hoping the vocal shield may tame the room reflections down just a touch. I am not looking for a 70.00 miracle. Often we improve our recording bit by bit, a tad at a time. If it does me no good and I think it is a gimmick I will be honest and let people know.
 
I can see when a shield would reduce some of the vocal reflections. After doing some research, I decided to add treatment behind me which seems to work well when recording. I use closed back headphones K271's or something and I get a tiny bit of bleed which is only audible when I solo the vocal track. I automate between every line to get rid of the bleed.
 
Automating between lines is probably a good idea, I think the pro's do that. Just need to be sure I don't chop off reverb tails. Also a good idea to do that on all tracks. Mute, remove or bring the volume all the way down on any section of any track when it is not playing.
 
But over the weekend, when I knew that the Mrs was going to be out for longer than normal, I grabbed a double sheet from the bedroom draw and made like a 'U' shaped 'booth'.

That's funny. I do the same, kinda, but I use comforters instead. And I make it 4 sided. Yes, I have to pull one side back to get out of the cave and touch the mouse/cpu, but it works well. And I put this behind the mic for added reflection:

CAD VocalShield VS1 Foldable Stand-Mounted Acoustic Shield | Musician's Friend
 
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