Reflection Filter/Portable Sound Booth

  • Thread starter Thread starter shanetsh90
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If you want to hear how my vocals came out, follow the link in my signature that says The Grimm_Factor. The first 7 songs I did with this setup. There are four more I did with this setup as well. The mic I'm using is a MXL 990...you should be able to use any mic for this setup so long as it fits in the box. Remember 14in x 14in collapsible box. Anything smaller may be too small for your mic.
 
If you want to hear how my vocals came out, follow the link in my signature that says The Grimm_Factor. The first 7 songs I did with this setup. There are four more I did with this setup as well. The mic I'm using is a MXL 990...you should be able to use any mic for this setup so long as it fits in the box. Remember 14in x 14in collapsible box. Anything smaller may be too small for your mic.

SN: I do hip hop music. So that's just to forewarn you, but it's about the sound quality right? Not the actual song. Don't worry, I'm a lyricist. Should provide some enjoyment.
 
Any time I've tried putting a mic in a box--the end result has sounded boxy to me.

The principle of any of the "proper" filters like the sE is that the mic itself is NOT enclosed. The mic element is still out in the open for a natural sound and the filter is slightly behind the mic to prevent your voice (or whatever sound) from going across the room and bouncing back off the wall, causing the hollow echoey sound that you get in an untreated room.

I'm a user of the sE Reflexion filter and find that, set up properly (and you have to take your time and follow instructions to do it properly) it is darn near as good as working in a professionally treated studio, particularly on spoken word recordings. I can't claim to have tried all the alternatives but any of the ones which are just a bit of acoustic foam stuck to a surface don't work nearly as well as the sE offering. The posted video explains how the sE Reflexion filter is a broadband absorber--a simple layer of foam will only be absorbing high frequencies. (I'm curious to hear Ethan's offering though--with his background in acoustics it ought to be good.)

I should say that my experience is with the original, expensive sE Reflexion filter. Since then, they've come out with a project studio version. I've heard it demonstrated and, to my ear, it's about 80% as good as the original for about 50% of the price.
 
Any time I've tried putting a mic in a box--the end result has sounded boxy to me.

The principle of any of the "proper" filters like the sE is that the mic itself is NOT enclosed. The mic element is still out in the open for a natural sound and the filter is slightly behind the mic to prevent your voice (or whatever sound) from going across the room and bouncing back off the wall, causing the hollow echoey sound that you get in an untreated room.

I'm a user of the sE Reflexion filter and find that, set up properly (and you have to take your time and follow instructions to do it properly) it is darn near as good as working in a professionally treated studio, particularly on spoken word recordings. I can't claim to have tried all the alternatives but any of the ones which are just a bit of acoustic foam stuck to a surface don't work nearly as well as the sE offering. The posted video explains how the sE Reflexion filter is a broadband absorber--a simple layer of foam will only be absorbing high frequencies. (I'm curious to hear Ethan's offering though--with his background in acoustics it ought to be good.)

I should say that my experience is with the original, expensive sE Reflexion filter. Since then, they've come out with a project studio version. I've heard it demonstrated and, to my ear, it's about 80% as good as the original for about 50% of the price.


I see what your issue was. I realized that the only way the sound would come out boxy for me was because of mic positioning and where I positioned my mouth in relation to the mic. I never keep the mic too far back. It's usually about 2 or 3 inches from the opening. Then I would position my mouth about two or three inches from the pop screen. That allows my voice to spread out a little without being too airy or too boxed in. The mic will always pick up what is needed and nothing more. Notice how the screen is in the front? That's how I judge the distance. I make sure everything is positioned right before I start recording. Mic checks and plugins always help. Its a great alternative from the more expensive models when you set it up right. It's all about the setup, just like the sE model you're talking about.
 
Since then, they've come out with a project studio version. I've heard it demonstrated and, to my ear, it's about 80% as good as the original for about 50% of the price.

This is the one I use, which came bundled with my SE2200a. I'm happy with the results, although don't have a lot else to compare with!
 
i got the original pro version.. tho now i'm going to need a new mic stand its heavy as hell
 
Swamp industries in Canberra sell a good one at about the price of the one on ebay.
Get an account with them and they'll give you discount.
 
But my "theory" was based on thinking of it in extremes. For example, even if we're singing straight into a mic, if we were in a room completely covered with foam, it would be a hoorribly box-y sound. So, I just used that logic and figured a foam reflection filter might do the same thing.

Even as a theory this makes sense, and sure enough, from experience, if you bury any mic right into the sE reflextion filter the sound gets boxy as hell and a muffled high end! However, as sE suggest, if you have the diaphragm on the mic almost in line with the front of the filter it works remarkably well at taking out any excessive room sound from behind mic. Although, as was said later in the thread, you do still really need something behind the singer for it to be super effective. For example, our main live space at work is quite large and well treated and sounds great, but we picked up an sE Reflextion filter project studio as it came free with an sE titan and figured it'd get some use in our less well treated rehearsal spaces for demo tracking. I tried it in the live room the first day we got it (i had to play with it, it was new :D) and i was impressed at how well it tamed any extra room sound to give a much deader vocal recording. However, i borrowed it from work to do a session at a mates house and in a room that sounded less than ideal it was considerably less affective, but once we'd slung a duvet behind the singer it helped a lot.

This is the one I use, which came bundled with my SE2200a. I'm happy with the results, although don't have a lot else to compare with!

Same setup here :) Although, i was slightly freaked out when i bought myself one as they'd changed the mounting bracket from the original version we had a work. the newer one seems to have taken on board the criticism about the clamp being flimsy and soundonsounds idea of folding it over to make it more stable. the new mounting system is already folded over and it much more stable than the older one at work. i've only tried one of the other commercially available ones (the primacoustic "voxgaurd") and the voxgaurd added some mud to the recording that wasn't there with the sE reflection filter. i've also tried a range of ghetto versions and the sE one has always been the one that doesn't impart any extra flavour to the mic. I can easily imagine that some people will like the extra character that certain reflection filter style things add, although i expect the majority won't.
 
this is the best explanation and overview of the product yet..

i posted a similar post in recording.org and all i got is scepticism without even testing the product and a bunch of guys that kept suggesting ghetto solutions that i have already read about..

XD
 
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