I've just won a bid on a Rode K2 valve mic so looking forward to getting that one. But I also think I need a vocal booth. Got my eye on a SE Electronics Reflexion Filter PRO. Does anyone use these and are they necessary or perhaps, do they make a real difference because marketing hype is so strong these days.

thanks
Paul

Paul,

They are useful if you put your mic too close to a reflecting surface. However, you can accomplish the same and better by placing your K2 in front of an open closet or wardrobe that is stuffed with wooly/cottony clothing when you record. Not crammed, just hanging in there - making sure that none of the back wall is visible in the vicinity of the mic.

Paul, yes, I have used the better Reflexion Filter with success for several years with my ribbon mic (for recording wind instruments). As Scott says, there are other ways to get to the same place, but mine does the job well since I do not have a full-sized sonically isolated vocal booth in my spare bedroom!

Another kind of filter to consider is a pop filter. These can be had for maybe $30, or just stretch pantyhose tightly over a grid a few inches in front of the mic to prevent vocal pops into a mic.

WARNING: pay careful attention to the center of balance adjustments when mounting the Reflexion Filter and mic. With a heavier condenser and shock mount, the placement has to be just right, or a nudge will knock the whole thing over.

I record from my small office/ex dining room. It's a multipurpose room - computer repairs, office, recording studio (if you can call it that). My recordings to date were recorded in their using a dynamic mic with a basic pop filter. So I'm hoping the new mic will make a noticeable improvement. Thanks for your advise.

Here's a sample
https://soundcloud.com/devonbiker/theres-power-in-the-blood

PS I know there's no substitute for a trained voice.

Paul,

Your recording sounds nice and clear. I don't necessarily hear any comb filtering going on - which is what a Reflexion filter is going to solve. Now, with the Rode, you will have a greater tendency to have comb filtering going on because it's pattern has less off-axis rejection than most dynamic microphones.

Don't be surprised if you end up using your dynamic microphone. In my opinion, you already have a good sound going. I wouldn't put an awful lot of stock in getting the Rode K2 going if you find that you don't see an immediate improvement.

It's hard to give advice without full knowledge of what you have going on - but in my opinion, listening to the track above, I'm doubting that you are going to hear a marked difference. Your recording levels seem appropriate, you don't have noticeable proximity effect going on, no comb filtering audible, and your voice sounds nice.

You might play a little with high pass filtering, and peel off the very bottom end of what you've recorded, but there's not an obvious overload on low frequencies like what happens with a great deal of home recorded vocals.

In my little mic locker, I really like my EV PL80a dynamic mic, though I paid quite a bit less for it than my large diaphragm condenser - unless I'm doing very quiet whispery vocals then I use the LDC.

I honestly think that given your description of your room, that the dynamic mic might give you a better result than the K2 and Reflexion filter.

Hi Paul,

Good singing, good intonation, strong power from proper use of air, you may not know this, but that makes you 90% there already.

One can get a lot of mileage out of the clothes closet as vocal booth. You know, the closet with all the wifey's coats and dresses hanging in it.

Push the clothes aside somewhere in the middle of the rack, leaving a space between them to set the mic. The hard wall at back of closet makes the ~50% hard reflection, the two "walls" of the coats and dresses make up the ~50% soft absorption.

Try it before buying anything.

Another method I have used at home, try using horizontal ropes with blankets and/or quilts over them to create a temporary Vocal Booth. Top of blankets should be higher than top of singer's head. This one yields a really "dry" recording that lends itself to application of Ambience effects plugins such as a good sounding reverb.

I know a youngster who placed his only SM58 mic on a boom stand in front of his mattress set upright against the wall in the corner of his bedroom - and produced his first album that way. Sounded good. So be creative and experiment a bit, find what works for you without spending money needlessly. The soundwaves moving in the air won't know the difference.

That's still one of my most favorite old hymns.

And you sang it like you meant it.

Strong Performance.


--Mac

Thanks for your encouragement guys. I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to solving problems. Think I have to buy the best gear to achieve it. It's too late on the mic it's on it's way and before reading this I'm already the high bidder on a SE Electronics Reflection Filter Pro. I've never been happy with my vocals, and that song posted is probably my best effort to date. Checking out the internet and YouTube has convinced me that something higher end like the Rode K2 will give me smoother vocals with a bit more depth. So will have to see how that pans out. I can always sell it but they don't seem to be budging at the moment. A few on ebay not shifting.

That leads me to other questions I have on trying to get a better mix and I may need to start another thread. Apart from my sound card, hi fi & mic, everything else has been bought in the last 12 months. My current setup is...

BIAB 2013 EverythingPak
Presonus Audiobox 22VSL.
Studio One Pro
Melodyne Editor
Sennheiser HD280Pro headphones
VRM Box

Beyerdynamic TGX80 mic
ASUS Xonar Essence STX Sound Card
NAD AMP, B&W bookshelf Speakers + Rel Sub.

I'm in more spend mode at the moment, and would like to get a couple of studio monitors to connect to my AudioBox 22VSL. I'm thinking of Yamaha HS8 vs KRK Rokit8?

That said I am frustrated with my mixes, no where near as dynamic and loud as professional recordings. The phrase "well duh" comes to mind knowing you can't match a basic home studio with professional studios but it is annoying me. Plus I don't know how to mix. I have the basics but it's alot of trial n error and many many hours of editing.

I have a couple good dynamic mike, and one condenser, and i have not touched the condenser for a while now. The darned things sounded great, but picked up a mouse fart at 200 yards. so if something happened like the ice maker dropping in the other room, or the garbage truck coming around the bend a take was ruined. The dynamic mike are just so much more directional in nature.

You can get a condenser mic that has cardioid directional characteristics.

You can also get omnidirectional dynamic mics.

It is more likely to be the Sensitivity specification of the large diaphragm condenser mic that is allowing the mic to pickup all of those background sounds better.

And, if the condenser is a Large Diaphragm Condenser, they are typically going to be more sensitive than the medium or small, simply due to the added surface area of the diaphragm.

Sometimes use of the Mic Pad control on the preamp or mixer's input can be put to good use when the mic is overly sensitive.


--Mac

Paul, I am also fairly new to the whole production side of things. Here are a few things I recommend that have helped me a lot,

- The book Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio - I bought this and read it cover to cover a couple of times and still refer to it! the author has a wealth of additional info at his website for free including raw tracks to use in your own mix experiments.

- The video tutorials from The Recording Revolution - I bought their videos on editing, mixing, EQ, compression, mastering and vocals. I have watched most of them once but they are great for watching over again.

- I wanted to get some KRK monitors but I really do not have a room where I can use them effectively so I am stuck using headphones. I bought a decent pair of headphones and also bought the VRM box from Focusrite. The headphones are a nice private way to mix but you can have issues with the stereo separation heard in headphones not translating well to speakers so the VRM box attempts to resolve that issue by simulating various studio monitors.

- And I recently purchased Izotope software for mixing, vocals and mastering. Have not used it extensively yet but I am absolutely amazed at how much better my mixes sound just by using their presets.

My personal (amateur) opinion is you may already have enough hardware and just need to focus on training, practice and maybe software.

Learning the Audio Compressor plugin inside and out is what I think makes the largest difference between what the big studios output and what the home recordists are striving for.

Many home recordists either bypass that aspect, or look for instantaneous one-button software solutions that, while they can indeed help, just can't cover the situation in the same fashion for differing sets of tracks.

PCM digital audio, I often find myself applying a different instance of compression on each track, with different settings to suit, followed by one instance of compression on the Master Bus as well, typically set as a Limiter.


--Mac

Yep I have a similar problem. Been recording with my Rode K2 and it picks up everything. I have wooden floor boards so even a soft tap on carpet with your foot to keep time transfers onto the recording as deep rumble. Not sure how to fix this - put mic on desk rather than on floor with mic stand? However the recordings arn't a million miles from my dynamic mic, just smoother to my ears. Not a massive improvement BUT the improvement has made me sound better.

Here's a song I did with my children, they are singing into my dynamic mic and I'm on the Rode K2.

https://soundcloud.com/devonbiker/hes-got-theh-whole-world-in

Thanks for your input guys, all are good points raised. Although expensive I do want to try the SE Electronics vocal booth because I am unable to sing in a cupboard. I will report back when I get one. Again I doubt it will make a massive difference but the collection of all the improvements makes for better recording. And yes I definitely need a crash course with mixing, it's trial n error at the moment.

DIY for about $20 http://www.onefromtheroad.com/images/voxbooth.jpg