SE Reflexion filter / T.Bone Micscreen

Seziertisch wrote: »

Neither is ideal. They both have to be used in too close proximity to the mic, resulting in some inevitable frequency weirdness. Instead you should consider setting up your mic a good few feet back from the corner of the room and then put up some rockwool on the walls immediately behind it/to the side. Obviously you would have to build this yourself (put a cloth covering on the rockwool and then hang it like picture frames for example), but it will give you better results. I am sure others could make recommendations on the specific density of rockwool you might require.

Have to disagree there... I had a loan of an SE Filter from a fellow Boardsie last year & it definitely controlled the room ambience. You do need to watch how you position the mic relative to the filter though... too close & it sounds muddy, too far & it defeats the purpose. I was so impressed that I bought one from my local friendly audio dealer (plug, plug Mr Brewer!). In fact the SE Filter & the SE2200A mic (great mic by the way!) were the only gear purchases I'll be making this year (new year's resolution).

I also use a similar idea to the above as well... instead of Rockwool, I have a duvet fitted to the wall in the corner of my studio & a cushion on the ceiling. That combined with the filter gives a really dry sound for tracking vox.

Also, the standard set up (as described in the SE manual) for the filter is not very stable. Here's a much better way to set up the filter on your mic stand...
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may09/articles/qa0509_2.htm


I haven't used the TBone version, so can't comment.

Seziertisch wrote: »

Couldn't you have just done the same thing with rockwool and saved the price of the reflection filter? In fact if you did in in a wide enough area around the corner you could also track other stuff, like acoustic guitar, there as well.

If it's the case that the above poster for whatever reason can't modify a corner of his room then the filter is a good solution, otherwise there are cheaper ways to achieve the same results.

I have covered a wide enough corner area to track guitar. I sit with my back to the corner & just drop the mic stand so the filter is in front of the guitar. That way I can still access my DAW/control surface & see the monitors behind the filter. The duvet kills the reflections behind me.. the filter kills the ones behind the mic (the 2200A picks up everything including the room)... that's why I use both. When I'm done, I just slide the mic stand/filter into the corner & away I go.

The filter is desgined for project studios with limited space. Works really well for me & avoids having to put treatment everywhere. I track & mix in the same room, so it's all about flexibility for me. The Filter is expensive, but in my situation is ideal.

madtheory wrote: »

Yep! Probably best not to do it in a corner though. Duvet is OK but has limited frequency response. RW3 is best. Takes a lot of work to make traps/ chunks etc. compared to getting out the CC and clicking "Buy it Now".

So true... I've been there, seen that & bought the t-shirt from back when I was trying to track acoustic drums in my garage. I have home-made bass trapping (Rw3) in 3 corners (Ethan Wiener style - only not quite as aesthetically pleasing) plus some on the walls. I also use the good ol' Auraelx MoPads under the monitors. So, for me it's a combination of DIY & "Buy it now"... and while my place isn't Abbey Rd, I am (after nearly 2 years) getting a good clean sound. So now I can focus on making music.

ZV, is the garage your studio and your control room? Are you still tracking there? That's cool that the traps are doing the business.

trackmixstudio wrote: »

I have the se and love it.
Some singers feel awkward standing in the live room with headphones on and don't get the performance as good as it could be.
In this case I set up an audix i5 on a boom in the control room between the monitors with the reflexion filter around it, crank the monitors and usually get a great performance. Spill doesn't really matter because it is the actual track anyway but obviously you can't play a click track when recording. Strip silence the vocals in the mix.

I've also heard of people doing this and then recording the sound of the room with playback and the singer not singing, and then reversing the phase. Or sometimes putting the monitors out of phase with one another.

I have been using the SE for a long time, and people love it.
A friend of mine just got the t-bone and is very happy with it too. I haven't tried it though.

As for the SOS alternative way of installing the SE - I tried and I tried, but can't do it

That's a pop shield, not a reflection filter.

Paul...
The standard set up (as described in the SE manual) for the filter is not very stable. Here's a much better way to set up the filter on your mic stand...
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may09/articles/qa0509_2.htm

PaulBrewer wrote: »

What's that Shay ?

nothing sexual Paul it relates to the SOS way ZV_Yoda suggests.

ZV, did you manage to do this?

TA

ZV Yoda wrote: »

... they don't "sound" like anything as such... they're just designed to remove the room sound. They do exacty what it says on the tin - no more, no less.

They impose a "dry boxy" tone to me, is that not a "sound" in engineers speak?

There is most definitely a "sound". The material can only absorb a certain bandwidth, and a limited amount thereof. There are some reflections also.

ZV ! After all we told ya ........

The corner is probably the worst spot in a room to record a vocal (even though it may be handiest)

Why do Bass traps go in corners do you think ?;)

PaulBrewer wrote: »

ZV ! After all we told ya ........

The corner is probably the worst spot in a room to record a vocal (even though it may be handiest)

Why do Bass traps go in corners do you think ?;)

If I had a large, well-treated studio, I wouldn’t record in the corner. However, in my 10x10 mixing/tracking room, no matter where I set up the mic, I’m never far from a corner. Using the RF with the duvets behind me has resulted in me achieving the best sound in my room to date. That’s all I’m saying.

Re bass traps… I know what they’re for. I have them in 3 corners already (these are the corners that need them most since they are solid concrete walls. I don’t have one on the 4th corner because:
1. I don’t have the space
2. The untreated corner has on concrete wall, but the other is a stud wall which is filled with 4” thick Rockwool already… so at least it traps some bass… and some also passes straight through the stud wall.

PaulBrewer wrote: »

The Tweek is correct as usual.
He knows what he's listening for and hearing.

The Ref Filter has significant internal reflections - you may of course prefer this to ones of the room alone .

There could be an argument for the T-Bone as at least foam should be an absorber even if it's only down to 1.5 k ish.

Has anyone tried putting foam on the inside of a Ref filter, that might be interesting ?

I wasn’t disagreeing with Tweek or anybody else. I was giving my personal experience. Since my room sounds boxy (even with the bass traps) then the RF removes most of that sound. For me, that’s all I need it to do.