Two main benifits to the metal ones are that 1) you can read lines through them if you are doing some types of voice work that require it, and 2) they are easy to clean
The nylon filters seem a tad "veiled" sounding to me, like there's some comb filtering in the high end going on. One factor here might be that you're sometimes leaning in a little more when you pull the filter away (or at least that's what it looks like from front angle camera). The metal filter brought out a touch of sibilance to my ears. The Hakan does seem pretty transparent!
Thanks Marmalade! That's a great observation and a good point. This may require some further investigation. That comb filtering is an issue and after this, I'm really thinking maybe the metal grid induces a "whistle" of sorts as the air rushes through it without being able to naturally flex under pressure like the others.
Great video, question, do you feel difference according to the distance between you and pop-filter sometime I feel if it is toooo close (from your microphone or from you ) it become less effective or it introduce new problems like ( sound of air hitting pop-filter - especially if you do something like voice acting and sometime you just breath or something like this ) regarding tonal variations sometime I think yes there is difference ( it is darker or it is metalic, brighter ) but does the idea that you're not sure really if there is a difference or not means it is not something to worry about?
Thank you, Anas. This is an excellent comment because it really does vary according to usage. Personally, I prefer to work very close to the mic most of the time because I've been trying to voice at lower volumes, especially for conversational projects, to better preserve my tone longer throughout the day, and I like using the proximity effect to make up for some of that low end presence I lose by not pushing my voice as hard and relying a bit more on nuance. So, if I have to use a pop filter, I'm right up on it, basically with my nose almost touching it. Of course, the closer you are, the more less distance there is for the force of your plosive to expand and it hits the pop filter in a more concentrated area with more power, so that's one thing to consider. If I'm a really dynamic, bigger, louder read, or a dynamic character read, I'll back off a lot more but still keep the pop filter close to the grill, which seems to work for me. Now, as far as comb filtering or changes in tone, that I do very much concern myself with and I'll tell you why. The people who book you, i.e. Professionals who work producing projects with voice over in them, tend to be a lot more detail oriented and nitpicky with the sound of a VO and when you get this kind of comb filtering you're talking about very short wavelengths, meaning higher frequencies. Higher frequency wierdness can stand out in a VO and higher frequencies are often the hardest to EQ or control. As far as just tonal change, for example, that bit of "hardness' in the tone that I felt I was getting from the metal pop filter is something that I think detracts from the overall VO. It may work fine in a music vocal where the voice sits in the middle of a denser mix, but for a VO, especially an audition where you are submitting a naked audio track of just your voice, it's distracting. Sure, you could try to EQ around it, but the tricky part again is frequency wavelength. That hardness induced by the pop filter can vary in frequency slightly dependent upon your distance to the filter. And, of course, if it's something coming into the mic and you compress, you could very well just be increasing the amplitude of your offending frequencies. Which of course is why you also De-ess before you compress. So, ultimately, my feelings are that even though I may or may not think any tonal variance is important, I can never know exactly what the client hears, so I try my best to eliminate or mitigate those things. And of course, the best way to do that is not use a pop filter at all if you can.
@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff Thanks for this detailed reply Very valuable information and experiences. Thank you again for your passionate response It helped me understand a lot of things, or at least understand the other perspective on them.
the metal one only works properly one way round.. you probably had it the wrong way round .. you can tell ... blow into it .. the other side you should feel the wind deflacted downward.. that the correct way to use it.
Your technique's too good haha! You need to be face-on and blasting that thing until we can hear the PUH without the screen, then get the screen in there. A more extreme test will highlight the effectiveness and any artifacts too. I've def noticed the metal ones creating a slight shooshy whoosh sound with a lot of air. The Hakan does sound great....as in you can't hear it ;) pro tip: if you're creatively inclined, they sell the replacement foam discs for these at a fraction of the full unit price. A personal fave so far is the JZ Microphones filter - compact, nice long neck, sounds great and I've seen it pop up in a fair few videos too. Re: distance, the closer your mouth is to the screen the faster the air movement so more likelihood of screen artifacts. The closer the screen to the mic the more likely air is still moving out of the back of the screen into the mic = no bueno. Maybe not such an issue for quieter reads up on the mic but I'd def err on the side of screen being closer to mouth than mic overall.
LOLOL Yeah, I was thinking I didn't PUH enough. Oh well, guess we'll have to do another one. And, really, how hard would it be to DIY a frame for the replacement disc, right. We are definitely going to go down the pop filter rabbit hole some more.
Without looking at your conclusions, I wanna say the nylon and metal do change the sound a tiny bit but tbh I would not swear to it in court. I'd really need a blind test to be convinced this makes a difference.
Blind test is a great idea, now that we have sort of kinda maybe a baseline with this impromptu test. I think this topic definitely deserves some more examination.
Two main benifits to the metal ones are that 1) you can read lines through them if you are doing some types of voice work that require it, and 2) they are easy to clean
Very good points, indeed!
The nylon filters seem a tad "veiled" sounding to me, like there's some comb filtering in the high end going on. One factor here might be that you're sometimes leaning in a little more when you pull the filter away (or at least that's what it looks like from front angle camera). The metal filter brought out a touch of sibilance to my ears. The Hakan does seem pretty transparent!
Thanks Marmalade! That's a great observation and a good point. This may require some further investigation. That comb filtering is an issue and after this, I'm really thinking maybe the metal grid induces a "whistle" of sorts as the air rushes through it without being able to naturally flex under pressure like the others.
Great video,
question, do you feel difference according to the distance between you and pop-filter
sometime I feel if it is toooo close (from your microphone or from you ) it become less effective or it introduce new problems like ( sound of air hitting pop-filter - especially if you do something like voice acting and sometime you just breath or something like this )
regarding tonal variations sometime I think yes there is difference ( it is darker or it is metalic, brighter ) but does the idea that you're not sure really if there is a difference or not means it is not something to worry about?
Thank you, Anas. This is an excellent comment because it really does vary according to usage. Personally, I prefer to work very close to the mic most of the time because I've been trying to voice at lower volumes, especially for conversational projects, to better preserve my tone longer throughout the day, and I like using the proximity effect to make up for some of that low end presence I lose by not pushing my voice as hard and relying a bit more on nuance. So, if I have to use a pop filter, I'm right up on it, basically with my nose almost touching it. Of course, the closer you are, the more less distance there is for the force of your plosive to expand and it hits the pop filter in a more concentrated area with more power, so that's one thing to consider. If I'm a really dynamic, bigger, louder read, or a dynamic character read, I'll back off a lot more but still keep the pop filter close to the grill, which seems to work for me. Now, as far as comb filtering or changes in tone, that I do very much concern myself with and I'll tell you why. The people who book you, i.e. Professionals who work producing projects with voice over in them, tend to be a lot more detail oriented and nitpicky with the sound of a VO and when you get this kind of comb filtering you're talking about very short wavelengths, meaning higher frequencies. Higher frequency wierdness can stand out in a VO and higher frequencies are often the hardest to EQ or control. As far as just tonal change, for example, that bit of "hardness' in the tone that I felt I was getting from the metal pop filter is something that I think detracts from the overall VO. It may work fine in a music vocal where the voice sits in the middle of a denser mix, but for a VO, especially an audition where you are submitting a naked audio track of just your voice, it's distracting. Sure, you could try to EQ around it, but the tricky part again is frequency wavelength. That hardness induced by the pop filter can vary in frequency slightly dependent upon your distance to the filter. And, of course, if it's something coming into the mic and you compress, you could very well just be increasing the amplitude of your offending frequencies. Which of course is why you also De-ess before you compress.
So, ultimately, my feelings are that even though I may or may not think any tonal variance is important, I can never know exactly what the client hears, so I try my best to eliminate or mitigate those things. And of course, the best way to do that is not use a pop filter at all if you can.
@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff Thanks for this detailed reply
Very valuable information and experiences. Thank you again for your passionate response
It helped me understand a lot of things, or at least understand the other perspective on them.
the metal one only works properly one way round.. you probably had it the wrong way round
.. you can tell ... blow into it .. the other side you should feel the wind deflacted downward.. that the correct way to use it.
Good to know
Your technique's too good haha! You need to be face-on and blasting that thing until we can hear the PUH without the screen, then get the screen in there. A more extreme test will highlight the effectiveness and any artifacts too. I've def noticed the metal ones creating a slight shooshy whoosh sound with a lot of air. The Hakan does sound great....as in you can't hear it ;) pro tip: if you're creatively inclined, they sell the replacement foam discs for these at a fraction of the full unit price.
A personal fave so far is the JZ Microphones filter - compact, nice long neck, sounds great and I've seen it pop up in a fair few videos too.
Re: distance, the closer your mouth is to the screen the faster the air movement so more likelihood of screen artifacts. The closer the screen to the mic the more likely air is still moving out of the back of the screen into the mic = no bueno. Maybe not such an issue for quieter reads up on the mic but I'd def err on the side of screen being closer to mouth than mic overall.
LOLOL Yeah, I was thinking I didn't PUH enough. Oh well, guess we'll have to do another one. And, really, how hard would it be to DIY a frame for the replacement disc, right. We are definitely going to go down the pop filter rabbit hole some more.
Without looking at your conclusions, I wanna say the nylon and metal do change the sound a tiny bit but tbh I would not swear to it in court. I'd really need a blind test to be convinced this makes a difference.
Blind test is a great idea, now that we have sort of kinda maybe a baseline with this impromptu test. I think this topic definitely deserves some more examination.