SE Electronics Project Studio Reflexion Filter RF review
By Rob Sandall
| Posted in Music Technology
This sE Electronics Project Studio Reflexion Filter RF review comes at a good time. As those of you who keep an eye on DV247′s news tab are about to learn, you’ll see that a huge number of sE Electronics’ range of microphones – from studio condensers to active ribbons – are currently being bundled with this junior version of the pro filter, which we’ve looked at previously on the blog, for no additional cost. So what’s the difference, other than a much more wallet-friendly price?
Well first of all, let’s just clear up for the uninitiated exactly what these things are. Basically, the aim is to remove all the unexpected nuance and annoyance that comes with recording in an untreated space. While of course there are numerous acoustic treatment pads available to buy, they need to be screwed into the wall, and therefore bringing them with you when you’re recording anywhere other than your own studio is going to be impossible. Perhaps you’ve got a portable recording setup going on and need to track vocals in a friend’s garage or shed for their hobby recordings. More likely, you’re renting somewhere that doesn’t allow treatment pads to be put up for fear of damaging the walls, or you’re recording vocals for a song in multiple locations and want to be assured of an even, untainted and identical response every time.
This board, then, is specifically designed to sit behind the mic while you or whoever you’re recording stands in front of it. It connects to the mic stand directly, so there’s no need for extra hardware to keep it in position, and locks in safely.
Obviously, short of recording in a full-on ‘dead’ room, there’s always going to be a tinge of the surrounding creeping in to the colour of your tone, but direct A/Bing this shield in recordings to those without, it certainly makes for a much clearer and true delivery. As you might expect, the pro version of the screen takes this sound deadening further using significantly greater advances in acoustic technology, but especially for the novice producer, there might not be a need for the upgraded model just yet.
The RF achieves its trickery with high-density foam, cut in ridges and affixed to specially-designed board. As you can see from the picture, this curves around, catching the displacement of sound as you sing, and effectively soaks it up.
You might perhaps be worried about a colour hike on your tone, but at 1db it’s negligible, and almost definitely undetectable to all but the very sharpest of ears. Even then, it’ll be a darn sight more pleasing than a filterless, completely untreated sound!
These screens are worth the not-very-much money as it stands, then, and so a chance to grab one for free while you’re purchasing your next vital mic anyway makes a great deal of sense to us. Maybe, of course, you’ve already got your perfect mic collection and you just want the filter, but either way it’ll do a great deal for your vocal takes, so I would suggest pondering over either route when it comes to looking at the sE Electronics Project Studio Reflexion Filter RF.
how much?
jim