SE Reflection Filter Anyone?

[ShaneFontane]

Has anyone bought this? Does anyone know how well it improves your recordings? I record in my room with my monitors off and headphones on. LOL (that's so electrocrunk that kicks ass!!!) but I was wondering how well this $300 piece of fancy metal would help out vs nothing or the auralex expander kit?

Ideas or experiences anyone?

If you are unfamiliar with the pieces mentioned:

SE Refelection Filter $300
http://www.seelectronics.com/rf.html

Auralex Expander Kit $60
http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolati...n_xpanders.asp

Thanks!

[digitalM]

I have one. Have not been working with it enough yet to give a full review but so far it actually seems to work. I have used it on vocals and acoustic guitar and the greater part of the room sound dissapears. You can vary the amount of ambience absorbtion by positioning the mic more fore- or backward on the mounting rail.
It is possible to get a very dry recording in any room but you really have to finetune the mic position and if you want very dry indeed then using a duvet or something similar behind the artist is still necessary ( in case you're recording in a living room or something similar).
Personally I never do this because I like just a tiny little bit of room sound on the recordings. This thing is capable of giving you're recordings a dull and muffled sound if you're not carefull.

Cheers, Martijn.

[ShaneFontane]

thanks man... appreciate it.

[tvanveen]

It definitely helps.

[kwaehner]

Wanted to revisit this thread. Anyone else had any hands-on experience with this thing?

[pabloman]

I've tried it, and I'm getting one!
It's also good for miking amps.

[Rob King]

completely worth every penny! I have had mine for months and have done extensive recording with it. It Rocks! The only thing I would change is the Bar that holds the Mic. It is too long..I have told Bob at SE about it.. I use an L XLR connector on a solidstate mic so it doesn't touch the bar. Using a Tube I have a small 6" mic clamp and hang the mic from over the RF.. Cheers. It really is a great product overall.

[warhead]

I use one on guitar cabs quite often with figure 8 ribbons, and have done some vocal recording with it also.

It does what it looks like it will do. I found it very handy and a real unique item, and have in my studio also.

War

[duckyboard]

anyone have any experience using one on someone playing acoustic and singing simultaneously? seems like it could come in handy.

[chrisp2u]

Picked one up last weekend. Happened to stop into the local GC (which doesn't happen too often) and to my surprise, they actually had one on display in the "pro" section. The sales guy said a lot of people had inquired about it, but they hadn't sold any... so I got a pretty good deal.

Haven't had the chance to try it out yet... hope to experiment a bit later this week.
---
c

[Jimbo]

Jeez, $300

Having looked at it, it seems like a couple of slabs of Owens Corning 703 placed around the back of the mic would do a better job, and be more versatile, for $20 + batting/fabric

...But it wouldn't look so damn cool!

- Jim

[doubledecker]

They are selling like hot cakes,this things.I've also bought one.
Its really good and it does what it says.
Definately kills the room sound.
Looks good too.
Only thing that wasn't designed well is bar holding the mic.
That bar is set up in such way that mic can travel back and fourth giving you more dead or live sound.I don't know about you, but if i wanted live sound i wouldn't be buying the damn thing in the first place.
Problem is that bar is too long and gets in the way of singer trying to sing.
I've just had a female singer with really big breasts recording(she looked fantastic) and boy that bar thing just got in the way.
To work around this problem i had to resort to my bag of tricks gathered from years of experience in this field.
I've had couple of options.
1. remove the bra, so that breasts dip a little and fall underneath bar holding the mike
2. not to record in control room
3. remove reflexion filter and just go for it

Whaddya think i did?

[dlmorley]

they could do a version for "ample" women with cup holders on each side of the bar...

[doubledecker]

Originally Posted by dlmorley

they could do a version for "ample" women with cup holders on each side of the bar...

Now, thats what i call constructive and willing to offer a "helping hand"

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by doubledecker

Problem is that bar is too long and gets in the way of singer trying to sing.

Hmm... So ya mean if I just sharpened the end of that bar...?

[juicylime]

Looks a good addition to the home studio to me. 300 bucks though is a little steep for what seems to have gone into it. Maybe it'll be a run away hit and the price will come down a bit. Or else we can just wait for behringer to do the ineveitable.

[Sebastian]

I just received one and played around with it for a few hours last night. I think it's reasonably priced for what it is. Maybe a tad expensive, but not outrageously so if you take street price into account.

You have to be careful--you can kill ALL the room sound and over-deaden the mic. It's sensitive to mic placement, so you have to experiment moving the mic (on the bar) back and forth. I agree that the bar that holds the mic may be the least effectively engineered part. I might try to find a way to get rid of most everything but the filter itself, and attach the filter to a separate mic stand.

On acoustic guitar, it was a toss-up: filter or no filter. Depends on SDC or LDC, too. On vocals I think I preferred the track with the filter. Made the vocals more forward and present.

[passionmax]

No one comented on the Auralex Expander kit. looks like it would do the same thing and the thing is only $60. Anyone have one or experiecne with it
thanks

[cjogo]

How can the device cost more than many good used mics ?? I use a curved piece of plexi...about the same size >mounted on arm.

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by doubledecker

I've just had a female singer with really big breasts recording(she looked fantastic) and boy that bar thing just got in the way.
To work around this problem i had to resort to my bag of tricks gathered from years of experience in this field.
I've had couple of options.
1. remove the bra, so that breasts dip a little and fall underneath bar holding the mike
2. not to record in control room
3. remove reflexion filter and just go for it

Whaddya think i did?

Number 1 ?

[chrisdee]

Where do you get your clients ???

[Temposelect]

Get onE!

I think they rock. I know one and use it with a TLM 103 with great benefit. not as much tho on say my Sm7B I'm sure its easy to see what. So it depends on your current situation

[Oli_W]

Yeh I like it for sticking behind Fig8 ribbons on vocals, but I wish I'd spent the money on Rockwool initially instead, and got it later on.

You can also rest it on your shoulders when mixing, to take some of the room out of your monitoring...

[John Eppstein]

Originally Posted by cjogo

How can the device cost more than many good used mics ?? I use a curved piece of plexi...about the same size >mounted on arm.

1.) I suppose it depends on your definition of a good mic.

2. ) it costs a lot less than room treatment and will help with some (but not all) of the same things.

3.) it's great for use with figure-8 mics where you don't want to pick up a lot of other stuff.

4.) A sheet of curved plexi is NOT a substitute. Not even close. Bad Idea. Plexi is highly reflective and will bounce out of phase sound back into your mic. The Reflexion Filter is composed of several layers of various absorbent materials so it will not reflect back into the mic itself, as well as blocking room reflections.

[Amusement]

How do people who have used this think it will be for rock singers who like to sing with monitors playing in front of them as opposed to being on headphones?

[Drumsound]

I tried the sE Reflexion filter for a weekend a couple years back and wasn't impressed.

[John Eppstein]

Originally Posted by Amusement

How do people who have used this think it will be for rock singers who like to sing with monitors playing in front of them as opposed to being on headphones?

It can help, especially if used in conjunction with the old trick of throwing one monitor out of phase and positioning the monitors equidistant from the mic directly in the null. With the reflexion filter you could use a figure 8 with the monitors at the sides of the mic. With a hypercardiod you'd want them a bit farther back.

Originally Posted by Drumsound

I tried the sE Reflexion filter for a weekend a couple years back and wasn't impressed.

Originally Posted by Peacock

2nd that

It all depends on what you expect to get out of it and whether you understand how to use it. The thing works and works pretty well, but there are some things that it just won't do. For example it will help with bad sounding ambience (reflections) but it will not help with room modes (resonance). That's why they call it a Reflexion filter, not a Rezonanz filter.

[tamasdragon]

I love it, have it, use it.
Notice that it is NOT a complete acoustical solution. It is a very good helper in certain application. You can use it on vocals, or on instruments. Use it to reduce room, to littlebit "modify" the pickup pattern of the mic. I think it is killer in the right hands.

[7161]

sorry?

"kill all the room sound"?

That's surely nonsense? how can it possibly do that? i

all these screen type products really do is kill off-axis sound

[Fletcher]

From my experience they help create some comb filtering as well... sometimes a neat effect, nothing I would ever use on a regular basis. I've found a few blankets thrown over mic stands to be a VASTLY superior solution.

As always, YMMV.

Peace.