sE Electronics Reflexion Filter Reviews

Anthony
from Denver
November 12, 2012Music Background:
Home Studio Recording

don't record without!

best option on the market other than an actual vocal booth/room

Nashville Don
from Nashville, TN
March 12, 2012Music Background:
hobbyist

As important as the right mic & preamp

It's not just a noise screen. I experimented with adding cardboard above and below to block noise even more, and I lost all the smoothness and clarity this screen gives. With the right mic for your voice and the right Class A preamp, you're only 2/3 of the way there. This filter takes you the rest of the way to having a professional sounding vocal in a bedroom studio.

from LA, CA
December 2, 2011Music Background:
Engineer, Producer

You don't hear it, and thats why it works!

After using this, I instantly realized how many problems I had in my booth, because all of a sudden they weren't there anymore. The big thing is I can actually hear the hi-end content without eq-ing. Everything just sounds "right". And when you run across a product that does that, you need to get one ASAP before more of your recordings slip through without it. The only thing I don't like is the mechanism to attach it to a stand and mic. I don't use it. I got a nice little Ultimate Support stand that uses the European threading (most of them do, you just take off the adapter with an allen wrench) and just attached it directly to the stand. Much less mess. Quicker setup. And it of course helps decouple things more.

Long story short: If you want to have competitive vocals, you need to get one of these.

Gerry Lopez
from Orlando, FL
July 26, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician

Reflexion Filter

As a new "home engineer" I was having troubling results trying to capture my trumpet without always getting too much bottom end and room ambiance. I tried preparing the room with acoustic treatment but it started getting too expensive. After almost giving up preparing my room I bought the sE Reflexion Filter upon a friend's suggestion and it did two things. #1 made capturing my instrument's true sound much easier and #2 saved me lots of money. I recommend this filter for and wind instrumentalist looking to dry and clean up their room sound.

Natan Abdala
from Aguadilla, PR
July 22, 2011Music Background:
Pro musician, mix engineer, producer

A-W-E-S-O-M-E

Let me start by saying!!!
Dios mio esto esta del mas allá!!!
that meaning, Oh my God this thing is from another planet!!!
I mean, it just makes your voice Soung BETTER!
and by better I mean, ridiculously better, and its so much easier to mix vocals trough this thing. I also tested it on acoustics, blown away!
Its a thing you just have to have!
God bless!

Gerritt Tisdale
from Conroe, TX
January 6, 2011Music Background:
Music Producer, Audio Engineer, Sound Designer.

Not What I expected!

I had a very hard time buying this product because I wasn't looking for a "home studio" sound or a quick fix. My fear was that this would create a "boxy" effect sound over the vocals an wouldn't quite live up to professional standards.
After taking the $299 plunge, we tested this out with to see what improvements it would make on the room noise. My jaw hit the floor when we heard the vocals back in solo. We even turned it up loud to try and hear the room, but it sounded just like our pro vocal booth. When we compared the frequency curves, it was a dramatic difference. When we put our own acoustic panel wall behind the singer, that made it sound as good or better than a treated booth!!! The product does what it says and nothing (all the other brands) do it so well. If you are serious about making a difference in your recordings that even average listener will notice, pick one of these up for yourself!!!

VICTOR GUTIERREZ AKA DJ RID
from MERCED, CA
October 21, 2010Music Background:
PROFESSIONAL DJ, PRODUCER AND ARTIST

A MUST HAVE FOR VOCALS!

I OWN A $70,000 STUDIO IN CALIFORNIA. I PICKED THIS BAD BOY UP BECAUSE IT LOOKED COOL AT THE TIME BACK IN 2007 LOL I AM A RISK TAKER SO I TOOK A RISK. BOY, THIS IS WONDEROUS ON R&B AND RAP OR ANY TYPE OF CATEGORY YOU CAN THINK OF. MY SUCCESS HAS BEEN WITH RECORDING SPANISH GROUPS AND BANDS. I HAVE PROFESSIONALLY RECORDED FOR 3 YEARS NOW SO TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. THIS IS ONE OF MY TOP SECRET WEAPONS TO CLEAR VOCALS. IT DOES HELP ALOT BY HAVING A SEMI ACOUSTICALLY TREATED ROOM, BUT GIVE IT A SHOT. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED. PLUS, IT LOOKS GREAT! HIGH FIVE TO THE INVENTOR OF THIS PRODUCT.

R. Gallagher
from Central Illinois
July 24, 2010Music Background:
B.A. Music, Former Pro Trombonist and Home Studio Junkie.

Excellent piece of recording equipment

I purchased a Reflexion Filter (RF) soon after they were released. My home studio room was not very acoustically correct and the RF was the perfect addition for this situation. My room is much more acoustically correct now and the RF works even better. I use mine primarily on vocals but have used it on acoustic guitar to reduce room ambience. RE: comment about being able to move "mics in or out": As I understand it, there is a "Sweet Spot" area within the RF that was purposefully designed in which to locate microphones. Mics too far back within the RF will add anomalies to the sound. Mics too far out will lose the benefit of the sound reflection and absorbtion.

Alandres Thompson
from Michigan
April 28, 2010Music Background:
Producer, Songwriter, Singer

Sweet, just sweet.

This filter is great, really puts your vocals where they need to be. No more bathroom sound. At first, I was not sure because of the price, but now after using it on ( 1 ) verse, its WELL worth the money. Vocals have more clearity and hold a more solid sound. I recommend this product to ANYONE with a home studio setup without treatment. Trust me; GET THIS!!!

Justin
from Lake Charles, LA
November 15, 2008Music Background:
College music student, home recording hobbyist, jazz musician

Makes a BIG difference.

I was pretty skeptical when I bought this, but I finally gave in after listening closely to recordings I've made in my living room. I would now say that this is a must have for any project studio with an untreated room. Easy to set up and made with sturdy quality materials. One note on this-make sure you have a tripod mic stand and not a normal stand. The center of gravity is outward on this and is not very stable with a normal mic stand.

Richard Saxby
from Columbia, TN
August 24, 2008Music Background:
Recording dude

Impressed.

This is great! I used this in a treated room and it made the vocals sound better and more up front. I also used it in an untreated room where the mic by itself sounded horrible and you could just hear how horrible the room was in the recording. But when I used this in that same room it made the recording sound great like I was in a great room. You can aslo adjust the mic and make your vocals or whatever more or less dead. Awsome!

Delisha & Khristian Brown
from Sacramento, CA
May 15, 2013Music Background:
Music production company

sE Electronics Reflexion Filter

again... for an affordable filter... it has surpassed our expectations. Serves it's purpose and is worth the price for quality!

marty
from LA
February 3, 2013Music Background:
Hobbyist ecording Engineer

buy

i bought a se electronics project Reflexion Filter back in 2010 and i like it for the price it did the job i moved and the room was bad recording roject Reflexion Filter need a lot of help so upgrade to pro wow did my vocal come to life best buy next to my isa one

J
from United States
December 10, 2012Music Background:
Producer, Songwriter

You need this even if you don't think you do

I had been getting what I considered solid vocal recordings in my home studio. However, I still couldn't quite get my recordings to sound as big and fat as some commercial recordings. I doubted my mixing ability, my preamp, my mic, my monitors, my converters . . . everything. Well, it turns out it was really just the lack of a reflexion filter. My unprofessionally treated room really isn't bad, I promise =), but the reflexion filter cleaned up the bits and pieces of comb filtering and noise that remained. The result is bigger, fatter vocals that sit just right in the mix. If you own a home studio and you have a nice pre and a nice mic (I had both), don't record any vocals until you also get this. Otherwise, you won't really know what your equipment is capable of. I went from using lots of EQ to using almost none. I went from using both OTB and ITB compression to just using some light OTB comp with maybe a little vocal riding in mixing. I went from struggling to find the right deessing frequency that would cut out the harsh highs while preserving the presence of the vocals to only using de-essing for little smoothing here and there.

Bottom line: I didn't know how good my equipment could sound until I got this little fellow. It's a little expensive, but totally worth it.

Ryan
from Cedar Park, TX USA
June 30, 2012Music Background:
Voice Talent, Musician

Great Product

I'm really pleased with my purchase. It's an excellent product and does a great job at deadening room noise - especially if you're not in a sound proof room. My only complaint is that my mic doesn't work really well with it. It's meant for a mic the sits vertically. I have Shure Beta 87a and it sits horizontally. In an effort to keep the front of the mic in line with the walls and in the center of the shield I have to angle the mic to about 45 degrees. It works, just isn't ideal. Mostly my fault as it's my mic but knowing it was better for vertical mics going in would have been nice. Still a great product, though!

Marcus
from United States
March 11, 2012Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Producer, Artist

A MUST IF YOUR ROOM IS NOT TREATED!!!

This filter does its job exceptionally well!!!! If your recording in an untreated environment or a really huge treated room and dont want the sonic characteristics of the room, this filter is a MUST HAVE. The build is solid and lets face it, everyone likes shinny things and this filter SHINES! Install seems a lil confusing given the instructions but easy to figure out and installs in minutes. Be careful not to crank down on the locking keys because they will break (been there done that) but a great addition to any studio!!!

Grant
from Goshen, IN
October 15, 2011Music Background:
producer, recording engineer, touring drummer

It's expensive and it works.

A little pricey, but like the headline said.. it works. It's made my vocal takes sound fantastic when I'm not in a great room. It effectively controls ambiance without greatly affecting frequency response of the mic. I'm willing to pay the money to get a well-engineered piece of gear the does the job well.

ADM
from South MS
September 26, 2011Music Background:
live sound recording engineer

Just what the doc ordered

I have purchased this to help with my recordings of quite a few artists that both sing and play acoustic at the same time, along with recording full bands in the same room at the same time.

It's done exactly what I needed, which was limit the ambience and other sound sources besides the vocals, allowing me to fine tune my vocal track and not have issues with the bleed affecting other instruments.

I'm wanting to also try this out with mics on sources like kick drum, guitar, and bass cabs. I'm thinking that it will also excell at these seeing as how wonderful it did for my vocals.

Brian
from LA, CA
December 24, 2010Music Background:
Student

Surprising Results

This can almost be considered a quick fix for recording, but using it in conjunction with a treated room yields pristine and accurate tracking. Awesome product!

Dan Wiest
from Knoxville, TN USA
May 5, 2008Music Background:
Student Engineer, Drummer

Not a gimmick!

I splurged on one of these before it was in the catalog and before anyone had much to say about it. Iâ€™ve been testing it out in a variety of applications. My favorite test was with vocals. I brought some gear to my brotherâ€™s apartment along with the filter, which I left in the car. I tried a take with a bare SM57 without the filter first as a reference; it was â€œboomyâ€? with lots of room noise. Disappointed with the results my brother took a break, wile I slipped away to the car for my â€œSecret Weaponâ€?. I was mounting the same SM57 to the filter when he came back to a metal contraption attached to the mic stand. Everyone is blown away when they see it for the first time. The next take was really different from the first one. We didnâ€™t hear anything else in the room not even the computer. I also think the novelty can bring out a better performance from the vocalist. I donâ€™t know how much it would help in a professional environment, but itâ€™s a valued asset to my project studio. Although, if you do decide on one of these, make sure you have a sturdy stand; you canâ€™t mount this to just any mic stand. Iâ€™ve had best success using the filter with tripod stands like (ItemID: StuBoom) and (ItemID: MicStdLt). Other than that, this is a great product; it really does a great job keeping unwanted noise from hitting the mic!

Andy
from Long Beach, CA
September 20, 2012Music Background:
Home Recording Engineer, Music Student

Gets 90% of the job done.

This is a fantastic piece of equipment. I am in a home recording setting, but that doesn't mean i don't care about the quality of my sound. When i hear the unwanted echo and natural reverb of a crummy bedroom, it gets on my nerves. I threw this up behind my primary vocal mic, and it took a huge majority of the room noise out of the equation. It didn't remove all of it, but a huge noticeable amount. put up some panels, foam, or blanket opposite the Reflexion filter, and it sounds even better.

Also, it's a little heavy, but managable.

from
August 22, 2012

Fantastic and beautiful!

Works exceptionally well even in a cavernous room. Only complaint is the mounting bracket not being ideal for moving around or perfectly straightening on a stand. Small point of contention. This thing dramatically improved my sound.

Syd Brown
from Chicago, Illinois USA
July 31, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Worh it!

Does what it is supposed do. Did a vocal with it and it greatly reduced the room ambience giving the best possible clear and clean sound for that room. The vocal had more life. I would say the extras put into this version pay off. Don't buy the cheaoer ones if can afford it. Go to the web site and read up on how this is different from the others. The theory is sound.

Paul Andrew Lawrence
from Anchorage, Alaska
July 30, 2012Music Background:
Production Sound Mixer

Well made & works

SE Electronics Reflexion Filter

It works well for the intended work
Well made

John
from New Jersey
March 19, 2012Music Background:
Voice overs

A good product that almost fits my needs

The sE Electronics Reflexion Filter does exactly what it says it does, absorbs the energy of a voice in an untreated space. I use it at my house as an alternative to doing voiceovers at my studio. The only problem I have is that it's a difficult to read scripts from a computer. I'm forced to talk off center which diminishes the effectiveness of the filter. Over all, though, it does a great job and I'm happy with it.

Jonathan
from Ohio
March 5, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician, Producer, Educator

Expensive but functional

I've used this with acoustic guitar, electric guitar, kick drum, and vocals, all with good results. Put this in your project studio and watch your singers' confidence build as they walk up to this. Just as effective as a psychological tool as well as an acoustical one. The price is a bit on the high side, that's the only real drawback...and you have to buy a mic stand for it.

Ned Massey
from NY, NY
August 12, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician, Singer/Songwriter

Does what it claims but....

Really sounds great for vocals, eliminating pesky reflections. Only problem is in design: the weight center falls to the right of where it clamps to mic stand and the filter tends to lean to the right (especially with a heavy mic). Maybe I'm doing something wrong. I don't think so. But I just jam a pencil in the gap between filter and mic stand and it cuts out most of the leaning.

Chris Brokamp
from Lima, OH
July 23, 2011Music Background:
Musician, Home Studio Enthusiast

Ideal solution to non-ideal recording space

It does what it says it will do nicely. There is no substitute for a room with great acoustics, but I can't remodel my house for that (yet). In the meantime, I'm pretty happy with the Reflexion filter to control problem reflections and frequencies. It's a little pricey, but it's built very solid and will last. So solid, that I would recommend a double-braced cymbal stand in lieu of a basic stage mic stand. This thing weighs a ton! It's currently being used on all my recordings!

Matt
from Southern California
June 12, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist

Surprisingly Good

Does exactly what it claims to. I threw this up not really expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. I recorded two vocals for a song, one with the reflexion filter in place and one without and it makes quite a difference. so much so that everyone I played the two different vocals (level matched as far as possible) said they prefered the sound of the vocal where the filter was in place

In an activity full of "snake oil" products it's nice to find something that works exactly as advertised

Well done sE

Bob Gallagher
from Bloomington, IL USA
October 10, 2008Music Background:
Former Orchestral Trombonist, Live Sound Guy and Home Studio Guy

Great Piece of Equipment

I have had mine since they first came out and this piece of equipment does exactly what sE Electronics/Sonic-Distribution says it will do. I have a small one room home studio and it has helped me get some nice vocals recorded by others in my room as well as acoustic guitar. It works even better with with a big down comforter or noise suppressing material behind the vocalist/instrument.

Steve Sykes
from United States
March 19, 2012Music Background:
Singer/Songwriter

Effective Solution

This filter works very well, and made a positive improvement in my vocal recordings. My complaint with it is the clamp set up that is provided with it. Mine came with a broken part, but that is not my complaint, and the company replaced it very quickly with no questions asked at all. My complaint is with the engineering. It is cumbersome to say the least and there are a couple of what I would consider design flaws. The biggest problem I have is that you cannot hang a microphone upside down with this clamp. There were other issues, but I won't enumerate them all. You can work around them, and I would recommend this and am glad I bought it.

Oscar
from Queretaro, Mexico
June 30, 2012Music Background:
Home studio

Reflection Filter too small for mic horizontally mounted

I use the SE Reflection Filter with a Beyerdynamic M 160 mic. This is a small Hypercardioid Ribbon Microphone that requires to be mounted "horizontally" on the stand. Unfortunately the length of the mic plus the cable connector extend too much horizontally and keep the tip of the mic sticking out approx. 2 in from the edge. I wish the filter was a little bit larger to allow the tip of the mic be placed inside or at least at the edge of the shield as recommended by SE Electronics.

Jeff Woods
from Philly,PA
February 11, 2012Music Background:
Producer,Engineer

Overpriced!

I first got the SE Reflexion filter as a gift back when they first came out. It provided some decent results but I had a lot of issue with it toppling over which wasn't fun to see a $500 microphone hit the floor. After a while I stopped using it because of that and sold it. I later on I had a to do some recording where I needed something like a reflexion filter but didn't want to drop so much on one. I brought a Soundkitz AE-F instead and I've been having a good time with that. It doesn't have the issues I had with the SE and it wasn't as much. So like I say it's a decent tool but more than it should be.