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TapeOp-
#74 Nov/Dec 09
TapeOp Gear Review
CharterOak Pop Filter
A good pop filter for cutting vocals is one of those easily overlooked
tools in the studio. Often an afterthought, a good one makes a great
mic even better — and an average mic sound okay. A crappy pop filter
makes an amazing mic sound crappy. Why screw up your several-thousand-dollar
microphone investment with a lousy pop filter??? The PF-1 is my
new favorite pop filter. It is a handsome, sturdy-looking piece
about the size of the bottom of a coffee cup. It has not one, but
two fine mesh screens Saati-Tech Hyphobe Acoustex with about a quarter
of an inch between them. This material repels moisture, and stop
plosives without compromising the frequency response of the microphone.
It’s lightweight, with a black exterior and natural cork middle
section that makes for a pleasing aesthetic. There is a small, slightly
sticky rubber dot on the mic side of the filter and a Velcro band.
It’s super easy to use; just press the dot onto the mic and use
the Velcro to attach. Besides the nice dual mesh screen, the small
size and weight have some obvious advantages over the larger metal-mesh
pop filters that need to attach to a mic stand; the filter stays
in place even if the mic moves, and the vocalist has a smaller “sweet
spot” to focus on, so it’s easier to stay on axis. I recently used
this filter to track some vocals with a vocalist with whom I’ve
consistently had plosive issues and was very pleased with the tracks
as they had far fewer and quieter plosives with the same mic we’d
previously used.
($44.95 MSRP; www.charteroakacoustics.com) –JB
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