Pop Goes the Weasel, But Not the Microphone!

HCMarkus · Post by **HCMarkus** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:35 am

Heard of the Hakan P110 Pop Filter? It has received rave reviews across the Interwebs.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... -gooseneck

Looks like a potentially very cool, resonance-free and easy to clean filter, but the $100 price! It sure looks like a simple little device. Must be some proprietary foam there, right?

Did a little Googling and found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnRDozV2hhM

I just ordered some aquarium filters from Amazon...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PDMQF8H?ps ... ct_details

Here's the guy who started it all and provided the Amazon link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0OtPXUFCxE

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:49 am

$100??!! No margin on that, huh?

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:17 am

I’ve spent a lot of money over the years on reducing the ‘plosives everything from the Steadman (not bad) to the JZ wire Mesh (don’t waste your money like I did)
https://usashop.jzmic.com/collections/accessories
to various foam wind screens and have never found one that worked as well as I wanted. Even the AKG C636 and its triple-layer scheme designed to Stop the Pop… doesn’t.

I’ve never heard of te Hakan before today. Thanks!

Here is the follow up video showing how to convert a $13 Dragon Pad to use with the aquarium filters. I like this guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9o3KFSFbRw

I wonder if there’s enough room to put a rectangle of that foam between the grille and the internal pop screen in my BCM 705. I’ll have to check that out.

stubbsonic · Post by **stubbsonic** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:24 am

I've had pantyhose material on my pop-filter for ages, thanks to a friend. But weirdly, it's not as sonically transparent as that aquarium filter seems to be.

A gooseneck pop filter can be gotten from a popular online retailer for about $11. (Just search pop filter) which can be used with the aquarium filter.

One quick usage tip. A pop filter is more effective at reducing plosives when it is closer to your face than to the microphone.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:27 am

Look what I just found for $17.on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-Pop- ... _1_13_sspa

Ordering this with a pack of the filters right now.

HCMarkus · Post by **HCMarkus** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:35 am

mikehalloran wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:27 am Look what I just found for $17.on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-Pop- ... _1_13_sspa

Ordering this with a pack of the filters right now.

Nice Mike!

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 6:40 pm

Let’s buy a bunch on Amazon, give it a catchy name, shoot a fancy promo video and place Facebook ads and sell them for $49.95 each.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 6:59 pm

James Steele wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 6:40 pm Let’s buy a bunch on Amazon, give it a catchy name, shoot a fancy promo video and place Facebook ads and sell them for $49.95 each.

Amen. I was searching AliBaba.com and don't see this one. Doesn't mean it isn't there but I have yet to find it.

Mine should be here Monday. I'll compare that with the filters to see if they're the same. I have other pop stoppers (that don't!) where I can easily remove the screens and make substitutions. I'll report back with what I find.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 7:14 pm

I have an old Red Type B mic that was made by Blue years ago. Works great on my voice. They were only available online. I have a really cool Red matching pop filter that looks vintage. Never really tried it out though. I used a cheaper onstage brand screen type. I can’t remember now if I ever A/B’d it (with/without) to see if it affected the sound. I imagine you could lose some top end?

HCMarkus · Post by **HCMarkus** » Sun Jan 22, 2023 1:52 pm

Got my Aquarium Filters.

Although I ordered one of the Pseudo-Hakan ones Mike found, I couldn't resist bending a little wire...

: IMG_0083.jpg (769.92 KiB) Viewed 6578 times

: IMG_0084.jpg (659.14 KiB) Viewed 6578 times

I am going to retire the panty hose.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Sun Jan 22, 2023 2:24 pm

Looks great!

Being the one-armed guy, I’ll not be doing much wire bending but I do have a bench vise and ViseGrips if needed and I ain’t afraid to use them!

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Tue Jan 24, 2023 4:42 pm

HCMarkus wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:35 am Heard of the Hakan P110 Pop Filter? It has received rave reviews across the Interwebs.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... -gooseneck

Looks like a potentially very cool, resonance-free and easy to clean filter, but the $100 price! It sure looks like a simple little device. Must be some proprietary foam there, right?

Did a little Googling and found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnRDozV2hhM

I just ordered some aquarium filters from Amazon...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PDMQF8H?ps ... ct_details

Here's the guy who started it all and provided the Amazon link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0OtPXUFCxE

mikehalloran wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:27 am Look what I just found for $17.on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-Pop- ... _1_13_sspa

Ordering this with a pack of the filters right now.

Everything came in. Here are some comparisons etc.

I did not order the Hakan, of course but the $17 Amazon appears to be identical including the 13" gooseneck.

The $17 and the aqua filters appear to be the same material. EDIT: After a few days, the filters expanded to the same thickness and the material now appears to be identical.

That polyester media is really easy to cut with scissors, much more so than foam rubber. I have a few places to use custom shapes. A needle and thread should hold this in place while I re-attach the grille on my BCM 705 but it can be done to make it more useful on some voices.

: IMG_2771.jpeg (3.74 MiB) Viewed 6407 times

One of my favorite live vocal mics for decades was the Shure 545/SM57 with the Shure A2WS-GRA Locking Foam Windscreen. It had a pad of open cell foam between the sock and the grill. If I ever use one again, a cheapo foam sock with a circle of this underneath should give the same 'plosive reduction.

HCMarkus · Post by **HCMarkus** » Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:18 pm

The $17 media thickness is 7/8" while the aqua filters are 11/16". When you look through them at a light, the $17 appears denser, no doubt due to the extra 3/16".

I've got both now, too, so I'll see if there is any discernible difference when I get a chance.

The $17 Amazon model seem to be a good quality... the manufacturer is clearly better at bending wire than me.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:18 pm

If you read reviews of the high priced version, many are negative because of a problem with the gooseneck. Seems it only works properly when it's straight. I found and fixed it on my $17 version.

The clue is that, when it's straight, there's no problem—a weak gooseneck would be most likely to droop when straight. The real problem is the attachment—it's held on be a 10mm nut that isn't properly tightened. A 10mm or 3/8" wrench or nut driver will cinch it down. If you can't get it to hold as firmly as you want, I recommend backing it off a bit and using a small drop of glue between the gooseneck and the clamp (not on the thread side!) before re-tightening the nut. Silicone, rubber cement, superglue or epoxy — any will work but the first two adhesives are removable.

In any case, problem solved.

: Pop filter clamp & nut.jpg (493.39 KiB) Viewed 6356 times

I have a couple of AKG C535EBs where the rubber inside the grille is rotted away—the resulting crud blocks sound and makes these useless. Removing the foam and using cheapo SM58 windsocks over the grilles brought them back to life but I never intended that to be a permanent solution. So I special ordered a couple of (damned expensive) AKG rebuild kits for these and received them just last week. I have already found 1/2" thick sheets of this aqua filter media https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3LLFVPV/re ... ail_0?th=1 and am looking for 3/8". My plan is to try rebuilding those grilles with that first. Worst case, I have to install these anyway:

: AKG C535EB, rebuild kits, SM58 windsock.jpeg (3.01 MiB) Viewed 6356 times

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:47 pm

HCMarkus wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:18 pm
The $17 media thickness is 7/8" while the aqua filters are 11/16". When you look through them at a light, the $17 appears denser, no doubt due to the extra 3/16".
I've got both now, too, so I'll see if there is any discernible difference when I get a chance.

After a few days, the aqua filters did fluff out to their advertised 7/8" thickness. Now light through both looks the same.

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