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Microphone placement is one of the most important things to learn for recording sessions. Correct microphone placement can make or break a recording and differentiate between a polished sound and a muddy mix. Microphone placement is all about your room.
Luckily, there are a few inexpensive tools that can help you avoid pitfalls. If you are a musician or podcaster you want a microphone isolation tool that is durable, portable and can be quickly setup and taken down. They are great for minimizing background noise, echoes, or audio reflection.
Our Recommended Microphone Isolation Shields:
Neewer Tabletop Compact
Microphone Isolation Shield with Tripod Stand
The metal tripod is fairly sturdy, and the included foam and shock mount work well. It’s simple to install, and the foam does a good job of shielding the microphone from vibrations. For the money, this is a solid option for your vocal booth.
The Neewer Microphone Isolation Shield is a common microphone mount used by home studio professionals and musicians alike. The microphone isolation shield creates a sound-proof barrier around the microphone and sound sources.
The microphone isolation shield’s foam design is effective in filtering out unwanted ambient sounds and filtering in only the sounds coming from your voice. This helps to create a cleaner, clearer sound. The microphone isolation shield is not built with a specific condenser microphone in mind, but you can mount most types of microphones.
This mic shield does a good job of suppressing unwanted room acoustic waves and vibrations, reducing noise in vocals, solo instruments, podcasts, and other audio sources. It’s made of durable ABS plastic and lightweight metal, and its plastic cover has foam padding to absorb shock and vibration.
Pros
- Effective sound isolation
- Effective sound absorption
Cons
- Heavy
Aokeo Professional Studio Recording Microphone Isolation Shield
The Aokeo Pop Filter and Microphone Isolation Shield has a little bit of give, fitting most standard mic stands, and it’s easy to install and remove. Overall, the Aokeo is a high-quality portable vocal booth that gets the job done at a great price point.
The Aokeo Microphone Isolation Shield is a sleek and effective solution to a common problem. The folding design helps it fit lots of kinds of recording spaces. The shield is lightweight, has a solid frame, and is easy to fold and store away.
It’s extremely well made, and although it takes up more space than most of the other microphone shields we considered, it is both tough and portable.
This Aokeo Microphone Isolation Shield is a perfect combination of light yet sturdy, and it’s perfect for recording vocals for podcasts, YouTube videos, or other voiceover and vocal-related audio projects. It includes a locking clamp that can attach the microphone to the mic stand, and it has a foam insert that can be slid into the clamp, effectively blocking sounds from reaching the vocal mic.
Pros
- Reduces ambient noise
- Easy to attach and detach
- Affordable Price
Cons
- Not the most portable model
LyxPro VRI-40 Portable Acoustic Isolation Instrument Shield
This is the easiest and least expensive way to improve the acoustics of any room without an isolation booth, and it instantly puts more distance between you and the echoes and reverb that plague every recording space.
The LyxPro VRI-40 Acoustic Isolation Instrument Shield is a well-made, high-quality product that does a great job of reducing echoes and unwanted noise interference. It snaps onto most mic stands, and it’s lightweight enough to be easy to carry around.
The included mounting hardware is sturdy, and we were able to easily attach it onto several mic stands we tested. And the gooseneck makes it easy to adjust the angle of the foam shield. The only drawback is that the foam material sags a bit over time, so over time it loses some of it’s tautness.
The LyxPro VRI-40 isn’t the thickest, most rugged sound panel we tested, but it’s decent for the price. It’s built to take a beating.
Pros
- Great sound wave isolation at relatively low cost
- Does not obstruct view
- Flexible gooseneck
Cons
- Often out of stock
TONOR Microphone Isolation Shield
Even as a basic foam reflector, this shield serves its purpose, is built to last, with high-grade steel and durable screws.
The TONOR Microphone Isolation Shield is a good overall acoustic panel that we recommend, especially if you do a lot of recording at home or in your studio.
The TONOR Isolation Shield can be mounted on a microphone stand or on a desk. The sturdy construction with high-quality steel screws ensures sturdiness, and the flexible three-panel compact design features two foldable end panels to allow for angle adjustments, giving you the optimal insolation.
If you’re a professional recording studio, videographer, or podcaster, it’s essential that the room your recording session takes place in is as quiet as possible. The TONOR Microphone Isolation Shield does the job of reducing the background noise, so that the sound produced by your microphone can be clearly heard.
All of the acoustic foam panels are made out of a dense foam, which ensures that they aren’t actually absorbing sound waves, but rather reflecting it. TONOR provides installation instructions and a link to a YouTube video for setting it up, and we found the instructions to be clear and useful.
Pros
- Effectively reduce sound reflections
- High quality, acoustically transparent foam
- Convenient storage
Cons
- Expensive
AGPTEK Microphone Isolation Shield, Foldable
While it’s not perfect, this mic shield is decent for the price, and it is definitely worth buying if you are looking for an affordable yet portable option for recording in noisy environments.
The AGPTEK Microphone Isolation Shield is a foldable, adjustable and durable mic isolation booth of excellent construction. Two folding panels allow the angle to be adjusted to any angle from 90 to 145 degrees.
The steel hard outer shell not only makes this mic isolation shield more sturdy and more shockproof, but also makes it stronger in usage. Plus, the aluminum pole is an absolute highlight, it is of light weight, yet strong in durability. It is very convenient to install the mic isolation booth on the microphone stand. Besides, it s small and convenient to carry.
With only a few minor flaws, this microphone isolation shield is one of the better options for its price, and it provides more high-quality isolation than most of the other models we reviewed. It sets up quickly and folds flat for transport, and it offers decent isolation against tabletops and speakers.
Pros
- Sturdy, sturdy, sturdy
Cons
- Limited table top usage
Moukey Microphone Isolation Shield with Triple Reflection Filter
It can effectively reduce ambient noise, eliminate audio wave bounces back and interference, and provides you clean and clear recording. For the price, this is one of the best, if not the best, noise filters you can buy.
The Moukey is a great mic shield for desktop recording, podcasting, singing, or even capturing binaural audio for virtual-reality (VR) applications. It’s lightweight, sturdy, and folds up into an ideal size, taking up very little space.
The Moukey Microphone Isolation Shield folds for easy storage, and it has a solid construction. It comes with a 3/8- to 5/8-inch adapter for mounting along with a 3/8 to 3/8-inch to 5/8-inch adapter for mounting to a standard microphone stand. You should be able to find the adapters you need at most music stores.
The price is slightly higher than most similar options, but we think it’s worth it if you’re serious about recording without outside interference.
Pros
- Easy to install and remove
- Great sound insulation
Cons
- Expensive
CODN Recording Microphone Isolation Shield with Pop Filter
It is ideal for vocal, acoustic recording and podcasting sound booth.
Overall, we like the CODN Isolation Shield, and we’d recommend it for studio and podcasting use.
This microphone isolation shield is an easy-to-use and effective sound blocker that suppresses unwanted noise and vibrations. It is constructed from 5 resilient, adjustable metal panels that provide effective protection against unwanted noise that tend to echo and interfere with studio and field recordings.
The microphone isolation shield’s versatile and easy-to-use design achieves the vocal clarity you need in any studio recording. The high-density absorbent foam ensures no distortion to your voice and instrument sound, while eliminating audio wave bounce back and interference, so your voice and instrument sound is clear, natural, lively and lasts long.
The metal gooseneck holder fully supports the filter’s weight and keep it in place. You can adjust the angle and distance between the screen and the microphone to best fit your needs.
Also, the CODN Recording Microphone Isolation Shield can be folded into a compact size which makes it very easy to travel with you.
Pros
- Foldable design
Cons
- Not the best built tripod
AGPTEK Microphone Studio Recording Kit
It s practical, versatile, and durable thanks to high-quality components. The microphone isolation shield you’ll get is sturdy and folds away for easy storage.
The AGPTEK Recording Kit is a great value beginner kit. The kit contains everything an aspiring podcaster (or voice over artist) needs to get started: a a pop filter, an isolation shield and a mic stand.
The only thing missing is a microphone, and that’s easily remedied with the purchase of one, high-quality (probably USB) microphone.
The microphone stand is sturdy, well built, and adjustable, while the pop filter will reduce popping. Overall, this is a nice kit for getting started and because of that, it makes it our Editors’ Choice for beginner podcasting gear.
Pros
- Pop filter reduces popping sound
- Portable, lightweight, compact, ideal for vocal recording
Cons
- Not the best microphone stand at this price range
Pyle Wood Microphone Isolation Shield – PSMRSWD100
The high density foam padding is thick enough to eliminate most vibration, and it does a pretty good job on most of the reflections.
The Pyle Wood Microphone Isolation Shield is a sound booth designed to cancel out much of the ambient noise that sneaks into your recording. The wood construction creates a fairly silent background, but it’s a bit too big and heavy for our tastes, and it’s heavy enough that we’d suggest using it with a tripod.
Because of its weight, I wouldn’t consider it to be portable by most people’s standards. The mic thread is 3/8 inches in diameter, so it can fit most mics. It even has a 3/8-inch-to-1/4-inch adapter so you can attach it to a one with a standard 1/4-inch thread.
Pros
- Effective noise reduction
- Easily assemble and store
Cons
- Expensive
What to Consider When Looking for the Best Microphone Isolation Shield for Your Needs?
What is a Microphone Isolation Shield?
Even if an apartment is acoustically tuned to have a flat frequency response, there will always be some sound wave reflections.
There can also be problems from large objects, such a walls, ceilings, and sofa, that can cause reflections inside the microphone frequency range. Acoustic reflection filters are devices used to reduce reflections from reaching your microphone.
Mounting and Placement
The placement of your microphone is important to create the best possible vocal recordings, but most people don’t think about it until they listen to their recordings and hear all of those extra noises picked up. When you are recording vocals or songs, you want to record only the instrument’s sound or the voice and not the sound coming from the surrounding area or the room air moving around.
This is especially important when for audio recordings in a quiet room. Isolation shields are also essential in a professional recording studio environment. Even a budget filter will help reduce noise, but they will also reduce the “giant echo chamber effect” captured by the microphone.
Adjustability and Positioning
You want to have a good isolation shield with a high density foam layer and a sturdy frame. This will ensure you get the best results for the lowest cost. Today, we have to be extra careful about where sound sources might be placed in a recording studio, as even the slightest amount of noise can be a real problem. That includes computers and other high tech devices, heating vents, AC units, and anything else that could generate unwanted vibrations.
The more unwanted noise these devices generate, the more likely your sound will be marred by background noise. That’s where finding the right microphone isolation shields becomes so important. They’re surprisingly adjustable, and they come in both heavy duty desktop and mic stand mount versions.
The ability to heighten, decrease, or change your microphone or equipment position based on personal preferences is a great thing, especially in a recording studio setting. While a lot of microphones and mounts can be adjusted; some are better than others.
Isolation Shield Size & Weight
There are plenty of options today. You should be able to choose a soundproofing shield for your recording space, some models provide you with the option to be placed onto the desk top, while others will let you place them on a microphone mount. The best option would be to get a model that gives you both mounts for maximum flexibility.
The weight of the isolation shield is a determining factor on how far away you can position it. It is wise to purchase a heavy duty microphone stand to handle the weight of the isolation shield preventing it from tipping over and damaging your equipment. Pick an isolation shield that allows you to use your microphone in various positions with additional adjustability, as this may come in handy if you change mics from time to time.
