Compact Microphone Pop Filter / Sound Isolator

thingiverse

This is a compact microphone pop filter and sound isolator. I designed this because I use my microphone at my desk for recording commentary and for voice chat. The pop filter I had was one of those ones that clamp on and you can bend it so it's in front of the mic, but with that, all the cables, and trying to see my monitors it became a little cumbersome. The back 1/3rd of the casing is solid which helps to block out some background noise from my computer and when I'm typing. It works surprisingly well at isolating just my voice. Printing the Screen To print the filter screen you will need to make sure you turn off solid infill top and bottom. In Cura this is in Expert settings. Use a larger number of shells to get around a 3mm border, with a .4mm nozzle a shell thickness of 3.2 works well. Set the infill to at least 33%, the higher the infill the finer the screen will be. I have found 45% to be pretty good. You may need to experiment a little with the layer height, fill %, and number of shells to get exactly what you want. Microphone Dimensions The housing of your microphone must be 44mm or less in diameter for this to work, however, this might be scaleable to work with other size microphones but the filter screen would need to be thicker so it won't rattle around. The top part of the mic, (the metal screen around the condenser), should be around 50mm tall or less to fit under the cap. I have two different condenser mics I use for recording audio to my computer and this fits on both, so I think that many microphones have similar dimensions and should work with this. I would love to see if this comes in handy for anyone else. I'm really happy with how it turned out and works. Print Settings Printer: Mod-T Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: .1 - .3 Infill: 25% + Post-Printing Filter Screen Use a sharp blade or sandpaper to make sure there's no blobs or strings in the slots the screen slides into on the body and cap. The filter screen can be trimmed with scissors if you have trouble getting it to fit into the slots in the casing and cap. If you are using a more brittle filament than PLA to printing the filter screen you may need to warm it up in hot water before bending it so it doesn't break when putting it together. Overview and Background I was a music major in college and continue to work in a career that is involved with high school marching bands all around the country. I have always been fascinated by music and audio as well as how important sound is to creating any type of experience. This simple device was created to easily isolate sound directly into a condenser microphone while blocking out the pops from speaking plosives as well as unwanted background noise. Lesson Plan and Activity A simple way to demonstrate how audio is directional as well as its ability to be reflected. Using a compatible microphone, use a computer, tape recorder, or digital audio capture device to capture someone speaking. Choose one or two test phrases to use, I suggest using the "Harvard Sentences" because they were designed specifically to test voice quality through audio devices. Harvard Sentences Record them once without the pop filter, then again with and compare the sound quality of both, including the loud "pops" from the plosives in the speech. Repeat test but this time add some sort of background noise like fans or typing on a keyboard. Experiment with microphone positioning and check the results of how well the filter blocked out background sounds. Materials Needed Microphone A microphone with a housing diameter of 44mm and recording screen no taller than 50mm. Recording Equipment Other than a microphone, you will need a way to record the signal from it. Some options are a computer, tape recorder, or digital audio recorder. Skills Learned audio recording sound electronics music