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Aston Microphones HALO Purple Reflection Filter and Portable Vocal Booth

£9.9£99Clearance
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About this deal

Halo’s unique design is much bigger than other portable booths, and wraps around top and bottom to a maximum rear depth of almost 100mm to improve room isolation and absorption without dominating the room sound. Its textured and wave-formed surface also helps diffuse direct sound.

Okay, so now you’ve clued-up on the Halo and aware of what it is and how it functions, you’re most probably itching to know what makes it so good, as well as its potential pitfalls. As with any product, the Halo comes with its own set of pros and cons. Both things it’s wise to know before putting your money where your mouth is. Buy an Aston Halo and you buy with confidence. This mic shield comes with a 3-year zero downtime warranty! Though I was acquainted with the specs beforehand, I was still surprised when setting it up at just how rigid and lightweight the structure is. I found it to be perfectly stable when placed on a dedicated bog-standard mic stand (ie. on a different stand from the mic), and the extra isolation this produces is definitely worth it. ConclusionBecause the pop filter is integrated into the eyeball, you can’t really alter it distance from the mic. Whereas with the Aston you can, as it doesn’t come with a pop filter built in. When it comes to sound absorption, the sE uses foam. Unlike the Aston which uses the company’s patented type of PET felt. A materials that’s said to 1up the sound absorption that you get from traditional foam.

I tested the Halo for a vocal recording session (there’s no reason it can’t be used for other sources) and found it easy to set up and easy to adjust. It proved very effective in screening out room ‘live-ness’ but, as with all other such devices, if you are working in a seriously bad room, then you should also put a further large absorber behind the vocalist — a foam panel or a polyester duvet would do the job. This is to intercept reflections from the wall behind that might otherwise find their way into the open side of the screen, and onto the hot side of the mic. My own studio is fitted with basic acoustic treatment, so I used the Halo on its own. The subjective results were perfectly clean; I could discern no audible coloration. The most impressive quality of the Halo is its sonic neutrality. Placing any (semi) solid object close to a microphone, especially those with cardioid and figure-eight polar patterns, tends to seriously affect tonality, whether the intended source is close or at a distance. Because not only is there a lot of scepticism around mic isolation booths, but when it comes to the Halo, we’ve got to admit that we’ve got a slight crush. Well, we say slight… we’re HUGE fanboys! So as you can imagine, the thought of doing an Aston Halo review seemed to be treading awfully close to being bias. Which it kind of is, but we’ve decided to give it a go anyway, as a way of disciplining our fanaticism about this remarkable mic isolation shield. Both the Aston and Kaotica Eyeball adopt futuristic designs that we’re personally huge fans of. You have to admire any product that pushes the boundaries.

Oh no! Why did I get blocked?

The Halo is more expensive than many similar products, so it does need to trade on quality over value for money. Where the sE lags just provide absorption from the sides, the Aston Halo absorbs and protect your mic from all 360 degrees – that being the left and right hand side, as well as the top and bottom. The Halo is made from a patented PET felt which is one of the most lightweight and efficient, technical acoustic products available on the global market today, making it ideal for use in a reflection filter. Both the Halo and the sE work well to absorb sound – i.e. both practice what they preach. However with that being said, we personally think the Aston Halo makes the most noticeable difference in sound. Unlike other mic isolation shields, due to the Aston Halo being so larger, it can deal with any mic of any size that you can throw at it. Something other mic isolation shields cannot!

The Aston Halo itself is made of Aston’s own patented form of PET– the same material that they make plastic bottles out of. All of which makes the Halo a hit of an eco-warrior, as it’s made out of 70% recycled material. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s rubbish! This material is far more acoustically absorbent than foam. Buy a Halo and you’re buying a completely new product – the Aston Halo has been completely re-engineered as a mic isolation shield. It’s not just a rip off of one that’s been released before. The Result is abeautifully open sound with sparkling harmonics. This highly accurate microphone gives a stunningly natural and transparent recording, capturing all the detail in the high range but without adding the harshness that some condenser microphones seem to. Key Features:TheSpirit is ahigh performancecondenser microphoneusing a 1" gold evaporated capsule. The mic offers a choice of 3 different polar patterns (Omni, Cardioid and Figure of 8) via a switch on the front. This gives the mic the versatility to record in a variety of environments. The Spirit will be a great choice for most instruments, but is particularly sweet on acoustic guitar and vocals. It's built with some of the best components that you find in expensiveboutique microphones. In fact, the only instance where we think you should think twice, or at the very least assess whether a Halo would be worth it, is if you don’t really need a mic isolation shield full stop. In other words, you’ve already got a fully sound-treated room or free access to a professional studio. In which case, this purple shield would serve more as a prop than a functional piece of equipment. But saying that, it would look pretty killer as part of a music video, and certainly screams “pro producer” to any artist who walks into your studio.

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