Monoprice Microphone Isolation Shield - Black, Foldable with 3/8-Inch Mic Threaded Mount, High Density Absorbing Foam Front and Vented Metal Back Plate - Stage Right Series

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a professional studio engineer with decades of experience. Any advice I give is reciprocated from credible sources and verified by my limited experience. I am, however, an audiophile and you can be assured I'll provide an objective opinion. My whole idea when building my studio was to buy high quality equipment that would last me a long time, rather than buying cheap or budget alternatives that would need to be upgraded in several years. For a reflection shield, the Monoprice model fits the bill. Obviously, it's a little pricey, but for the price you're getting numerous benefits. The stand can be set up three different ways: #1: on a desk with the included feet #2: clamped onto a stand or #3 screwed into the top of a stand. HOWEVER, since this shield is quite hefty (a bit awkward setting it up, but totally doable on your own), I found the clamp system to be somewhat gimmicky. Unless you have a serious microphone stand and some heavy counterweights, it will DEFINITELY tip if you use the clamp feature. The good news is that if you simply screw it into the top of a (heavy-duty) microphone stand, you'll be fine (: I don't move the stand around very much, but I'm not afraid at all of tipping or any accidents happening. As a side note: the stand I purchased with the shield was Post Audio's Heavy Duty Mic Stand (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALLX5FA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I understand this comes with a price tag as well, but when you're investing in high quality equipment--such as this shield, which could last you a lifetime--you don't want to cheap out. Now, past the logistics: this shield performs its job. I bought the shield to help block out reflections while recording vocals as well as to attempt to block out sounds from vents or outside. It does the job as expected--decently. I definitely notice the highs being a little crisper when compared to using the mic alone without the shield. Does it take the place of acoustic treatment? Of course, not. Would it be better than nothing? Yes, probably. As most studio engineers would recommend, when just starting out it's better to spend some money on acoustic paneling and get your room sounding a little cleaner. But if you're on an extremely tight budget, this might be the best option. This shield will clean up your vocals or voice-overs, but it WILL NOT solve fundamental problems in your room's acoustics. For a podcaster, voice-over artist, or other recording professional, this shield will give you a significant boost in quality. For musicians or producers, the boost in quality will be nominal. Regardless, the shield performed exactly as intended and I would recommend it to anyone who knows exactly why they need a shield like this. Please leave a comment if you have any questions!

I have been using this thing for over a year now, and I still love it! I needed to do some recordings in my office and there was always too much room/outside noise in the recordings. I tried putting up some foam sheets on the walls in the corner, but that did not quite do the trick. After some research, I decided to give this one a try as I have had pretty good luck with Monoprice items in the past, and the price was much lower than most of the other units that had decent reviews. I was most impressed with the quality and sturdiness of this thing. It looks very professional and is made from a strong and sturdy metal. Although, that could also be a down side depending on your use as this thing is heavy! I would not really recommend it if you planned to do a lot of traveling with it as the weight may be too much to lug around easily. For my use, it usually stays setup, or gets packed up and reset a few times a year, it is perfect. Recording wise, it definitely makes a huge difference in the quality of the recordings. A good microphone is of course needed as well, but this really takes the quality up further by greatly reducing the room hum, computer fan hiss, and other noises...and gives a nice quality to the vocals. The only really drawback I found is that due to the weight, you really need to have a good sturdy stand. I was lucky enough to already have a good stand that worked, but I can imagine that others may be caught of guard by the weight. Overall, I really like this thing and thing it is a great deal for the price.

The Monoprice Microphone Isolation Shield is a very well-constructed piece of gear that is highly configurable. I use it now on top of a boom microphone stand to do vocals for songs that I record. As far as noise isolation goes, the shield has performed great. I used to get a lot of room noise that would change EQ and reverb, but with this shield, the vocal signal is much cleaner. The difference in the final mix is noticeable. I wish I had known something like this existed long ago. It has also worked well to record a harp - the signal is very clean. The shield itself is constructed of metal. It may very well be bulletproof. There are connectors for a normal mic stand post, a bracket to connect the shield to a mic stand post (in case you have a boom on your mic stand), and feet to put the shield on a table. It is highly configurable as well as highly useful. The quality seems top-notch, particularly for the price point. So why knock off a star if this shield works well and is built well? The quality of the shield is its downfall - it is extremely heavy. That could result in a mic stand falling over if care is not taken when using it. I was initially using it with a boom, but found that if I removed the feet and the bracket (as well as the boom from the mic stand), that removed at least a few pounds, which helps. You are not going to use this shield on a cheapie mic stand; this will require a good, heavy-duty stand and some care in setup. I'm using a tripod-base stand, which works. I have doubts on how well it would work on a round-base stand. Overall, I highly recommend this isolation shield. It has worked very well for me, although it took some fiddling to get it right. That is par for the course with musical equipment, so I wasn't too surprised. Just be aware of what you're getting into and plan accordingly. This will do you right.