Alctron Pf8 vs Kaotica Eyeball - Review

When you want to get clean and high-quality audio, you need a pop filter that will prevent the production of unwanted consonant plosives. There are two top contenders for the top-notch pop filter in the market – Alctron Pf8 vs Kaotica Eyeball.

When you are recording your content in a room that does not have acoustics, you can achieve the pro-like vocal sound by using either Alctron Pf8 or Kaotica Eyeball. These two soundproof foams are created to help you record high-quality vocals at home as if you had a soundproof booth.

Therefore, if you are experiencing ambient noise in your recording room, you can purchase either one of these foams and you will be able to achieve a near professional recording. When you want to create a soundproof room, there are three primary methods of doing so. They are:

Using soundproof foam – these work with the same principle as absorbing foams.

Using soundproofing panels – these are dense and heavy products that block any noise either from entering or leaving a room. They are mainly placed inside walls and they help to separate between rooms such that the common wall between rooms does not have any hard surface.

Using sound-absorbing foam – these are soft, lightweight, and fluffy products that are meant to absorb any echoes in a room. When put in a room, they soften the surfaces of the room and help to absorb any sound echoes within that room.

Why soundproofing is essential

There are various reasons as to why soundproofing a recording room is critical. Some of the reasons include the following:

It helps to stop the noise from getting outside the room to disturb those outside the room. Similarly, it helps to stop outside noise from disturbing those insides.
Soundproofing helps to prevent noise from entering into a recording room which might interrupt your recording.

Sound travels through two major ways – through structures and through the air. Sound traveling through the air is easy to control as compared to sound traveling through a structure. One of the best ways to prevent sound from traveling through the air is through soundproofing. And that is where Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball comes in.

In this article, we are going to compare and contrast between Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball and find out which one is better in soundproofing.

Without wasting much time, let us start by reviewing both Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball separately and then comparing them together and then come up with an informed conclusion.

Kaotica Eyeball Review

This is a strange looking foam ball which helps to filter out pop sounds and more. The Kaotica Eyeball is put around the condenser of the mic and it is designed to help filter out consonants S, B, and P. apart from that, it helps to deaden the area around the microphone such that no ambient sound is captured.

If you do not have the financial muscle to purchase a soundproof booth, you can slip the Kaotica Eyeball on your microphone and transform your mic into a soundproof booth. The Eyeball works like a soundproof booth and it saves you not only the storage space for the booth but also money.

There are dozens of pop filters in the market but Kaotica Eyeball is the most amazing choice. It can be used by both professionals and beginners to eliminate any ambient sound from the recording room. And it works like an anti-dot for all the unwanted consonant plosives.

The Kaotica Eyeball was designed with the intention of preventing any vocalist from fighting with consonant plosives when recording in a room that is does not have a soundproof. The Kaotica Eyeball is a small, flame-retardant and lightweight ball which acts as a pop screen.

When you do not have a soundproof environment in which to do your recording, the eyeball does a wonderful job. It helps to direct the vocal sound directly to the mic as opposed to when a mic is used on its own.

The eyeball measures 4.5” in diameter with a hole at the bottom through which you slide it over the microphone. In addition to that, there are custom-made pop filter made of a nylon mesh which is inserted into the cavity of the ball.

To effectively filter out all consonant plosives when using the eyeball, ensure that you place the mic as close to your mouth as possible. This will help to reduce the distance from the mic and thus increase the force at which the vocals enter the eyeball and thereby reduce any reflected sounds from entering the microphone.

When you hold the mic with the eyeball on near to your lips, the difference will be noticed immediately. This works by reducing the noise floor and any ambient noise in the room will not be captured at all.

When you use the Kaotica Eyeball on your microphone, there will be a slight gain. This can be explained by the reduction in the channeling effect between the space between the microphone and the pop filter.

Pros

Very soft
Lightweight and portable
Can retract its original shape
Helps to record premium quality vocals
Isolate consonant plosives
Compatible with most condenser microphones
Includes the signature pop filter
Available in a variety of color shades
Clear vocal isolation

Cons

None to note for now

Alctron Pf8 Review

The Alctron Pf8 is an alternative of the eyeball on that they are manufactures by different companies and are priced differently. It is made of high-quality foam and can be slide on the condenser microphone to act as a windscreen to isolate any ambient noise available in the recording environment.

On the front part of the Alctron Pf8, there are clips on the hole which you can clip on the microphone when you are recording. The foam used in making the Alctron Pf8 is less dense when compare to that used on the eyeball.

The foam is designed with an octagon shape but the shape does not affect the sound isolation. There are newer version of the Alctron Pf8 that are meant for larger microphones and shock mounts.

Most people prefer the Alctron Pf8 not because it a better sound isolation option but because it is cheaper. The design is ideal for personal and professional recording. It is designed to help prevent the amount of unfiltered sound that gets into the microphone. The result is a pure, clear and detailed vocal.

Pros

Cheap
Easy to use
Isolates noise
Lightweight and portable
Compatible with most condenser mics
Moisture and dust resistant
Available world wide

Cons

Obstructs vision
Not great with echo reduction
The noise reduction is wanting

Also read:

Comparison between Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball

In this section, we will now compare the two products based on various features before we can make a conclusion.

Price

Some of the salient features that make the Alctron Pf8 dear to many content creators include the following. First and foremost, it is cheap. It costs only a lot less as compared to its eyeball counterpart. Even if you were to consider only the price, you will go for the Alctron Pf8 without a second thought and saves lots of bucks.

Echo Reduction

The Alctron Pf8 can protect noise coming from the wall behind the recorder. When compared to other products under the same price range, pf8 does a better job. However, it does not completely reduce all the sound echoes because some can get through. To prevent echoes from forming while using the Alctron Pf8, then you need to add a cover on the wall behind the recording place. That is an added cost to get a cover to place on the wall.

On the other hand, the eyeball is great with echo reduction. When you are recording using the eyeball, it will not capture any echoes thanks to the noise isolation ability. The eyeball is designed to protect your voice against echoes that might come from the space behind you, from the sides, below and from above.

Therefore, in terms of echo reduction, the eyeball is the ultimate winner.

Easy to setup

Attaching the Alctron Pf8 to the microphone is as easy as 1, 2, 3 and it takes only a few seconds and you are done. However, the newer versions which are meant for bigger mics and shock mounts, they need a little shaving off of some foam for them to fit in mics with a wider diameter. Otherwise, when mounting the Alctron Pf8 without a shock mount, it is quite easy.

On the other hand, when sliding the eyeball is very easy as well. Since it does not contain any hardware, you can slide it on the microphone within a fraction of a second. Thanks to the squishable and soft foam that is used, it can comfortably slide on nay microphone size without any inconvenience.

Therefore, we can say that both Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball are easy to use except for the newer versions of pf8 that require some shaving off of some foam.

Size

The Alctron Pf8 is small in size measuring only 13 x 18 x 20 cm, does not take up much space. When not in use, you can store it on a small space at the corner of your shelf. When compared to acoustic shield or soundproof booth, it is way smaller and convenient.

The Kaotica Eyeball on the other hand, is also small with only 4.5 inches in diameter. You can pack it in a small corner of your road case and it will fit just fine.

Therefore, in terms of size both the Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball are small and will not take up much space.

Pop Filters

If you do not have a pop filter the better. That is because both Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball come with inbuilt pop filters. The filters are made of nylon mesh and they are fitted in the cavity of both products.

If you already have a pop filter, the filter of the Alctron Pf8 is detacheable. So you can remove it and use the other filter or if you wish, remove the mic pop filter and use the one available in the Pf8.

Noise reduction

Earlier we considered echo reduction and now we are considering the noise reduction. You might be wondering, aren’t they the same? No! An echo is the reflected sound that bounces back after hitting an object like the wall. And the noise we are talking about here is the ambient noise available in the surroundings of a recorder.

Just like in echo reduction, the Alctron Pf8 is not doing so well with noise reduction either. If you are recording in a room with a lot of harsh background noise, the pf8 might not be able to prevent them well.

The Kaotica Eyeball on the other hand, just as we said that it successfully prevents echoes, it also does a wonderful job in reducing ambient noise. Thanks to the dense foam that is used to make the eyeball, it successfully reduces ambient noise. Therefore, when recording with the eyeball, you will not be concerned with the noise around you because it will not be captured.

Fitting

Another area that we want to compare between Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball is how they fit on the microphone.

The Alctron Pf8 id designed to fit on the standard size microphone perfectly. However, if you have very thick microphone, you will have to shave off some foam before it can fit well. Also, if the mic is too thin, it migh not fit well.

On the other hand, the Kaotica Eyeball fits with a snug on all types of microphones. Even if the mic has a shock mount on, it will fit perfectly.

The foam used in making both the Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball is elastic so it can stretch to fit in any mic size perfectly.

Weight

In our preview of both Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball, we said that they are lightweight and portable. In terms of weight, you cannot feel the weight of the filter because the foam used is soft and lightweight.

Apart from that, they are both detachable so once you are done with your recording, you can remove them and store them separately.

You might want to move from one room to another during the recording as you are looking for a room with less ambient sound, it will not inconvenience you even the slightest because it is easy to move them anywhere you want.

Also, thanks to their small size, if you are a traveling content creator, you can place either Alctron Pf8 or Kaotica Eyeball in your travelling bag and go with them whenever you are going without feeling any extra weight.

Therefore, both Alctron Pf8 and Kaotica Eyeball are easy to move about with. Thus, they allow you to record your content anywhere without any inconvenience.

Drop protection

What kind of microphone stand do you use? If for instance you are using the swivel arm stand and it is flimsy due to age or some mechanical problem, accidentally the mic might fall. Also, you might tip the stand and the mic comes falling down.

If per adventure you accidentally drop the microphone while either Alctron Pf8 or Kaotica Eyeball is attached, you are lucky because the foam used to make them is soft and covers the entire head of the microphone.

When the mic drops, the foam will help to protect it from any possible damage. Therefore, whether you are using the Alctron Pf8 or Kaotica Eyeball, you will have peace of mind knowing your mic will be protected against any mechanical damage from a fall.

Conclusion

Buying either Alctron Pf8 or Kaotica Eyeball is an amazing way to creating a soundproof environment for your microphone. If you are recording in an area with a lot of ambient noise, you will realize a big difference in your recording.

Either of the Alctron Pf8 or Kaotica Eyeball is a great tool to have. Both are good options because they have the same work. However, although the Kaotica Eyeball is costly, it stands out as the ultimate winner in this comparison. But if you are working on a budget and you want a cheaper option, then go for the Alctron Pf8 over its Kaotica Eyeball option.

Audio Wave Geek

Alctron Pf8 vs Kaotica Eyeball – Review