Cheap Pop Filter for Snowball

A pop filter is a shield which sits between your mouth and the diaphragm of a microphone.

Pop filters serve a couple of purposes, one is to stop the air from plosives being produced from distorting the sound that goes into the microphone.

Plosives are produced when you pronounce P, and B sounds and start them with your lips together. The pressure released carries air. If you think about ventriloquists, and how they often struggle with making plosive sounds, its because they need to move their lips to make them.

The other problem with plosives is that they have a tendency to carry moisture, which can over time cause damage to the microphone, or at least make it gross. Which is the other purpose of the pop filter.

Pop filters need to be acoustically transparent, while at the same time, stop as much air as possible.

This pop filter is small, which is good for using with a Blue Snowball.

Polyester laptop screen cover (from shipping materials) I find this ideal, but other materials such as the gusset from pantyhose.

Wire coat hanger

Pliers

Large zip-tie

Super glue (not pictured)

Electrical tape.(not pictured)

We're actually going to be straightening the hanger, and don't need the entire length anyhow.

Snip the twisted part off, and discard it. Then straighten the hanger.

The Snowball is a 4" microphone, so I made this pop filter 3½" in diameter.

I made the loop by wrapping the hanger wire around the top of a mason jar a few times.

You need a double loop, so with the top of a mason jar being 3", I wrapped it about 2½ times, and then let the slack expand it to where it needed to be.

I used a length the circumference of the loop, and stuck it to the inside of the loop, then wrapped the edges around, but feel free to just wind it. I prefer the look this way, but the important part is that the double loop stays together so that the finishes ring is 2-wires wide.

Firstly, make your zip-tie slightly wider than the loop.

Lay the fabric over the loop, and put the zip-tie over the fabric.

Use the zip-tie to pull the fabric tight, and then tighten the zip-tie.

Apply super glue to the fabric between the hanger, and zip-tie.

(Full disclosure, mine slipped off, and I needed a new zip-tie. That's why it looks slack in the rest of the pictures.)

Trim the excess fabric once the glue is set.

I wanted my filter to be about an inch or two from the microphone, so I made the loop accordingly. I made a double loop around the thread of the stand, and then pulled it tight, and checked it with the snowball attached.

The microphone holds the pop filter in place by being screwed on, so there's no need for a clamp.

There doesn't need to be a double loop for the stand, so trim it to a single loop, and tighten it back to the right size.

This pop filter is minutely adjustable by simply bending the wire to suit your needs.

My microphone is to be mounted on an adjustable arm for my home studio, so I have mine centered, but this can be made to suit whatever your needs are.