Pop filter

It serves to reduce or eliminate popping sounds caused by the mechanical impact of fast-moving air on the microphone from plosives during recorded speech and singing.

A typical pop filter is composed of one or more layers of acoustically semi-transparent material such as woven nylon stretched over a circular frame, and often includes a clamp and a flexible mounting bracket.

An improvised pop shield, functionally identical to the professional units, can be made with material from tights or stockings stretched over a kitchen sieve, embroidery hoop or a loop of wire such as a bent clothes hanger.

In effect, the plosive's discrete envelope of sound energy is intercepted and broken up by the strands of the filter material before it can impinge on, and momentarily distort, the sensitive diaphragm of the microphone.

Pop filters are generally used in a studio environment to help improve the sound quality of the recorded voice, while windscreens are typically used outdoors and get rid of any low distortion.