Kaotica brings you the Eyeball and the Fatboy that can easily turn your space into a full-fledged recording studio! But how do you choose between them? Is there a clear winner among these two? Let’s begin!
If you are in a hurry, here’s a quick overview:
| Kaotica Eyeball Pros | Kaotica Eyeball cons |
| Aesthetically pleasing with several colors for the pop filter available | The fit of the material around the mic/pop filter can be a bit tight |
| Good fit for an average sized microphone | The fit of the material around the mic/pop filter can be a bit tight |
| Double pained pop filter for better sound directing | Not good at fitting larger mics |
| Award winning | VERY expensive |
| Excellent at deadening background noises | May not totally eliminate the need for treating of a space |
| Kaotica Fatboy Pros | Kaotica Fatboy Cons |
| Thicker walls of foam | Still fairly pricey |
| Better equipped for fitting larger mics | The original model has a black pop filter |
| A bit cheaper than the original eyeball | May not totally eliminate the need to treat a room |
| Creates more neutral tones | Harder to find information on than the original eyeball |
Table of Contents
About Kaotica Eyeball
The Kaotica Eyeball is a portable studio booth quickly gaining speed in the music industry. The eye is quickly becoming many peoples first choice in portable vocal booths on the market.
It won an award through the Society Of Voice Arts And Science Awards for outstanding technical achievement and advancement in vocal recording. By directing the voice output of the recording artist, the eyeball captures the “true tonality” of sound, eliminating the need for extra equalization in post-production.
The device works by fitting over your microphone, is easy to install and makes the world your recording studio. To use, all one need do is insert the mic into the foam piece and re-attach the pop filter.
Eyeball’s Specs and Details
The eyeball is easy to install, but does suggest certain ways to improve quality such as lessening the gain of the mic and backing up about 6 inches from it. The device helps to cancel out voice reflections in a room and cut down on standing waves of sound.
The piece works by isolating sounds, allowing your voice to flow through its incorporated pop filter, creating a channel and cutting down on background noise.The eyeball is made from custom foam that provides for optimal sound absorption.
The diameter of the insertion point is roughly 38 mms but can expand up-to 63 mm. Grammy winning artist Aaron Lindsey recalls with a bit of humor days before the eyeball, attempting to record music in a hotel room and having to hang sheets over walls to “achieve some sort of isolation”.
Now, Lindsey brags with the eyeball there is no longer a need to resort to such extreme measures, he calls the eyeball a “game changer and a game saver”. In addition, as a fashionable bonus, The Kaotica Eyeball comes in a variety of colors.
However, the standard color is blue and the usage of a different color does require you to make a separate purchase. Reviews for the device claim that it helps isolate screams, plosives, breath work and melody while cutting down on unwanted breathing sounds and external environmental noises.
The eyeball is a bit expensive, your out of pocket cost for the device being $230, the Shipping cost running around $25. Is the cost worth the overall product? You might find yourself asking.
If you are willing to shell-out the killer price tag, the device does have some nifty features that might be appealing to the larger global audience. For starters, the foam ball is double packaged, the packing protocol implementing a box-within-a-box to prevent any kind of damage during shipping.
The packaging also features a full-color pamphlet that properly instructs the buyer as to how to use the product. Rather than boring them to sleep with run-of-the-mill, technical jargon instructions that will have you ripping your hair out; the paper shows in real time how to install the device.
The eyeball does not fit every microphone and it is highly advisable to make sure your mic will fit the device before purchase; but, for microphones that the device fits with, the foam does provide a snug cover.
Kaotica provides a sleek design that is a very attractive piece of equipment and a softer foam than some other market portable studio booths. The pop filter is durable and is double pained to provide for optimal voice channeling.
The fit when assembling the eyeball on your mic however can be a bit tight, making it not difficult to put together; but it may require a little muscle when re-attaching the pop filter. The equipment is very lightweight, weighing only about five ounces.
What People Think Of The Kaotica Eyeball
However, one reviewer claims that the weight of the eyeball striped the screw on their mic, causing it to warp and sag. He actually said that both times he tried to apply the device, it striped the screw.
The sound when played back does allow for a louder sound than some other cheaper alternatives on the market.
Some alternative models do not quite capture all of the subtler sounds, and the alternatives tend to block out some of the volume. That said, aside from some of the smaller details, a cheaper alternative may well capture the majority of your sound without requiring you to pay quite so much.
In terms of voice over work, the eyeball does seem to only cut down on a fraction of the reverberation of sound in a room. But, the eyeball’s website does slyly try to sneak in that you should hang a blanket or something behind you to help deaden the space.
It may not be a total deal breaker, but to me it feels a bit deceitful that this studio alternative still requires you to somewhat “treat” your space. The eyeball however may help a lot if you’re in a tight space or otherwise unable to completely prep an area for whatever reason.
Should you be renting or sharing a space with someone else the lessened need to treat a room might be ideal. One review described the sound from the Kaotica eyeball to be “dryer and deader but in a good way”.
Another user used the eyeball in a subway station to test the true power of the device. The young woman singing said that “it definitely made a little bit of a difference, but that it was a noisy place and there’s only so much it could do”.
She said it got rid of the low frequencies and made the higher frequencies of her voice cleaner. She stated that if you have the money to spend it’s worth it, but if you need to use a cheaper alternative, then that’s a better route.
About Kaotica Fatboy
The Kaotica Fatboy is a similar product in that it also is a custom foam device with a worldwide patent and fits easily over your microphone. Both products are advertised by the same company, but the pieces are two different products that serve a similar purpose @ Kaoticaeyeball.com.
The people working on the site are music producers and recording artists focused on making the highest possible quality equipment for a home studio. Both devices work remarkably well for the musician who wants all the prestige in sound of recording studio.
The fatboy version however, is designed to fit over a larger diameter microphone with a long or short body. It also works by creating a voice channel and isolating the sound of the speaker, cutting out the sounds of the room around the person speaking or singing into the mic.
The fatboy is just as easy to install as the original eyeball, simply requiring you to remove the pop filter, insert the mic and then reattach said filter. Both products suggest lowering the gain on the mic and backing up about 6 inches before singing/speaking.
Both products also seem to promote sound coming in from the front of the mic while reducing feed back at the less sensitive back of the mic. The fatboy seems to advertise a more neutral sound whereas the reviews I have encountered for the basic eyeball tend to say that the device deadens sound quite a bit.
Unlike the eyeball, the Kaotica Fatboy comes in at just under $200 after factoring in shipping. It is also double-boxed in shipping, features a flexible yet durable foam body and a double-pained pop filter.
On an aesthetic note the fatboy does only come with an onyx black pop filter; Kaoticaeyeball.com requires you to buy a separate filter for $25 if you aren’t crazy about the color black.
Fatboy’s Specs and Other Details
The fatboy seems to be a bit easier to install, not having quite as tight of a fit as the original eyeball but still fitting a larger mic comfortably. Whereas the diameter of the insertion point of the eyeball is roughly 63 mms, the diameter of the insertion point of the fatboy is about 63 mms-95 mms.
In addition, while the fatboy is marketed for larger mic, the material at the insertion point is much more flexible than on the standard eyeball; this means while yes the fatboy is good for larger mics it can also fit smaller ones as well. The fatboy also comes with a microphone size guide not included in the standard eyeball packaging.
Whereas, the eyeball seems to be the original version, going up as a website in August of 2021. The fatboy model appears to have made its debut earlier this year. Perhaps the newer design of the fatboy piece is the reason for my finding so few reviews on the product.
While I was doing research on the fatboy versus the original eyeball, I had a very difficult time finding much on the fatboy version. The fatboy is yet to win any awards and seems to be a lesser known sibling of the original eyeball (perhaps due to just how new the model is).
Our Verdict: Fatboy vs Eyeball
All-in-all for a recommendation, I would much prefer the fatboy to the original; while, the original is much more well known and perhaps a bit more aesthetically pleasing, when it comes to performance everything I’ve read tends to lean towards the fatboy.
The fatboy seems to be a bit better at blocking out outside sounds due to it’s thicker walls. The fatboy is easier to apply and has a wider range of mics it will fit. In addition, it seems the fatboy seems to create more neutral tones while the standard eyeball appears to deaden sounds flowing through the voice channel a bit more.
Finally, the price of the fatboy seems to dip down a bit from the price of the original eyeball. It seems to me at least that with the fatboy while there isn’t all of the prestige of the starting eyeball, the fatboy is better quality for a lower price.
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