Shure SM7B With Cloudlifter - Do You REALLY Need It?

So you went ahead and bought a Shure SM7B (or are thinking about it) and you might have heard you should be a cloudlifter or some other type of activator or preamp to pair with the mic. Well today I'm going to do a little sound test and show you the differences between using the Shure SM7B with the Cloudlifter and using the Shure SM7B without the cloudlifter. Let me know what you think down below!
Cloudlifter Activator (aff): amzn.to/3x4R8ge
Shure SM7B (aff): amzn.to/3rzFmJq
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[@chilldeen4590]

hey man, so I just stumbled across one of your videos, it was the Logitech F710 review, and then I read the comment section on that video and found you replied to someone's comment (about 3 years ago) about another better controller option, can you please make a video on that other controller? I've subscribed to your channel too just in case you actually gonna make the video haha

[@raphaelherzig3316]

My perspective as an audio engineer: the extra noise you're hearing have nothing to do with your "room noise". The extra noise you hear is actually the noise from your mix table preamp. Because of the quality of the preamp, you get extra noise when pushing the gain. The couldlifter has less self noise. But if you had a better mix table, that would'nt be necessary the case.
To sum up: the Cloudlifter is an interesting product IF YOU HAVE CHEAP PREAMP

[@PabloAfroSamurai]

Hey, as a musician who has minimum to none notions of mixing, I just record my stuff and rely on others to mix (if it isn't a quick short video I just want to throw together by just adjusting volume levels). My question is, is the Focusrite Scarlite 4i4 a "cheap pre-amp"? I've been told to get a cloudlifter with the sm7b I'm about to purchase.

[@raphaelherzig3316]

@@PabloAfroSamurai Hello Pablo, they those could be cathegorized as "cheap". But keep that in mind: as it is true than you could see an improvement with high end preamp, that improvement is negligable compared to having a good song, a good performance.
Try to use your preamp correctly by aiming around -15 dB true peak of level when you set your preamp. Once you get popularity you can think about high end preamp as something more of a necessity but it would never get you success.
When I mix for my client I happen to pass all a mix through a pair of neve 1073, which give amazing sound and texture. But, for example, I have yet to mix for clients that are as popular as Bon Iver, who's music, that I respect and can understand why is can be so popular, sound so bad to my ears.
The song is so much more important, as well as the acoustic of the room/mic position I would say

[@raphaelherzig3316]

The sound to noise ratio in cheap modern preamp is really good. The more problematic part is that dynamic mics, such as the SM7B, need much more gain that static mics. That is why you get so much hiss.
BUT, dynamics mic, eventhough they get more hiss and less detailed sound, seem to be less semsitive to room acoustic. So it can be a good choice in a poorly acousticly treated room.

[@PabloAfroSamurai]

@@raphaelherzig3316 Understood, thanks for your replies!