Remember, these recommendations are targeted at SM7B users the interfaces that are “not recommended” below might be perfectly suited to other tasks (including higher-output microphones and louder sources). To keep this simple, I have divided the interfaces into three categories: The ones I would not recommend, the ones I would recommend, and the ones I would recommend with a Cloudlifter. After everything was organized in the session, I compared every clip, one after another, listening for sound quality and noise. I did this to maximize the volume of each track as it would be in a real VO situation.
#Onyx blackjack vs scarlett 2i2 pro
Once in Pro Tools, I applied the same compression, de-essing, and limiting to each pass. We sent a tone through each interface before every test to ensure that they were all adding the same amount of gain. We also tested every mic using a Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter, which is a phantom powered box that adds about 25dB of extra gain to a dynamic mic’s output level. Here are the audio interfaces we tested… Device VO also offered a good medium-volume audio source. This seemed like a good place to start, given that many new SM7B owners are using the mic for vocals or VO work. I set out to discover the best audio interface solution for the budget SM7B user. Inexpensive preamps tend to not have have much gain, or they do at the cost of more noise. This means it needs a lot of gain… and if you’re recording something especially quiet you’ll need a ton of gain. Not only is it a superb vocal mic, not only is it a staple in the broadcast and voiceover world, but it sounds fabulous on guitars amps, bass amps, banjo, mandolin, drums, and it is probably my favorite mic to put on a hi hat.Īll that being said about the SM7B, it is also notorious for one more thing: low output. It is used by dozens of top recording engineers all the time and has snuck its way in front of some pretty heavy-hitting crooners like John Mayer, Keith Urban, Bono, and a relatively unknown singer named Michael Jackson on a fairly obscure album called Thriller! So, we decided to test the SM7B with a slew of budget home studio interfaces.Īllow me to begin with the SM7B… While it seems to be gaining popularity, I think it is still one of the most overlooked microphones in the home studio world. Lately, following some of my recent online declarations of love for the Shure SM7B, one of the more frequent questions has been what preamp or audio interface to pair it with. While all of the budget-friendly interfaces below work well for people with other microphones, some of them just aren't best for recording with SM7B - even when using the cloudlifter.As an engineer, I get asked all kinds of questions from home recording enthusiasts. For this test, I used SM7B to record a normal voice (speaking), as I wanted to see how the audio interfaces and preamps compare. That said, I tested some of the most popular audio interfaces and best preamps for SM7B. And if you can't find the best preamp for sm7b to push the gain up along with cloudlifter, you won't get as good recordings as you could get with best preamp for sm7b.
Now, the Shure SM7B is a superb vocal mic not only capable of recording clean vocals, but also guitars, amps, banjo, mandolin, and any other instrument you can think of. And since the Shure SM7B is so well-known among musicians, I get a lot of questions about the best preamp and cloudlifter for sm7b and what kind of gear / audio interface to use with Shure SM7B. As an engineer, I get all kinds of questions from music producers and home recording enthusiasts.
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