Shure SM7b Microphone Mini Review

[Dan Ortego]

Interesting stuff for sure. It was my understanding that the PR40 was originally designed for Ham radio operators who are quite creative at running nuclear power plants out of their homes and shacks.

[docizzen]

The fethead/cloud will boost your gain. So it would help with a dynamic mic for cleaner gain. It uses phantom power, but it does not pass phantom power through. Use a fethead and you won't have to turn your gain on your mixer so high.

[oscarmartz]

Not bad. Mike Phillips in the past has said he does not like the Shure SM7B. I agreed with him until I heard Andrew with it. I guess it comes down to how its configured.

I have heard some really bad setups

[techzentv]

Remember also that after the SM7B that andrew is using there is a Mic Processor and then the processing of the axia. I do agree that andrew sounds good on the mic. On top of that, andrew looks good with that mic It is all about the looks, right? Sound is not important

[Dan Ortego]

Yes, I agree with you Mike. I've read somewhere that sound processors for webcasts can't really be appreciated since the Internet is unable to reproduce any noticeable level of change.

I didn't agree with it when I first read it, and I still don't agree with it today. I can definitely tell the difference when someone makes an adjustment on their mic pre, etc. Granted, the difference is more noticeable when recording, but if someone tweaks their equipment during a live broadcast, it is certainly noticeable.

[mcphillips]

I have an RE-20 as well, I do not have to do any digital gain with it and it is not at 100 percent but it is still much higher than most dynamic mics. I have been meaning to ask Mike Phillips if he knows why broadcast mics need so much gain vs other dyamics, even the Heil. My Heil mic's have more headroom than either the SM7B and the RE-20.

There's no mystery, it's just the physics of the design of the capsule, the magnet used, the positioning of the magnet, and such. In the old days, radio consoles had microphone input transformers. With a transformer, you can get "free" gain. Newer preamps are direct coupled. They struggle to provide enough gain for the RE20 and, to a greater degree, the SM7B. People think there's something wrong with these mics because they require so much gain, but that's just the way they are.

Running the trim control all the way up on a mixer is not a problem if the mic requires that much gain. If the preamp is noisy, you're going to hear more noise. That's why a lot of people like to use the FetHead and the Cloudlifter. If you can squeeze enough gain out of the preamp, these tools are not needed. (If you're going to run a dynamic mic into a Zoom recorder, you WILL need one for each mic.)

Another consideration is the level of the audio that the mic is picking up. If you put an SM7B in front of a bass drum, there is plenty of signal. Michael Jackson's vocals on his "Thriller" album were recorded through an SM7. Paul McCartney's vocals on his "RAM" album were recorded through an RE20. The engineer used their recording console preamps.

Most people don't know that the output of the capsule in a condenser mic is much lower than the output of the capsule of a dynamic mic. That's why a condenser mic requires phantom power: It powers internal circuitry that serves as a pre-preamp and as an impedance converter.