Does the Shure SM7B and UAD Apollo Twin need a Cloudlifter or Fethead? 

There was definitely more noise without the Fethead, honestly was looking for something like this for a while, great video!

Thanks for that! I could hear more noise without the Fethead.

Dope! thank you for making this ! was having some issues with my SM7B and Apollo twin x. Still learning!

Good comparison, I heard some more noise without the Fethead. Thanks, helps me. I am using Scarlet and was thinking of buying Apollo to get rid of this cloudlifter I have, but I assume it's just not possible even with a more expensive gear as Apollo compared to Scarlet.

It is videos like this that will save us from wasting our precious money! Thanks!

Just a note that the intro and the outro of the video was with the Rode NT1A microphone. The rest of the video presentation was with the Shure SM7B and with the Triton Fethead except for the comparison clip. 😉

I record at -33 LUFS with the mic and interface alone. Then boost it in post to -24 LUFS (clip gain). Then to boost it one more time with a compressor for -16 LUFS, apply a compressor with these settings: Ratio 2:1, Attack at 1ms, Release at 100ms, Threshold -12 to -24 (play this by ear, don’t crush your vocals) and the Makeup Gain at +6 to +8. Any compressor with these settings should do the job.

Thank you for this video! After messing arouond with the SM7b in my vocal production without a cloudlifter (compressing, distorting, boosting highs) it became really apparent to me that I definitely need some cleaner gain for this mic, in sparse areas of the arrangement the whitenoise poke out like a sore thumb.

Many thanks - I went for Fethead with the Apollo to get in the zone before applying plugins

Thank you for easing my research and decision making, This video was exceptionally helpful.

Thank you for this video! Almost pull the trigger on a cloud lifter but I'm glad I didn't. TY! Subscribed!

This is without any plugins running in unison for more gain if I’m not mistaken so that’s noteworthy before getting a Fethead (because you get get more gain from them)

That helped alot, thank so much!

Thanks!!!! This is exactly what I was looking for!!!! Amazing vídeo, thanks!!

i think with fethead the low end loses a bit .. and more warm, but i prefer no Fethead tho

clip B had more hiss or can say floor noise because of cranking up the gain knob to almost full in apollo twin so i guess one should get a fethead and a cheaper audio interface like focusrite... that will save you some money and ........ does the job..!!

Great work, thanks!

just curious what would happen if you paired the fethead with the sm7db with the bypass on

Great video! I liked and subscribed

great stuff! Well designed tests and love the TNG quote as the reference. I'm using a mk1 TB twin (same 65db pre-amp gain limit) and I'm still not sure whether I need the inline preamp I got (SE DM1). Seems to sound great either way, but without the inline pre your mid/high seems to have more presence, and the one with the inline sounds more bassy - could just be how the Apollo pre's sound when they're driven harder, but that LUFS difference of ~6db is definitely an important consideration when comparing the two tests. I have a feeling normalizing to LUFS has a significant effect just due to the frequency content of either example and how the LUFS standard is weighted. I just got the mic so I need to run my own tests, but this vid is a great starting point - thanks so much for making this!

I could hear the white noise in both A and B but it was more noticeable in B. But my guess was right overall. Is there anyway to essentially get rid of the white noise? I own a cloudlifter but can hear the white noise when monitoring not recording. It's bothersome cause I don't know if it was my headphones or what. So I bought another pair and it wasn't. So I think the white noise is coming from the interfaces output rather than the input. So that was the problem. But I only bought a $100 interface but it works like a dream, almost as good as your interface. Thank you for sharing this cause I'm looking another interface to record music with rather than to use for recording like podcast. Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks a lot❤🙏

thanks!

Thank you for this

Thank you very much! I notice that the hiss level is lower with the triton, Is that right?

Did you have any chance to test both to get an overview which sounds "bestter"? Or what sonds different?

Triton Fethead Broadcast with Focusrite 8i6 and SM 7B; right choice? Hey, I use a Focusrite 8i6 with an SM 7B and added an inline Preamp - the Triton Fethead Broadcast. Is it the best option? I didn't notice very much boost and can't tell you if it add any db. Setup: SM7B - 1m XLR - Fethead Broadcast - 3m XLR - Focusrite with Phantom-Power ON. Is it the wrong Fethead?

Whats with the Apollo Solo ?

Cloudlifter or Fethead?

Which mic are you using in this video

Hey Alvin.. which exact Fethead should I buy for my Apollo Duo Mk2 Thunderbolt & my USB Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd gen. I would like one fethead for both devices Thanks!

Hi there. There are a lot of alleged values on the internet, how much gain the Shure SM7B is supposed to require. But there is only one official value. The Shure SM7B has an output of -59dBv. This does not translate to gain to begin with. You can translate it to -56dBu, but gain is measured in dBFS@0dBu. This simply means that an interface can add X dB of gain on a digital scale, and this is measured on a device, that is rated to deal with signals of 0dBu. But dBFS cannot be accurately converted into dBu or dBv. dBv and dBu are measurements for analog audio. Analog audio deals with positive and negative voltage. dBFS is a measurement for digital audio. Digital audio deals with zeroes and ones. Let’s give a more general answer: every audio audio interface that is capable of delivering 50dBFS@0dBu of low-noise gain will bring anyone on a distance of 10cm to the Shure SM7B dangerously close to audio clipping without any noticeable self-noise. And: Unless you have a heavily sound treated an well isolated room with no noise sources in it, your background noise level will be most likely far louder.

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