Help!, My SM7b is too Quiet! What can I do?

A customer emailed in to say that their Shure SM7B was too quiet and we realised that we hadn't actually yet done a guide for getting the best results with one of the finest end address microphones.

The SM7B is so good for broadcasting, streaming and podcasting because it sounds incredibly rich, is unaffected by plosives and has amazing off-axis rejection of other sounds in the room and low sibilance. Unfortunately because it's got such a long cage and foam on it (which is exactly why it handles plosives so well), the capsule is further back from your mouth by a couple of inches, compared to a handheld mic. This means that the signal is quieter and it needs more gain, but extra gain on most interfaces means bringing up the noise floor, or what you would call hiss.

There are two solutions to this, either use an in-line preamp to boost the signal (preferably connected to the mic itself, but this can be difficult due to the sm7b design and certain stands) such as these below. you power the preamp with phantom power, then it boosts the signal cleanly without loads of hiss.

Cloudlifter
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/cloudlifter-cl-1-mic-activator

Fet Head
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/triton-fet-head-in-line-preamp-boost-your-microphone

SE Dynamite
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/se-electronics-dm1-dynamite-class-a-low-noise-active-inline-preamp-plus28-db-transformerless-design

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