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Decided on upgrading to the Shure SM7B what're your experiences with the mic?


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Hey guys! I’ve been a VO on fiverr for a year and a bit and have decided that the Blue yeti just is not cutting it, actually after about 2 weeks of picking up the blue yeti about a year ago it started having a fuzzy static sound, and makes post processing a nightmare, but it is better than the Blue snowball was.

Anyways, I’ve done about a month of research, and listening to sound tests and have decided to upgrade to the Shure sm7b microphone, paired with the Scarlett solo interface, rode boom arm, and an inline preamp, I was thinking the Triton fethead but sweetwater doesn’t stock it so I’m open to suggestions.

My post is purely to ask how other VOs have enjoyed/not enjoyed their SM7Bs - So, how do you like them, and which inline preamp would you recommend?
Thanks,

  • Joshvoices4you
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Hi Josh. I’ve seen a few of your posts. I just want to say well done on upgrading your mic. That’s a great investment - and unlike the Blue Yeti (beginner territory), the SM7B (pro territory) will stand you in good stead to take on some serious voice over projects where audio quality really matters (assuming the rest of your setup is up to the job!).

I’m older than you by the look of things, so I’m a bit more old school! Although I don’t sell voice overs on Fiverr anymore, my home setup is based around an ElectroVoice RE20. It’s a classic mic that was (and still is) used by many radio stations around the world as it captures a rich but natural sound.

Good luck with things. I’m sure your investment will pay off.

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Congrats on the investment Josh, great mic there. We’ve got 2 - one that we use as our main mic in our vocal booth, and one attached to the desk where I (Tom) do all of our editing and processing, as well as video work. It’s overkill, but I like having a mic here to quickly lay down a rough recording for things like videos, and I love having uniformity across both our mics.

Fun Fact - Did you know that the original Shure SM7 (basically looks almost identical to the SM7B, but because it’s vintage it’s worth a buttload more money) was used to record Michael Jackson’s Thriller album? I always figured if the mic is good enough for MJ/Quincy Jones, it’s probably good enough to record a company voicemail message.

Regarding preamps - what do you have at the moment? I bought a Universal Audio Apollo Twin for us a few years back and honestly, it was the best investment I ever made (but I do also produce and sell music, so it was a smart investment beyond just voice over). UA create incredibly accurate recreations of classic preamps, like the SSL E Channel strip, the Manley VoxBox etc, and they all sound amazing in their own unique ways. I own a few of those, and have played about with a bunch, but for VO work I find that they ‘colour’ the sound a bit too much for my taste. I actually just use the onboard preamps, so the Scarlett that you mention would work. Keep in mind, your goal is to record the cleanest recording that you can, and you can worry about everything else in post. The Fethead is absolutely essential, and works just as well as a Cloud Lifter, for half the price.

Honestly, the setup you mention sounds immense, and once you’ve got your post processing how you like it, the SM7B is such a tank of a mic, it’ll never let you down. The only other thing to think about is room acoustics. The SM7B is great because it picks up less of the room around you, but if you don’t have acoustic treatment, it will still sound like you’re in a far-from-ideal room. Do you have a booth?

Also, not to throw you off, but the other mic we came very close to buying, which I believe is a similar cost, is the Neumann TLM102 - I know a few people who use it and have nothing but good things to say about it. A very different mic to the SM7B, but a worthy mic nonetheless.

(Sorry, I’ll stop geeking out now)

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Congrats on the investment Josh, great mic there. We’ve got 2 - one that we use as our main mic in our vocal booth, and one attached to the desk where I (Tom) do all of our editing and processing, as well as video work. It’s overkill, but I like having a mic here to quickly lay down a rough recording for things like videos, and I love having uniformity across both our mics.

Fun Fact - Did you know that the original Shure SM7 (basically looks almost identical to the SM7B, but because it’s vintage it’s worth a buttload more money) was used to record Michael Jackson’s Thriller album? I always figured if the mic is good enough for MJ/Quincy Jones, it’s probably good enough to record a company voicemail message.

Regarding preamps - what do you have at the moment? I bought a Universal Audio Apollo Twin for us a few years back and honestly, it was the best investment I ever made (but I do also produce and sell music, so it was a smart investment beyond just voice over). UA create incredibly accurate recreations of classic preamps, like the SSL E Channel strip, the Manley VoxBox etc, and they all sound amazing in their own unique ways. I own a few of those, and have played about with a bunch, but for VO work I find that they ‘colour’ the sound a bit too much for my taste. I actually just use the onboard preamps, so the Scarlett that you mention would work. Keep in mind, your goal is to record the cleanest recording that you can, and you can worry about everything else in post. The Fethead is absolutely essential, and works just as well as a Cloud Lifter, for half the price.

Honestly, the setup you mention sounds immense, and once you’ve got your post processing how you like it, the SM7B is such a tank of a mic, it’ll never let you down. The only other thing to think about is room acoustics. The SM7B is great because it picks up less of the room around you, but if you don’t have acoustic treatment, it will still sound like you’re in a far-from-ideal room. Do you have a booth?

Also, not to throw you off, but the other mic we came very close to buying, which I believe is a similar cost, is the Neumann TLM102 - I know a few people who use it and have nothing but good things to say about it. A very different mic to the SM7B, but a worthy mic nonetheless.

(Sorry, I’ll stop geeking out now)

Noooooo! Please don’t ever stop geeking.

Love chats like this. Proper professionals talking about proper professional things!

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Congrats on the investment Josh, great mic there. We’ve got 2 - one that we use as our main mic in our vocal booth, and one attached to the desk where I (Tom) do all of our editing and processing, as well as video work. It’s overkill, but I like having a mic here to quickly lay down a rough recording for things like videos, and I love having uniformity across both our mics.

Fun Fact - Did you know that the original Shure SM7 (basically looks almost identical to the SM7B, but because it’s vintage it’s worth a buttload more money) was used to record Michael Jackson’s Thriller album? I always figured if the mic is good enough for MJ/Quincy Jones, it’s probably good enough to record a company voicemail message.

Regarding preamps - what do you have at the moment? I bought a Universal Audio Apollo Twin for us a few years back and honestly, it was the best investment I ever made (but I do also produce and sell music, so it was a smart investment beyond just voice over). UA create incredibly accurate recreations of classic preamps, like the SSL E Channel strip, the Manley VoxBox etc, and they all sound amazing in their own unique ways. I own a few of those, and have played about with a bunch, but for VO work I find that they ‘colour’ the sound a bit too much for my taste. I actually just use the onboard preamps, so the Scarlett that you mention would work. Keep in mind, your goal is to record the cleanest recording that you can, and you can worry about everything else in post. The Fethead is absolutely essential, and works just as well as a Cloud Lifter, for half the price.

Honestly, the setup you mention sounds immense, and once you’ve got your post processing how you like it, the SM7B is such a tank of a mic, it’ll never let you down. The only other thing to think about is room acoustics. The SM7B is great because it picks up less of the room around you, but if you don’t have acoustic treatment, it will still sound like you’re in a far-from-ideal room. Do you have a booth?

Also, not to throw you off, but the other mic we came very close to buying, which I believe is a similar cost, is the Neumann TLM102 - I know a few people who use it and have nothing but good things to say about it. A very different mic to the SM7B, but a worthy mic nonetheless.

(Sorry, I’ll stop geeking out now)

Thanks for the feedback! I don’t have a booth, but have sound treatment (ie. sound pannels) over half the room, my blue yeti already doesn’t really pick up much of an echo that I can tell, so hopefully the sm7b will sound even better!

Ps. was thinking maybe I could sit in my closet to record, if i put some sound panels on would that work decently?

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Thanks for the feedback! I don’t have a booth, but have sound treatment (ie. sound pannels) over half the room, my blue yeti already doesn’t really pick up much of an echo that I can tell, so hopefully the sm7b will sound even better!

Ps. was thinking maybe I could sit in my closet to record, if i put some sound panels on would that work decently?

Ps. was thinking maybe I could sit in my closet to record, if i put some sound panels on would that work decently?

I know a lot of VO artists use their closets as recording booths. You just have to be careful, as small, confined spaces like that can potentially have the opposite effect if they have lots of reflective surfaces, so I guess it would depend on the space. The challenge with VO (vs treating your room for music production for example) is that you ideally want to cover every inch of the space with acoustic treatment, so a few panels might not be sufficient. You’re essentially trying to replicate something like this, albeit for a fraction of the cost; (not our booth by the way!)

1868442911_demvoxbooth.thumb.jpg.1c278321e677bd1c12ae21b5374a7e17.jpg
demvox booth1271×1600 296 KB

Notice how even the floor and ceiling are treated, as they can cause massive amounts of reverb. And keep in mind, as you get more successful, you’ll be spending more and more time in there, so you want it to be at least a bit enjoyable!

If I were you, I’d spend a day on YouTube finding out as much as I can about converting a closet into a vocal booth, I should imagine there’s a tonne of info on there. If you can get that part right, even with a less than perfect mic, your recordings would sound good, so with the setup you’re considering you should be good to go!

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Ps. was thinking maybe I could sit in my closet to record, if i put some sound panels on would that work decently?

I know a lot of VO artists use their closets as recording booths. You just have to be careful, as small, confined spaces like that can potentially have the opposite effect if they have lots of reflective surfaces, so I guess it would depend on the space. The challenge with VO (vs treating your room for music production for example) is that you ideally want to cover every inch of the space with acoustic treatment, so a few panels might not be sufficient. You’re essentially trying to replicate something like this, albeit for a fraction of the cost; (not our booth by the way!)

Notice how even the floor and ceiling are treated, as they can cause massive amounts of reverb. And keep in mind, as you get more successful, you’ll be spending more and more time in there, so you want it to be at least a bit enjoyable!

If I were you, I’d spend a day on YouTube finding out as much as I can about converting a closet into a vocal booth, I should imagine there’s a tonne of info on there. If you can get that part right, even with a less than perfect mic, your recordings would sound good, so with the setup you’re considering you should be good to go!

Thanks! All the information has been really helpful!

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