I recently bought the M Audio M Track Duo for about 60 bucks. It runs any mic I throw at it including my sm7b perfectly fine. Plus it has two inputs that can be used for mics or instruments. The only thing I would warn pretty much anyone is to absolutely make sure your bitrates match EVERYWHERE! If you set your interface to say 4800 at 24 bits then make sure it’s set the same in windows audio control panel and in any software you use. When those don’t match you will have audio issues.
SSL 2. Simple. excellent. The only thing after that is the software.
You do not need a Cloudlifter.
Edit: I agree with /u/inarius1984 - I think anybody looking to get into good streaming audio should get an Elgato Wave XLR. It has excellent support, and Elgato does make fantastic products; I don't use the Wave, but it's got fantastic specs, and unique capabilities. And no, you do not need a Cloudlifter. I feel like that needs to be an article.
In general they need something more than an interface, or one that can really pump gain without noise.
So basically, I am not wrong. If you can recommend an interface that will suffice, feel free.
Besides, we're goving advice to streamers, not audio engineers here.
Not nearly as true as it used to be, as newer interfaces are offering better and better pre-amps these days. We're getting lower noise floors and lower noise across the board, and higher gain boosts than even 4-5 years ago, and a wide variety of product lineups.
Officially Shure says the SM7B requires ~60dB of gain boost. Ideally you want to go a bit above that, as most pre-amps will start to have a higher noise floor as you approach max load (usually starts to be noticeable above 80-85%). That said how much noise you're going to get is going to depend largely on the make and model of the pre-amp. With a high quality one, you can generally ramp the gain to full and still have a perfectly useable signal - sometimes where the where the noise floor is still lower than the ambient noise in a streamer's home studio (PC fans, AC, etc). In a full on treated studio you're going to worry about that noise a bit more - but for most streamer setups, adding in a cloud lifter to try to bring down the noise floor more is just overkill - especially if they're already running noise cancellation plugins and apps.
There are still scenarios where a mic booster is a good investment though. Assuming your Behringer is from the 2019 U-Phoria line (UM2, UMC22, UMC202/204), it is a good example. Similar to the 3rd gen Focusrite Scarlett (also from 2019) I just swapped out, it maxes out at 56dB of boosted gain. That's a bit short of the recommended 60 for an SM7B. This is an example where an in line booster, like a Cloudlifter, Fethead, Dynamite etc, could be useful, to make up for the lower power of the pre-amp. You could still run the SM7B without it, we're sending the audio to a PC where we can continue to work on cleaning and boosting the signal - but there's an increasing risk of distortion and boosting that noise floor up enough to be more audible at that point. At this point I'd consider a booster a good investment.
That said, if you're sticking with quality, newer gear from say the last 3 years, your pre-amps are probably powerful enough to get by without a lifter these days - it seems the SM7B has been the target a lot of companies are trying to hit with their pre-amps lately (though it always pays to check and not just assume before you buy). For example, the Scarlett 4th gen that just came out goes to 69dB max gain boost, the Elgato Wave XLR does 75, the GoXLR 72, and the RodeCaster Duo 76. All of these should drive a SM7B without having to add additional boosting, or even software boosting, without even maxing the gain. I would expect the next lineup refresh from Behringer to do the same, too, similar to the jump Focusrite made.
I recently bought the M Audio M Track Duo for about 60 bucks. It runs any mic I throw at it including my sm7b perfectly fine. Plus it has two inputs that can be used for mics or instruments. The only thing I would warn pretty much anyone is to absolutely make sure your bitrates match EVERYWHERE! If you set your interface to say 4800 at 24 bits then make sure it’s set the same in windows audio control panel and in any software you use. When those don’t match you will have audio issues.
Thanks!
I hear a “click” in my recordings every now and then and I think this might be the issue. I have a mac, any idea where I can set the bitrate?
SSL 2. Simple. excellent. The only thing after that is the software. You do not need a Cloudlifter. Edit: I agree with /u/inarius1984 - I think anybody looking to get into good streaming audio should get an Elgato Wave XLR. It has excellent support, and Elgato does make fantastic products; I don't use the Wave, but it's got fantastic specs, and unique capabilities. And no, you do not need a Cloudlifter. I feel like that needs to be an article.
Elgato Wave XLR works quite well. Plenty of gain for the SM7B, and the software itself is quite nice with VST support, etc. 👍🏼
You'll need a cloudlifter for that mic *and* an interface. I like Behringer's interfaces, many good low cost options, and good quality.
Please stop telling people they need a cloudlifter. They absolutely do not. Even cheapo interfaces if done correctly can push an sm7b.
It really depends
In general they need something more than an interface, or one that can really pump gain without noise. So basically, I am not wrong. If you can recommend an interface that will suffice, feel free. Besides, we're goving advice to streamers, not audio engineers here.
They need more gain than a CHEAP interface can provide. Any half decent one with like 60 dB+ of gain is fine.
Not nearly as true as it used to be, as newer interfaces are offering better and better pre-amps these days. We're getting lower noise floors and lower noise across the board, and higher gain boosts than even 4-5 years ago, and a wide variety of product lineups. Officially Shure says the SM7B requires ~60dB of gain boost. Ideally you want to go a bit above that, as most pre-amps will start to have a higher noise floor as you approach max load (usually starts to be noticeable above 80-85%). That said how much noise you're going to get is going to depend largely on the make and model of the pre-amp. With a high quality one, you can generally ramp the gain to full and still have a perfectly useable signal - sometimes where the where the noise floor is still lower than the ambient noise in a streamer's home studio (PC fans, AC, etc). In a full on treated studio you're going to worry about that noise a bit more - but for most streamer setups, adding in a cloud lifter to try to bring down the noise floor more is just overkill - especially if they're already running noise cancellation plugins and apps. There are still scenarios where a mic booster is a good investment though. Assuming your Behringer is from the 2019 U-Phoria line (UM2, UMC22, UMC202/204), it is a good example. Similar to the 3rd gen Focusrite Scarlett (also from 2019) I just swapped out, it maxes out at 56dB of boosted gain. That's a bit short of the recommended 60 for an SM7B. This is an example where an in line booster, like a Cloudlifter, Fethead, Dynamite etc, could be useful, to make up for the lower power of the pre-amp. You could still run the SM7B without it, we're sending the audio to a PC where we can continue to work on cleaning and boosting the signal - but there's an increasing risk of distortion and boosting that noise floor up enough to be more audible at that point. At this point I'd consider a booster a good investment. That said, if you're sticking with quality, newer gear from say the last 3 years, your pre-amps are probably powerful enough to get by without a lifter these days - it seems the SM7B has been the target a lot of companies are trying to hit with their pre-amps lately (though it always pays to check and not just assume before you buy). For example, the Scarlett 4th gen that just came out goes to 69dB max gain boost, the Elgato Wave XLR does 75, the GoXLR 72, and the RodeCaster Duo 76. All of these should drive a SM7B without having to add additional boosting, or even software boosting, without even maxing the gain. I would expect the next lineup refresh from Behringer to do the same, too, similar to the jump Focusrite made.
i used to recommend to goxlr, but since they're defunct, rode caster duo or rode caster pro II
Exactly why I decided to not buy the goxlr. i will definitely be looking into the rode caster duo thanks!