- [Jordan] Do you need the cloud lifter
when you're using the sure SM7B with the
GoXLR audio interface?
I'm Jordan from Kettner Creative
and in this video we're gonna help you
answer that question.
If you are looking for pricing or specs for
anything that you see in this video
we do have links down in the description below
on where you can buy these with the best price
from a variety of online retailers.
Now there's two reasons that you might want
a cloudlifter or any in line preamp
with you SM7B and the GoXLR
or anything other audio interface.
Now the first main reason that you might
want an in line preamp is if your interface
or the GoXLR can't provide enough gain
for the microphone.
Now we don't have to worry about that with
the GoXLR here.
The GoXLR can provide up to 70 db of gain,
which is a ton of gain.
So we don't have to worry about that reason at all.
The GoXLR has enough gain to power this microphone.
Now the second reason that we might need
an in line preamp is if the preamp built into the
GoXLR is too noisy when it's turned all the way up.
What happens when you push a preamp harder and harder
is trying to amplify this tiny signal from the
microphone and when it's amplifying that signal
it sometimes brings the associated background noise
with it.
So we're gonna test to see
how loud this preamp is,
and if it's any quieter when we plug the cloudlifter in
to the GoXLR.
So when we look at my setup here,
you can see that I have the gait turned off
the EQ is flat,
the compressor is turned off.
I do have the DSer on
just because I like the way it sounds.
A little bit better with my voice.
And the gain is set to 60 db.
As you look at the mic meter here,
you can see that we're right in the middle
of the good threshold.
And that's exactly where we wanna be.
So all our gain is set up perfectly
without the cloudlifter installed.
Let's go put my headphones on now
just so I can hear a little bit better
so I can try to tell the difference between these things.
So what I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna pause for
five seconds
and we're gonna listen to see how much noise is
coming from the preamp
with this current setup.
Okay so that's what the preamp sounds like
without a cloudlifter installed.
What we're gonna do now is we're gonna unplug
everything and then we're gonna plug the
cloudlifter into the system.
Okay, now the cloudlifter is connected to the microphone.
So we go microphone, XLR cable to the cloudlifter.
Then the XLR cable comes out of the cloudlifter
into the GoXLR.
So inline now.
When we go over to the software in GoXLR
we did have to switch it to be the condenser mic
because that's how it gets the 48 volts of phantom power.
We don't need the condenser mic setting
when we're plugged straight in which the SM7B.
But we do when we add the inline preamp,
so the inline preamp can get power.
Now you can see here that we've had a gain reduction
of close to 30 decibels.
We did come all the way down from 60 to 32.
I can see it's a little bit louder right now,
so I'm just gonna go back to 31.
I think that's a better setting.
That's much more representative of where we were.
I'm just gonna go back to 30 actually.
So you can see that we've had a gain reduction
of 30 decibels.
So what were gonna do now is I'm gonna do quiet for
five seconds so you can hear how loud this is
with the cloudlifter installed.
Okay so what were gonna do next
is I'm gonna pause again
and we're gonna stack those two clips together.
So we're gonna hear what the silence of just
the sure SM7B sounds like for five seconds
and what it sounds like when it's connected
to the cloudlifter.
I'm gonna boost both to try
to amplify the differences for you
so you can hear them.
It'll prob be boosted by something like 12 or 20 db.
I'll leave the notes on the screen
so you can see how much it boosted it by.
And then we can hear what the noise difference is.
Okay so that's the noise difference between
the two options.
Now it's up to you whether or not that
difference is big enough.
Generally speaking it will always be quieter
with the cloudlifter.
It's just a matter of how quiet do you need it to be.
If you're playing a game noise or streaming
with the GoXLR
I say skip the cloudlifter
because that little difference
is masked by the game noise or the music
or whatever you're doing in your live stream anyway.
You don't need that perfect silence in the background.
Not that you have perfect silence
even with the cloudlifter,
you do still some associated noise with it.
But it will be a little bit less background noise
with the cloudlifter.
But is it worth $150 bucks,
probably not when you're already masking that sound
with the game noise.
So that's the answer to the question
do you need the cloudlifter?
I don't think so.
For my money,
I wouldn't spend the cloudlifter with this setup.
If you do have any questions or comments
about anything that you've seen in this video
please leave a comment down in the comment section below.
Again if you are looking for pricing
or specs for anything that you see here,
we do have links down in the description
where you can buy these from online retailers.
And if you want to see more videos like this
in the future
please like and subscribe.
Thank you for watching!