Attention SM7b owners!

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Rezon8

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Hi everyone, I just joined this forum and really look forward to learning a lot from you all : )

For all of you who own a Shure SM7b microphone, this thread is directed at you.

I've been hearing a lot of great things about this mic and would love to get the opinion of the members on this board who have been using it for a while now.

What are your true impressions of this mic now that you've had some time to play around with it? I'm really looking at purchasing it for use with my male rock lead vocals. I know that a lot of famous people have used it or still use it today.

I was originally thinking about purchasing a SM57, SM58, and the SM7b but now I'm just thinking about getting the SM7b...what do you think?

It seems that the handling noise on the 57 and 58 models is far more obvious than on the 7b mic. This is a big issue for me cuz I would love to be able to hold this mic and sing into it while recording rather than having it stay stationary like my Rode NT1A does.

Well, thank you very much for your time and consideration and I look forward to your replies. Take care.

Peace.


***P.S.- I use Logic Pro 8 on an Intel Mac with a Presonus FP10 audio/midi interface. I've heard that you need a crazy powerful pre-amp to power this mic and I was wondering if the FP10 and the software found in Logic would be good for this?
 
It's a pretty darn good mic for a lot of things (vocals, guitar amps, floor tom, etc.), although I can't specifically comment on the handling noise, as I've never tried to hold it while singing.
 
It's a great mic, but it would be kind of awkward to hold while singing.
 
Great microphone

I use it for:

1. Rock vocals (or any vocal for that matter as long as the singer has a reasonably strong voice).

2. mic'ing bass cab live (to mix with DI)

3. mic'ing bass cab in the studio (usually mixed with DI feed as well).

3. doubling on kick drum (with D-6)

4. Really excels on strong percussion sources such as Djembe/African drum/etc.

All of these duties it accomplishes with aplomb...highly recommended.
 
Yo Rezon! Welcome to the board! Shure SM7 (with the "b" or not) makes the list of microphone all-pros, because the upsides outweigh the downsides by so much. Top of the line condensers and ribbons are over $10,000. Top of the line dynamics are more like $300-$600. This is the first reason to own an SM7, or an RE20, or an MD441-because normal humans can come up with the money. And, for what it is, the SM7 is as good as anything. Second, it is wicked versatile. It has been used with great success on vocals, snare, toms, even kick. It is also a standard on guitar cabs, bass, brass, and sax. Aside from that, it is a kickass live mic. I use it for live vocals, but I am a guitarist, so I don't have to posture with a handheld mic. It rocks as a live mic on cabs or brass/sax, and is very resistant to feedback.

To go with all this upside, I have only found 2 downsides- First, it is *big*. That can be a liability for drummers with bad aim, and it needs a serious mic stand. Two, it has low output, so it is looking for a preamp with balls, and it is not my first choice on quiet sources. A pair of them are wonderful for live piano.

If you own an SM7, either in the studio, or live, it is rare that you will set up a session where that mic isn't pointed at *something*. And if it isn't, you probably have one hell of a mic cabinet. And if you find that guy who *does* own the $10,000+ mic (or several of them), I'll bet you he owns an SM7, an RE20, and a Sennheiser MD441-and he's using them right now.

The SM7 never goes out of style, and isn't easy to break. You'll always be able to sell it for a fair percentage of what you paid for it. And what the hell? You can even use it for what it was designed for-radio voiceovers! That's a lot of upside, and very little downside, for under $400 new. It's on the short list of mics that really are no-brainers. If you do live sound reinforcement at all, get two- you'll never have enough of them

A couple of tips for anybody new to the SM7- First, the midrange boost or presence switch- you'll probably never use it in the studio, but it has a bunch of live applications- including what it is meant for-making a voice cut through a lot of background noise. I use it on live vocals with *some* singers. Secondly, the threaded connector on the mic stem needs a whole bunch of thread to seat properly, so take any lock washers , etc. off of the threads of the mic stand or boom arm, so the mic won't sit there and spin around. Best of luck-Richie
 
Single most useful mic I own. So useful that I own three of them. Keeps beating out my pricier condensers for vocal duties. Rich has covered pretty much all the ground. The only thing I'd add is that if you don't have a great (or even a good) recording space, the SM7 is wonderful as it won't highlite all the faults in your room (and outside your room) that a condenser will. It is very forgiving in that regard, which makes it a must have for the home studio.
 
vicenzajay said:
I use it for:

1. Rock vocals (or any vocal for that matter as long as the singer has a reasonably strong voice).

2. mic'ing bass cab live (to mix with DI)

3. mic'ing bass cab in the studio (usually mixed with DI feed as well).

3. doubling on kick drum (with D-6)

4. Really excels on strong percussion sources such as Djembe/African drum/etc.

All of these duties it accomplishes with aplomb...highly recommended.
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, I'd like to add to this list, female vocals that are a bit thinner. Thickens them up like magic.
 
best mic ever. i rarely change the mic while overdubbing on rock records. i kinda feel silly using it all the time on guitar amps and vocals...i just change the preamp for different tones.

Mike
 
antichef said:
It's a great mic, but it would be kind of awkward to hold while singing.
Click to expand...
A lot of Hard-core, Metal and Punk guys use it hand held for recording. Looks weird, but its better for them cause that gives them that "live" feel.
 
fwiw, i bought one recently with the intention of using it on a second album with a singer.

his first albums vocals were done with a rode nt1a.

due to the way he sings and the tone of his voice, i had A LOT of trouble levelling out the volume and getting the vocals to sound nice.....hours spent at it...

with the sm7b, i literally just put it up, let him sing,, gave a slight upper mid boost and a mild verb and the vocals sound great <i think>

no more painstaking volume automation for every frigging syllable :)

my opinion,,,very good mic for troublesome singers who really wanna make full use of dynamic range :P:P


also,,,sounded great on my marshall for lead guitar...but that's all i've tried so far.
 
Fingers in ears...

Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala
 
Great point....

hungovermorning said:
Believe it or not, I'd like to add to this list, female vocals that are a bit thinner. Thickens them up like magic.
Click to expand...

Agreed - that's a great application for this mic! I also use one of a couple of ribbons for that purpose as well - especially when the thinness is higher pitched and/or sibillant.

Jay
 
When I retooled after getting some real money...I looked at what was used on many of the records that I thought were done pretty good...allthough I had to settle on a c414 for ladies vocals...the list of stuff that my sm7 was used on was pretty long...Bob Seeger...Led Zeppelin...Bad Company...Micheal Jackson...etc.

I found that it did suit my voice to a tee...and I have a John Melloncamp/Bob Seeger thing with my vocal style.
 
SM7 / preamp

mshilarious mentioned the ART MPA preamp has plenty of clean gain for the SM7 at a reasonable price; you might look into it. You can certainly still record using the SM7 with a preamp with less gain but you won't get the best signal to noise ratio.
 
nuemes said:
mshilarious mentioned the ART MPA preamp has plenty of clean gain for the SM7 at a reasonable price; you might look into it. You can certainly still record using the SM7 with a preamp with less gain but you won't get the best signal to noise ratio.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's been my pairing for my SM7b--an ART MPA Gold. Though next time around I'll be trying it with my ACMP-73.
 
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