Low gain - Shure SM7B, Cloudlifter & Focusrite Solo

M

mrlbird33

New member
I have everything connected with XLR cables, my focusrite is showing its working. Still have low gain even with the cloudlifter. Not sure what to do, is it not getting enough power? 48v and AIR on Focusrite are on also.

Any help is appreciated!!
 
Is the green ring around the gain knob illuminating when you speak/sing in the mic? Can you raise the gain to cause it to turn red?
How far away are you from the front of the SM7b when speaking/sing?
 
When I turn the first gain knob significantly up (maybe 80% of the way there) yes I'm getting the green illumination. Even at 100% I have to tap the mic itself to get a red ring. Speaking about 4-6 inches away.
 
Is the Solo plugged into a laptop? If so try a different USB port if one is available. Perhaps the USB port that was used may not have enough power for the added Cloudlifter(?)

If the SM7b is plugged in without the Cloudlifter can you get the red ring to light like when using the CL?
 
The Solo is plugged into my PC, is it still possible it doesn't have enough power? Without the Cloudlifter plugged in I can't even get a red ring.
 
A PC 'should' provide enough power. Are the XLR cables all new? It's possible a funky cable could be a problem. If you don't have a spare cable handy, maybe try swapping the ones you have.
With the Cloudlifter the SM7b should only need the gain at somewhere between 10-12 o'clock I think so long as your voice isn't a whispering type.
 
Swapped Cables, not getting any light up to 50% gain. Everything just came in in the last couple days, so it shouldn't be that.
 
My guess is the computer and drivers. Plug the mic into the focusrite, don’t use the cloudlifter. Download the latest driver. Restart it and try again. My suspicion is the 5v rail cannot handle the focusrite and the cloudlifter current demand. The computer has shut the usb down. Use a different socket and try just the mic. Turn the gain up and record some closeup voice.

SM7bs just need louder voices. I did a show yesterday with a Shure shared by two people, one after the other. The sound op was very worried he couldn’t get any level, and with the gain on full, it was lower than he liked. The next person needed the gain reducing. Thats just how they are. Try it without the extra gain, if you discover that the focusrite plus cloudlifter is too much for your computer.
 
Ok, that's some progress made... My computer is recognizing the mic again, thanks for that. As for the gain, even at max gain on my focusrite, without the cloudlifter, with essentially as little space as possible between my voice and the microphone, it's barely audible. What specific driver were you talking about? One for the focusrite? My computer's own drivers?

Thanks
 

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It may depend on which Solo you have for drivers or not.......
customer.focusrite.com

Focusrite | Focusrite Downloads

Software and documentation for Focusrite products
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Select the driver for the Solo you have.

There is 'Focusrite Control' for the 3rd Gen models which I don't know if that is a driver as well. I think even without a driver you should be able to get the gain LED ring to show adequate signal. The driver I believe is to optimize the connection to PC and how it talks to your DAW.

With your most recent test with just the SM7b and no CL, try the other XLR cable and see if it makes any difference. New cables can occasionally be bad and if one of them has a short or an open it could reduce the signal or cause the CL to not get enough power to work correctly
 
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