sm7b microphone

[tone_aot]

Whasup folks. I know i've posted threads about mics in the past, but i just wanted some general info on this mic from folks in the forum that use it. I've been seriously considering getting a high quality dynamic mic to go along with my condensers. I've always performed better with dynamic mics for some reason. Also, i was wondering if i have to get an expensive pre to go with it, because i don't have a the cash for that too. Would something such as a vtb-1 or m-audio dmp3 work? I've heard the sm7 is excellent but haven't seen much on the sm7b. Duties for this mic will be mostly loud sources(rap vocals, saxophone, car horn ). Thanks.

 

[Micter]

Where the SM7b shines is with a nice pre with plenty of clean gain. I'm not familiar with your pre's but I'm wondering if they stay clean enough at higher gain????????????

 

[pohaku]

Either pre should work with it. The SM7b is the current model of the SM7. It should be a very good mic for your intended uses.

 

[zzfdvz]

i have an sm7 and it's a great mic. it's very good on vocals, and i'm also very fond of it on bass drums. as far as a preamp goes, in theory, the more budget you have, the better preamp you can get, and the better sound. but really, it's all relative. depending on the source a fmr audio rnp might be out an avalon 737, or vice versa. the preamps you mentioned are good budget preamps and get great reviews here. a better idea of your budget would yeild better suggestions.

 

[chessrock]

There's this thing called the search function. And it's really cool.

That said, there isn't a meaningful difference between the 7 and the 7B ... as about a million other threads have covered to date.

Do you need some foofy-foo boutique mic pre to drive it? If you're recording at 24 bit, then probably not. You don't need to be pegging it in the red ... just enough gain to get a healthy signal to your hard disk. The average mic pre you get at Guitar Center will get you there.

.

 

[GmanJeff]

Along those lines, and not to hijack the thread, but is an outboard preamp necessary, or would a gain-hungry mic like this also perform adequately going directly into a multitrack recorder (in my case, a Zoom MRS-802B)? Perhaps another way of expressing this is to ask whether the preamps built in to the recorder are likely to be more-or-less the equivalent of the VTB-1 or DMP-3 that Tone Aot is asking about? My application is rock and pop vocals (male baritone).

 

[scrubs]

Along those lines, and not to hijack the thread, but is an outboard preamp necessary, or would a gain-hungry mic like this also perform adequately going directly into a multitrack recorder (in my case, a Zoom MRS-802B)? Perhaps another way of expressing this is to ask whether the preamps built in to the recorder are likely to be more-or-less the equivalent of the VTB-1 or DMP-3 that Tone Aot is asking about? My application is rock and pop vocals (male baritone).

Having absolutely no experience with the zoom, I can definitively say no, the pres are not the equilvalent of even a budget outboard pre.

First off, the zoom is 16-bit (see chessrock's reply above). Secondly, I couldn't find any input gain specs for the zoom pres but, typically, the gain on such built in pres is in the +40-50dB range. That's not really enough for the SM7B for vocal apps, imo (it specs at -59dB output).

However, I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about so, YMMV.

 

[Big Kenny]

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/mrs802/index.php
seems a little light in the preamp. Most of these guys are and even when they have a lot of push, they sound frappy when you get to the high end of their range

 

[kidvybes]

...they sound frappy when you get to the high end of their range

...for the sake of clarity:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=frappy

 

[GmanJeff]

Thanks for the feedback, all. It's helpful.

Given what you've said, here's a very basic question: Is it even practical to use an outboard pre with a multirack like the Zoom, which has pres built-in, which can't be taken out of the circuit? The input sensitivity can be continuously adjusted from "line" to "mic" level (-50dBm to +4dBm); if the sensitivity to set to "line", does that effectively bypass the internal preamp so that there'd be some benefit to using a outboard pre, or would the net effect be to send a clean strong signal from a good outboard preamp into a path where it would be degraded by the internal Zoom preamp circuit before being recorded?

If relevant, the Zoom uses a 44.l kHz sampling frequency; the A/D and D/A converters are 24 bit.

 

[Big Kenny]

Most guys who have those kind of recorders do use a preamp. If it has no digi in (which I suspect is the case) just go in one of the inputs and keep the trim as low as possible. The amount of effect from the on board pre will be negligible and you will get the benefit of the preamp you run through first. Use the outboard pres phantom and other stuff as well

 

[GmanJeff]

Thanks, B.K., for taking the time to clarify this for me. I appreciate it greatly.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Yo Gman! From extensive personal experience, most digital recorders will sound much better when fed from a good pre, even if their preamps are still in the signal chain. Turn the recorder gain down all the way (some with variable impedence will call that a line level input). It won't make the cruddy pres go away, but it reduces their effect dramatically. BTW, I own an SM7B and it works just fine with a DMP-3, which is still fairly clean even at higher gain settings. If you get some noise, it may be helpful to add *just a little* gain from the recorder's pres, and back off on the DMP-3. What works even better is to add just a little makeup gain from an outboard compressor, such as the RNC.-Richie