Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThe SM7dB is Absolutely Amazing.
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2023
Summary in bullet points (Full written review is below)
Pros:
+ Very Pretty Microphone, Glossy Black look (I prefer it.)
+ Signature Shure SM7B Sound.
+ Added pre-amp with +18 and +28 dB gain which requires phantom power.
+ Sounds great on my higher pitched voice.
+ Actual Easy to adjust switches!
+ Locks in place, very nice Yoke Mount.
+ Cheaper than an SM7B + Cloudlifter, but has Cloud Pre-Amp technology.
+ Full Metal Design, no plastic anywhere.
+ Very sturdy, feels military-grade almost lol
+ Pre-amp is built into the microphone, no extra cables or anything needed.
+ Bypass switch available so you aren't FORCED to use the pre-amp if you don't want to
+ Still comes with 2nd bigger windscreen/pop filter thing to curb plosives.
+ Unlike the RE20 which has the foam built in, you can take the foam on this microphone off and replace it easily, or just use it with the foam off for a bit more top-end.
+ Pretty decent plosive rejection with the foam on because of the space between the foam and the capsule
+ Amazing internal shock mount, you basically don't need anything else which makes the mic pretty compact.
Cons:
- +18dB gain is noisier than +28 or bypass, only use if in a pinch.
- No panel to hide switches in the back.
- Literal puzzle to take apart the Yoke assembly to flip it around to switch from Boom mode to Mount mode. If re-assembled incorrectly, it doesn't tighten properly and mic falls to the side.
- Cable is a point of failure BUT it's very sturdy and reliable.
- Very polarizing mic sound, can sound like a "muffled sock" to some people and might require EQing for your voice.
- Bass roll-off switch is very aggressive, Presence boost just doesn't sound great on spoken word.
- Some pre-amps can outperform the pre-amp built in but it's still ultra low noise.
- Logo on microphone (some may dislike)
- I needed a extender tube to connect this to my PSA1 properly.
- Technically more expensive than a SM7B + Fethead combo
- Mic mount is built in so if the mic mount breaks you have to send the whole microphone in
This is both my first Dynamic Mic and my first Shure Mic. The SM7dB is truly a piece of art. Going into this, I was a pretty hard SM7B hater, thinking other mics were better, but in the end I'm really happy i went for this microphone. I have a higher pitch voice for someone born male, but that seems to work nice on this microphone given the darker sound. The interface I use it with is a Scarlett 2i2 3rd gen, and I find without the built-in preamp I need to crank the gain as high as possible to get a loud enough signal, but it still has a very low noise floor even at 100%. Any decent interface nowadays will be good enough to drive this microphone, but personally just knowing that I can get it louder if I need to for whatever reason (i.e. if i have to talk quietly) is just a nice quality of life feature. When I have the pre-amp on (at the +28 setting) I have my gain set around 50% (or facing fully up) which gives me a lot of headroom to do anything else. (I didn't measure it in any way but they seem noise-free on par with what my 2i2 3rd gen is capable of doing) It's built amazing and feels very sturdy, even the cable which I had some concerns about doesn't seem cheap at all (I even roughhoused it a little and it holds up just fine.) The switches on the back are actual switches now that you can adjust easily with your hand, and luckily, there is a bypass switch so that you don't have to use the pre-amp if you don't want to. The nuts on each side allow you to keep the microphone in place and keep it from moving around, however it does NOT lock the microphone in place and it can still move. It also comes with a pretty useless Velcro Tie and a 5/8 to 3/8 inch converter which seems a little better than the normal ones out there, so don't lose it. It also has the same poofier windscreen that the SM7B has, which I show in a picture.
The only cons I have are it doesn't have a backplate anymore, so there's no way to hide the switches for the microphone, and for the boom arm I have (The PSA1, not PSA1+) I find i need to buy an extension tube to have it work properly so that my XLR cable doesn't interfere with the boom arm's locking nuts. The +18dB gain setting is a little bit noisier than both the +28dB setting as well as bypass on what my Interface can provide. Also, if you have a interface with very low noise pre-amps (like Rodecaster Pro II), the built in Pre-Amp on this mic might be noisier than what your interface is capable of. It isn't magic, but the noise is definitely super low (130 dBV/Pa A-Weighted according to the spec, which roughly translates to I think 128dBu?) and shouldn't be a issue. Another addition that people do not like is the Shure logo on the microphone, but personally I like it, and because it's black instead of white like on the MV7/MV7x, it's barely visible. There's also of course the cable which I really don't like because it's just another point of failure, but it does give the microphone unrivaled maneuverability because there is no huge weight imbalance.
Considering a cloudlifter costs $150 and you're getting the same technology in this microphone along with two volume settings and a (arguably) prettier microphone, I'd say this is a good deal if you're like me and want to have the option of having extra gain "just in case" but for most interfaces you probably will be fine without the built-in preamp, and you can probably get it cheaper overall with a normal SM7B with a FetHead or sE Electronics DM1 Dynamite. Also, most modern interfaces both have low noise preamps and can give clean enough gain that you probably won't need the built-in preamp. For $100 more than a regular SM7B It's a (somewhat) good deal and I would recommend it to anyone looking for their "forever microphone", just make sure you listen to audio tests to make sure it's the sound you want :) The pre-amp being built-in means that you don't have anything external to worry about, don't need a 2nd XLR cable with a cloudlifter or the extra bulk of a Fethead.
Edit 10/21/2023: I've had this microphone for a couple of weeks now, wanted to add pictures and fix some things, as well as adding a summary :)
