Right now, you're listening to me on the
Shure SM7dB, so let's find out if that DB stands for "do buy" or "don't buy." now to be totally honest, this
video has taken quite a turn from what I originally planned. So I'm going to give you all of my
conclusions and all the spoilers right up front and then we can dive
into how I got there and do some comparisons and that sort of thing. So if you're unfamiliar with it, the
SM7dB is an update to the Shure SM7B, a pretty legendary microphone that's
been around for a very long time. It is essentially the exact same
microphone, except that it has a built in booster that provides an
additional 28 decibels of clean gain when connected to phantom power. You can totally bypass that booster
so it's exactly like the classic SM7B, or you can use 18 or 28 decibels
of gain with the built in booster. Now that comes at a price,
which is $100 more expensive, so this has an MSRP of $499. This has an MSRP of $399. I definitely think this is too expensive. And there are a few cosmetic changes
you can probably maybe notice. The housing here is a little bit
more shiny and glossy compared to the matte housing of the original SM7B. And on the back, we do have some changes
with the buttons and the switches. So now on the SM7dB, in addition
to the bass cut and the presence boost that've always been on the
microphone, you do have the ability then to turn on and off the preamp
and choose 18 or 28 decibels of gain. And they also updated it to be switches
you can flip with your fingers, instead of needing to use a little
tool to switch on here, which is cool. Although to be honest, how often are you
really switching those things anyway? I know in all of the years I've
been using SM7Bs, I usually use them on the flat profile anyway. So it is a cool little update. It's a nice little quality of
life feature, but it's definitely nothing worth upgrading over. And in addition to being shinier on the
side, you also have the Shure logo, which I'm sure glad is not as bright and bold
as it is on something like the Shure MV7. But I definitely prefer the
absolute no logo look of the SM7B. Obviously, they're updating it for the
streaming and video podcast era when microphones are on camera a lot more. You got to get that brand recognition in. And it does kind of look
like it's a little decal. So part of me is kind of
wondering can we get rid of that? But I'm not sure I want to do
that because I think I'm going to be returning this microphone. And that's really what I want to touch
on in this introduction conclusion here is this is a fantastic microphone. The SM7dB is a great sounding microphone. You're listening to me on it
through the Rodecaster Pro 2. I do have my special SM7B preset
that I put together on and if I turn that off, this is what it sounds
like just straight out of the box and just totally flat profile. If you want to know what those little
switches do, this is the presence boost. So this is now with the presence boost. It basically bumps up those mids. Not really a fan of how this sounds. And this is with the bass cut. So now if you have low rumbling in your
environment or really deep voice, this would cut out some of those frequencies. But I can bring those
frequencies back in here. And if I turn on the bass cut and
the presence boost, this is a very- it's not the sound that I would like. So I like to keep that flat and then
just add in EQ through the Rodecaster or through software or whatever. But this is the microphone with no EQ. I am running 28 decibels of gain
into the Rodecaster at 26 decibels of internal gain over there. So this is an absolutely great
sounding microphone just like the SM7B. The SM7B, just with a built in booster. And the reason I'm returning mine
is not because it's bad, but because I think my expectations were not
in line with what it actually is. I was under the impression, when
they announced this microphone, and then I ordered it, like, right
away, super excited, what I was expecting was the SM7B's sound but with a much quieter signal
because of the built in preamp. So it's like, oh wow, I can use my
SM7B, but because it's got a built in preamp and I'll need less gain
on my interface and everything, I'm going to get a quieter signal. But as you can kind of hear right
here, this is the SM7dB, again with no effects and no processing, and this is the SM7B, again with
no effects and no processing. This has 56 decibels of gain. This has 26 decibels of gain. I don't know if you can hear it,
but in my headphones, go from here, they kind of sound the same. It doesn't really seem to
actually be any quieter. And that's, so there's really
no benefit in me having that microphone over this one. And it's just, it's $500. I would like to have my
$500 instead, I think. So the conclusion I've come up with is
if you already have an SM7B and it's working for you, don't get the SM7dB. "Don't buy" the dB because it's
not going to add anything to your setup that you don't already have. If you're using something like a newer
generation RØDE item like the RØDECaster Pro 2, the RØDECaster Duo, or the
RØDE Streamer X, any of these new RØDE things that have the Revolution preamps
in them, which have 76 decibels of clean gain, don't get this microphone because the Revolution preamps
are more than enough to drive the SM7B, and it's just as clean, if
not even a little cleaner, than adding the boost from the SM7dB. The same would be true if you have
any other mixer interface that has 70-ish or more decibels of gain like
the Focusrite Vocaster's One and Two that have 69 or 70 decibels of gain,
more than enough for the original SM7B. The Boss Gigcaster has more
than enough gain for the SM7B, the original without a booster. And the Mackie DLZ Creator has 80 decibels
of gain, so more than enough for the SM7B. And the new 4th generation Focusrite
Scarlett's also have more than enough gain to run the SM7B. So you really don't need this microphone if you're using any of
those kinds of interfaces. The only time I would really recommend
getting the dB if you already have an SM7B is if you're using your SM7B with
a booster and you really don't like using it with a booster, which I totally
get because boosters can be a hassle. So it's another thing you
have to keep track of. Oftentimes it involves using a
second cable or a patch cable. And that can just be a little annoying. And every time you introduce another
thing or another cable into your setup, it is a potential point of failure. So if you just want to eliminate
that and have the built in booster of the microphone, I
think that's a very valid reason. You could get the original SM7B for
$399 and an inexpensive booster, like the Klark Teknik CT 1 for about 40. And then the boosted SM7B Which
now is exactly the same as the dB, is significantly cheaper,
like $60 cheaper, than the SM7dB. But, having the booster built in and not
needing anything else is a really nice quality of life upgrade, so I get that. If you really, really dislike using a
booster with your SM7B, this is a good way to ditch the booster to boost your
happiness without an external booster. And the other times I would recommend
the SM7dB is if you're using an interface with a weaker preamp. So like the Focusrite Scarlett's
first through third generations, they usually need a booster with an SM7B. So this would be a great mic for those. If you're using more of a music
centric mixer, because if you're micing up a guitar cabinet or a
drum set, you really don't need a lot of gain to get a good signal. So these usually don't have a
lot of clean gain and usually do need boosters with the SM7B. So the dB would be a great
companion with these. Even the original Rodecaster out
there tops out at 55 decibels of gain. So right now, as I'm using the original
SM7B at 56 decibels of gain, this signal could not be done on that original
Rodecaster without a booster and I still have 20 more decibels, I could push
it through on the Rodecaster Pro II. And the last thing I would recommend
using the SM7B for is wait before I tell you, let me actually try it. So now you're listening to me on the
SM7dB, running directly into my Sony FX3 with nothing else just directly
into the audio handle of the camera because it has two XLR inputs and the
audio handle can provide phantom power. So the mic booster is actually only
on 18 decibels and the camera's gain is set to about three. So that's pretty low and this
should sound pretty clear. But I think it's really cool that I can
get a decent signal using 18 decibels, not even the full booster of the
microphone directly into the camera. So this is a great use. of this microphone. And, think about if you had two of
these, since the FX3's audio handle has two inputs, you could do a really easy,
remote, portable video podcast setup. You just got two microphones, they go
straight into the camera, and you're done. You don't need any boosters,
you don't need any external recorders, or mixers, or anything. That could be a really versatile,
really like, awesome setup to use. And now back on the Rodecaster
Pro 2 with the SM7dB. Those are the situations
where I think you would. Want an SM7B and that doesn't actually
bring into play a couple of other things like the Blue Sona, which is very similar. It's almost the same microphone. It's an SM7B style and sounding microphone
with a built in booster that retails for $350, $150 cheaper than this, and
that doesn't even touch then on the SE Dynacaster, which is another dynamic
microphone that has a built in booster. I don't have one, but that
retails for under $300. So that would mean that the
person that the SM7dB is for, I think, is a very specific person. It would be somebody who wants
an SM7B- not something else. Not kind of an SM7B. They want an actual SM7B, but they
either don't have or won't be for some reason running it into a higher end
mixer interface or preamp that has enough clean gain built right into it. But for everybody else, the original
is probably still just fine. And if you just want a good sounding
dynamic microphone, even with one with a built in booster, there are other
great options out there for less money. So for me, that's why I won't be keeping
the SM7dB as much as I was so excited about it, I really wanted to keep it. And it is a great microphone. It does everything that it says it's going to do. I guess I just kind of hoped
it would do a little more. Let's go over here to the Shure
SM7B and let's turn on my SM7B preset so you can hear it how
I like it to sound on my voice. This microphone is a pretty
darn legendary microphone. The SM7B as we know it, this one
right here, was released in 2001. So it's been around for a while. The original microphone, the Shure SM7,
was released in 1973, and then it wasn't really updated until 1998 or 1999, they
updated a little bit with the SM7A. And then in 2001 added a few more updates,
and that's the SM7B that we have all been familiar with over all of these years. So that is a long time. Essentially, it's been relatively
unchanged for about half a century. And I think that's a testament
to how good this microphone is. But I think it's important to remember
that when it was released, even the most recent version in 2001, it was intended
to be used in professional environments- studios and broadcast stations that all
had plenty of equipment and plenty of audio engineers to operate this microphone
and make it sound its absolute best. As time went on, it was kind of co
opted by, you know, home podcasters and streamers and content creators. Then you were taking this, what
was intended to be a studio grade microphone and running it through a
bunch of consumer grade equipment. And that's where it started to become
known as a microphone that's sort of difficult to work with because it needs
so much gain and it's just so quiet. So with all of that in mind, I think. It makes sense that Shure would want
to update that microphone to be more compatible with all of the consumer
and prosumer level equipment that so many of their customers are using
the microphone with, and that's where the SM7dB comes into play. And just like the original, the SM7dB
does come with the original windscreen. I like to put the ReporterStore.Com
ones on there that- I'm not affiliated with them in any way, by the way, I
just buy a lot of windscreens from them, but they're really cool, and they're
super fun, and I like being able to sort of customize the microphone, because
you can't spell custom without Tom. Anyway. It also comes with this big fat
windscreen, just like the original did, which really helps tame
down plosives and wind sound. Although, the SM7B is a microphone
that is really known for not being super susceptible to plosives. Peter Piper pitched a podcast. Even if I take my windscreen off,
Peter Piper pitched a podcast. Because you have the capsule way down
here, and you have this metal grill that's already acting as a windscreen,
even when nothing is on the microphone. But if I pop this one on there, then Peter
Piper pitched a plosive producing podcast. When I was setting up SM7Bs in podcasting
setups for school districts and like educational programs and things, I
always used the big fat windscreen because when you had a bunch of students
and staff and teachers and things who just weren't familiar with microphones,
this was the easiest one for them to deal with without sounding bad. But then the rest of the time I liked
using the regular windscreen because I do like the way that this looks. So now while we're talking about this
microphone, I think obviously it makes sense to compare it to the original SM7B. Let's do a few things here though. So for the past few minutes you've
been listening to me on my SM7B preset in the Rodecaster Pro 2. So now I have turned off the preset but
I've also turned off the preamp and I just boosted the gain up to 56 decibels
which is The level that works best for me on the SM7B in the Rodecaster
Pro 2 or the Rodecaster Duo as well. And this is what that sounds like. So basically this is now just
a regular SM7B, I'm not using that new booster at all. And just to show you that,
here is the original SM7B. With the exact same settings, 56
decibels a gain, no processing, it's the SM7B, it's the SM7dB. They're basically, I think any difference
in sound might come from my positioning and not necessarily the microphones
having a different sound quality. Although, probably worth noting that
when you do use the booster built into the SM7dB and you have all of that
gain, it does mean you can be a little further away from the microphone. Let me show you. So I turn on that booster and
I keep my 56 decibels of gain. I can be really far away
from the microphone. This doesn't sound that great, but I
could turn that down maybe to like 38 decibels of gain, and you can still hear
some background, but I'm way further away than you would normally be with
an SM7B, and it seems like I'm getting a very similar sound as to when I'm
pretty close to the SM7B over here, but I can be further away from the dB. You're going to pick up more
room tone because I'm further away from the microphone. But it's kind of cool that you can
get that SM7B sound without having to be right on top of the microphone. So that is maybe one way that they do
sound a little different is the added gain allows you to have maybe a little
more distance between the microphone. But there's also a lot more noise in this. So we're going to go back to the
the bypass mode for a second. Now we're back on the SM7dB with no
booster and we're at 56 decibels of gain and the original SM7B of course
with no booster and 56 decibels of gain. So they are exactly the same. Let's hear if we can hear a difference
in the noise floor between them. So I will switch between the microphones
and I'll point to which one's active and you can hear if you notice a difference
in the noise floor or the hiss. So we're going to start with
this one here, the SM7B. So I don't really notice a difference. I don't know if you did, or if you
could hear it through your headphones differently than I could with mine. I don't really notice a difference
there, which there shouldn't be. In that mode, there
shouldn't be a difference. It should be the exact same microphone,
but now I have the booster turned on, Phantom Power, so I only have 26 decibels
of gain in the Rodecaster Pro 2 and 28 decibels of gain on the SM7dB over here. And I haven't changed any of my
settings for the original SM7B. So let's hear how the noise floor
differs between the SM7dB with the booster and the SM7B without
the booster, starting with the dB. I don't know if you can hear it, and
it might just be my headphone amps. I feel like they're very, very
similar, if anything, the dB being slightly, slightly noisier. Which is strange, because I'm
using less gain in the Rodecaster. But if you remember when RODE came
out with those Revolution preamps and all their current generation
products, they said that if you added a booster to it, the preamps are so
clean that a booster would actually introduce noise into the signal. And I did an entire video where I
put that claim to the test and found it to be true, not just marketing
hullabaloo, but actually it was true. So that makes me think then if you're
using a microphone like the SM7dB or the Bluesona or the Dynacaster with
one of the revolution preamp Rode products that you're going to end up potentially getting a noisier signal than
if you're using a dynamic microphone, just boosted up with the internal gain. That was really what I was hoping. I was hoping I could have this
setup right here, 26 decibels, you know, really low gain here, ultra,
ultra clean SM7B sound without needing any processing or anything. And it just kind of was the
same as what I had before. Now I guess we could switch over to
18 decibels and then I can boost this up to, I guess I'd have to be like
38 decibels now to get a signal here. And this is what it sounds like
on the dB going over to the SM7B. In this case with the SM7dB's
booster at the lowest setting, 18 decibels, and my Rodecaster's gain
boosted up to compensate for that. This noise floor is way louder than the
SM7B's is just at 56 decibels of gain. Again, this is the dB. And now we're back on the dB with
26 decibels dBs of gain over here. So you can maybe kind of see why
I and others who have this sort of setup, a Rodecaster setup, wanted to
dive into a new updated SM7B were a little bit disappointed because it
didn't really bring anything new. And in some cases actually degraded
the audio quality, even though the price was upgraded. So, that's a little disappointing. So let's move on to a
few other comparisons. Obviously the original SM7B and something
else I should mention is it's just as good at rejecting handling noise. One of the best features about
the SM7Bs is that they just don't really pick up handling noise very much at all. They have like such great internal
shock rejection that you can move the microphone around and it's not an issue. It's something you don't
appreciate until you don't have it. So if you used an SM7B for a long time
and they switched to another microphone, sometimes it can kind of be jarring when you touch the microphone,
you hear every sound. The SM7Bs are just so good
at not having that problem. But let's move on to a
few other comparisons. Originally, I asked for a whole
bunch of suggestions and requests for comparisons, and I was really excited
about it, but now realizing that it's just the same as the SM7B, if not
a little noisier in some situations I'm going to do a few select comparisons
in this video, but if you want to hear sort of all of my microphones on both a
male and a female voice, my wife and I did a huge comparison video that includes
the original SM7B, so it's the same sound quality compared to all the other mics,
again, on a male and a female voice. Check that video out if you want the full,
kind of the full breadth of comparisons. But for now, I think just to make you
not have to click on another video. There are a few microphones that it
does make sense to compare the SM7dB to. The first of which being this one
right here, which is the Blue Sona. This microphone came out in fall of 2022. And when it was released and I
made a video about it, I called it the SM7B for everyone because it
was a little bit less expensive. Then the regular SM7B at $349 versus $399. And it has a built in booster. So you don't need, it's the
same benefits as the SM7dB. You don't need anything else
to use the microphone with. And I think it's a great sounding
microphone that takes a lot of the cues from the Shure. You have a metal grill over here. It's easy to change windscreens. It even comes with one different
colored, one black windscreen. The microphone itself does come in black,
so if you want the classic black on black look, you can get that with the Blue Sona. And even the Reporter Store windscreens
fit on here okay, even though they're not the exact right shape. The biggest difference between
the Blue Sona and the Shure SM7dB is that the Sona does not let you
select how much gain you can use. The SM7dB is the first microphone
I've seen that lets you actually choose different levels of gain,
which is really, really cool. But just for reference, This is 26
decibels of gain, the exact same, exact same settings as I have on the SM7dB. This is the Blue Sona and
this is the Shure SM7dB. So even though there are other active
microphones like the SE Dynacaster out there, I really view the Sona as the
biggest SM7B competitor because I think the sound profile is really similar. So again, this is me on the SM7dB. And this is me on the Blue Sona. In my review of the Sona, I did a blind
sound comparison, a blind sound taste test between this and the SM7B, and the
overwhelming majority of people actually preferred the Blue Sona against the Shure. Again with no processing and
no EQ, but you can hear that they sound very, very similar. Whereas something like the SE
Dynacaster, It has much more of a signature sound profile. Again, I don't have one, but it
almost has a condenser mic type style to it, which sounds great,
but it's, it's like its own thing. So big question you have to ask
yourself is, would you be okay paying $350 for the Blue Sona? Or if you want all these features, do
you want to fork over $500 for the SM7dB. And if we listen to those noise floors,
I'm hearing that it sounds, let's hear, let's hear- so here's the Sona. I'm noticing that the Sona seems to be
significantly quieter than the SM7dB does. But of course, one thing to keep in mind
is now you're talking about Blue Logitech. I'm not, is Blue a company anymore? I don't know. They were like absorbed by Logitech. I don't know if they exist. And then you're talking about Shure,
which has just been Shure for like, almost a century at this point. And I think that is valuable. I think there is something to
that when you're like, okay this is a great microphone. But is this company going to be
absorbed into some other company? Is some other company, not that it's
going to affect the performance of the microphone, but it's really nice
sometimes just go like these people are making this microphone or a
version of this microphone forever. And I just want that microphone and
those components and that engineering and that design and that peace of
mind that comes with it, I think is a reason to choose a Shure branded
microphone over another brand. But that doesn't mean every
Shure microphone is perfect. So let's move on to our next comparison,
which is the Shure MV7 right now running at 46 decibels of gain. This is a dynamic
microphone with no boosters. So there's no phantom power or anything,
just 46 decibels of gain and the SM7dB at 26 decibels of gain now I said that
the no microphone is perfect the MV7 over here is a really great microphone, but
you can probably notice right away It's picking up a little bit more handling
noise than the SM7dB does and Peter Piper pitched a podcast My biggest complaint
with this microphone that I've said since it's released is the windscreen that comes
with it is very prone to plosive problems. Fortunately, you can just
put an SM7B windscreen on and then those plosive problems are pronouncedly, they're... they're better. The plosives are better
when you do it this way. And it is a great sounding microphone. It's not exactly the same as an SM7B. And I think when Shure was promoting
this, they were really kind of marketing it as like, it's a USB sM7B because
the MV7 is an XLR USB combo mic. So right now I'm using it as an XLR
microphone, but I could plug it in via USB and even run through the Shure Motive
app, which I did my full review on this. And it's a really great microphone. It's a good one for people to choose. If you want to leap into the world
of a high quality microphone, USB only setup, and then if you get an
interface or a mixer down the line, you know that you're going to have a
microphone that you can grow with because then you can just use XLR with it. The downside here is it uses
micro USB instead of USB C, which doesn't make any sense. It really should be USB
C in the back, not micro. That's my biggest complaint: plosives,
micro USB, and handling noise. Otherwise, the MV7 is a
terrific sounding microphone. And it is $249. It's a much more affordable microphone
and it sounds almost, almost the same as the SM7B, just not quite as neutral
and not quite as smooth, but it's still a great sounding microphone. But now if you want a Shure microphone
for the least amount of money possible, let's jump over here to the Shure
SM58 running at 43 decibels of gain. Probably, if you talk to someone
who doesn't know anything about a microphone and you ask them to like
draw a microphone, they'll probably draw something that looks like this. This is the microphone emoji that
pops up in your emoji keyboard is an SM58 style microphone. It's. It can be a handheld microphone. You can mount it somewhere. It's incredibly versatile. I'm running it at 43 decibels
of gain, 44 decibels of gain now with no effects and no processing. This is the Shure SM58 and
this is the Shure SM7dB. They have very similar sounds. And the really cool part is that this
SM58 right here has a retail price of $99. So this is the least expensive, I
believe it's the least expensive Shure microphone you can buy. Not sure about that,
but I think it's true. And it sounds very, very close
to the SM7B or the SM7dB. Definitely close enough that if you
have an SM7B as your main mic and you have like a guest mic sometime
or a co host sometimes, but you don't want to invest in another SM7B or
dB, you could definitely get by with the SM58 and mix the two together
and it's going to sound just great. And again, this is with no
effects and no processing. What would it sound like if I
put my SM7B preset on the 58? I don't know that I like it as much
as I do on the SM7B, but this is with processing and this is without
processing on the Shure SM58. But now jumping up in price
significantly to about $449. This is the Electrovoice RE20. The reason that this makes a lot
of sense to compare to the SM7B, in fact, I have a whole video that
does exactly that is because this is actually an older microphone. than the original SM7 was. This came out in 1969, I believe,
is when the RE20 was released, and it has a very distinct sound. It's a very popular microphone,
and here is the Shure SM7dB. One of the big differences you can hear
the Shure almost when you listen to him back to back almost sounds kind of
muddy and that's because this one is made to be flat and neutral and then
you do what I do right here and you add in your processing and your EQ to dial
it into your specific voice and your specific environment, which is something
that really just about every microphone. kind of needs. So this is the SM7dB with processing. And again, this is the
SM7dB without processing. And this is the ElectroVoice
RE20 without processing. It has a much more distinct
characterized sound, I guess, just straight away than the SM7B does. However, it is very
susceptible to plosives. Peter Piper pitched a podcast. So I have to have this little pop
filter on here to prevent plosives. And as you probably noticed, even from
the cable moving around, It is very susceptible to handling noise as well. So it needs to be in a nice shock
mount and you know, it's a little more work, but it's a really great sounding
microphone and depending on your voice, because finding the right microphone,
as I've said many times, is all about what sounds good on your specific voice. So anyway, this is the ElectroVoice
RE20, and this is the Shure SM7dB. And now this is the Samson Q9U, which
you can just tell by its design. By its design, you can see that the Q9U is
very, very heavily inspired by the SM7B. This microphone is several years old at
this point, but just like the MV7, it's an XLR USB combo microphone, and has the
added benefit of having USB C for its functionality, although I'm using it
as an XLR microphone right now with no processing at 37 decibels of gain. So the RE 20 I had to have up at 56
decibels, just like the SM7B and the Q9U I can run quieter at 37 decibels. So this is the Q9U and this
is the SM7dB over here. This is the Shure SM7dB. And this is the Samsung Q9U, so it's
a good microphone that's potentially a great alternative to the SM7B if you're
open to not having a Shure microphone. So as we continue down this road
of mic comparisons, it would be unfair not to include RODE. This is the RODE PodMic USB, which
sounds very similar to the original PodMic that had a retail price
of $99 and is still available. This one has a retail price of $199
because it also adds in USB- uSB C functionality, which is really nice. And you can use all of RØDE's DSP signal
processing in their apps and everything. So this is the PodMic USB. And this is the Shure SM7dB
running into the RØDECaster Pro 2, no effects and no processing. The first thing you're going to notice
right away is that the dB sounds. It's fuller, richer, maybe even
potentially a little muddier compared to the PodMic USB, which sounds a
lot more crisp and leans more towards the high ends, which is actually
something I've grown to not like about PodMics over the years because it's just sort of seems like they really
need to have those high ends tamed. Whereas the Shure microphones
are much more balanced. And then you can just add in just a little
bit of EQ and processing to really make them sing with just about any voice. And that's a nice thing with the SM7B
and the dB is they will sound, they're an easy microphone to have sound
great on a wide variety of voices. Now continuing down this road,
this is the RØDE Procaster running into my RØDE RØDECaster Pro. Because that's not confusing at all. This is... I don't know if it's fair to say this
because there are some other models out there, but I would say generally
speaking the Procaster is RØDE's most similar offering to an SM7B,
but the good news there is that its retail price is significantly lower
at like $229, versus $399 or $500. It's a dynamic microphone right now. I'm running it at 47 decibels of gain
with no effects and no processing. This is the Rode Procaster
and this is the Shure SM7dB. The Procaster, I think, definitely has
more of a pronounced characteristic sound right out of the box
versus the neutral sound here. I think both of them sound great. You might notice that the Procaster
is more prone to plosives. So you definitely need a windscreen. The little RE20 pop filter fits
on here too, which is really nice. The really downside to the Procaster
and why I don't find myself using it as much as I might like to
is that it's a giant microphone. It's big and it's heavy and mounting
it in a convenient way can sometimes just be a little difficult. And it's a great, great sounding
microphone at a really great price. And to go in sort of a different
direction now, this is the Rode NT1 5th generation, which is also an XLR USB combo
microphone that sounds just the same as the Rode NT1 that came out before it. But it is also a really, really
great sounding microphone. It just, it is very
susceptible to plosives. It comes with a little pop filter
windscreen, which is incredibly helpful, and a really nice shock mount as well. So you wouldn't normally be
hand holding it like this. I think this is a really
lovely sounding microphone. It is a condenser, so I have phantom
power and it is at 25 decibels of gain versus the 26 decibels
of gain over here on the SM7dB. And this might be interesting. Let's turn the NT 1 up to 26
decibels and compare the noise floors between a dynamic and condenser,
but both running on phantom power. So starting with the SM7dB, there we go. And now back over here on
the Rode NT1 5th generation. I absolutely love the way
that this microphone sounds. I have nothing bad to say about
the sound of this microphone is absolutely fantastic. My only criticisms that I had in my
review of it is that the USB functionality is pretty limited because you can just
kind of plug it in and there's no USB controls anywhere on the microphone, not even a headphone output,
which is not particularly helpful. But as an XLR microphone, it is just
a beautiful sounding microphone. And speaking of beautiful
sounding condenser microphones, this is one of my favorites. This is the Lewitt LCT 240 Pro. This has a retail price of $139. It is a very affordable microphone. It's a condenser, so
it needs phantom power. But this is the Lewitt LCT 240 Pro. And this is the Shure SM7dB. Very different. You can hear, sort of, almost
stereotypical condenser versus dynamic sounds. They're both great sounding
microphones, but for the price, it's really hard to beat this Lewitt. I abso-Lewittly love the sound of this. And every time I do sort of a big mic
showdown and a big mic voting thing, this one usually ends up winning like
the brackets that I set up and stuff, because it's, it's an awesome microphone. And while we are talking
about really great condenser microphones, I want to definitely
include the Earthworks Icon Pro. This is not as affordable as the Lewitt
LCT 240 Pro because this is $499. This is a significantly more
expensive condenser microphone right now running at 23 decibels
of gain compared to the SM7dB's 26 decibels of gain with the booster. Of course, condenser
microphone needs phantom power. So this is the Shure SM7dB. And this is the Earthworks Icon Pro,
which has a very, just a great kind of condensed classic condenser sound. Definitely a little crisp, a little
towards the high end, but a really nice sounding microphone that then reminds
me of one of my other all time favorite microphones, which is the Earthworks
Ethos, and this now retails for the exact same price as the original SM7B, $399. I love this microphone. It's such a great sounding microphone. Prior to having an SM7B option with a
built in booster, I thought this was a great way to sort of get that sound
without needing external boosters. Even though this and the Icon are
condenser microphones, I don't feel like they pick up significantly more. room tone or anything than a
microphone like the Shure SM7dB does. We could do a noise floor test. So we'll start with the Shure over here. I don't feel like you need a
significantly more well sound treated space to use the Earthworks Ethos
than you do the Shure SM7dB or SM7B. I think it's a terrific
sounding microphone. And again, this is the SM7dB
in comparison, which definitely does kind of shine a little
bit more once you add some EQ. That's going to kind of wrap up the
comparison portion of this video. Again, check out these super in depth,
every microphone I have comparison on both male and female voice. If you kind of want a little bit more of
that in a little bit more depth, but to wrap things up here again, this is the
Shure SM7B, no effects and no processing. And this is the Shure SM7dB no
effects and no processing 26 decibels versus 56 decibels. Now let's turn on some of that processing. So if I add my, SM7B preset
over here to the SM7dB. This is what that sounds like once I've
EQ'd it in a way that I like for my voice. And this is what the SM7B sounds
like once I've EQ'd it in a way that I like for my voice. They sound exactly the same because again,
they're basically the same microphone. One just has a booster and one doesn't. So because of that, that kind of
brings me to the conclusion that's at the end of the video instead
of the beginning of the video. The SM7b is not in any way
outdated because of the SM7dB. The SM7dB brings in a bit of new
functionality and makes it more accessible to more setups because
now you can take this microphone and you can connect it to any interface
or mixer that has phantom power and it's going to be able to sound great. But the issue there is that it's a
$500 microphone and a lot of the newer interfaces and mixers like all the
Rode stuff and the Focusrite stuff and the all the things can run the SM7B
without the need for a booster anymore. So again, I'm not at all saying
that this is a bad microphone. It's a great microphone,
but it's, I think, serves a very specific niche person. Somebody who's going to be using it
with a very limited interface or wants to run it directly into a camera. And that's it. And they want the SM7B. That's who this is for. Otherwise, the SM7B can just. keep being as good as it's always been,
or you could go with another option like the Blue Sona or the SE Dynacaster
or any of the other microphones that I've shown in this or other videos. So as long as you understand that when
you get the SM7dB and your expectations are kind of leveled to the point that
you expect the microphone to do what it's supposed to do and nothing more,
I think you'll be very happy with it. But if you have an SM7B setup and
you think this is going to somehow make it better, it probably won't. And you'll probably be better off just
sticking with Your original microphone. And speaking of things that are worth
sticking with, thank you to everyone who helps support my channel through
Patreon and YouTube Channel Memberships. I really appreciate it. And again, I keep talking about it,
but if you want to hear all of the microphones on a male and a female
voice, basically the most in depth mic comparison video I've ever made,
check out this video right here.
