SM 7 B : This mic saved me a client!

Built like a tank, with good audio quality, the Shure SM7B saved a good client for me.

My profession is voice over. For those who do not know that term - I speak for a living doing corporate narrations and such.

A few years ago I got a job recording a narration for one of my favorite clients. The job was at a studio that was new to me. For some reason, though I am almost never nervous before a job - I was for this one.

One of my coaches suggested that I stand when reading the text instead of sitting, so I though to give that a try. There were many script changes at the last minute and the text I was given was very difficult to read while holding in one hand.

That made me even more nervous. The mic in the studio was a Neumann U47, or a very good clone of one. The sound was wonderful from the audio chain, but my performance was not.

Got a copy of the recording and brought it home to give it a listen. It stank!

However, I had just received my Shure SM7B the day before. And though my room was not acoustically treated I decided to rerecord the narration using the Shure.

My performance was 100 percent better than on the U47. Being a dynamic mic the SM7B is more forgiving for a room that is not very well treated. It greatly reduced the room sound, compared to using a condenser mic in the same space. Sent off the new recording to the producer. The end of the story was a happy one: the producer was happy, I was happy and most importantly, the client was happy.

This mic saved me from losing one of my favorite clients!