Shure SM 7 B Reviews

Perfect for vocals

Bought this mainly to use it for recording vocals. Sounds great just the way it is. Just add compression and you're done. Nice sleek looking design in black. comes with holder and bag.

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!

What a workhorse!

Great mic for so many application! My favourite uses are as follows:

Guitar amp - slightly rounder sounding than an SM57, good for a slightly warmer tone. Works great for some rock and for a cleaner tone, if you're doing metal then stick to the SM57 as it's got a more cut!

Rock Vocals: Great SPL and warm tone for gritty male rock vocals! This thing will take whatever volume you throw at it and love it. The natural compression characteristics that you get inside a dynamic microphone work really nicely for a voice with gravel that can sometimes sound a little harsh in the upper mids. Works great for other male vocals as well, but especially for the gritty ones or full on screams.

HiHats: You'l think I'm crazy but if you take off the foam shield this is a fantastic hihat mic for a great rock sound. Again, just naturally compresses the signal a little and makes it warm and usable but still cut. Just takes a little bit of the harshness out and makes the hats sound a little more usable to me.

Its great on bass amps and some other sources but these are the main places that I find myself using it on a regular basis based on the kind of work I tend to get. All in all a great mic!

Shure SM7b - versatile, rugged and sounds great

I purchased this mic primarily for my band's vocalist. The SM7b is well known as being a great mic for relatively heavy rock singers. Originally designed as a broadcast mic, the SM7 actually uses the same capsule as the lower priced and more ubiquitous SM57, with optional high and low pass filters, a tweaked suspension, altered body shape and no impedance matching transformer. That's the technical jargon dispensed with, what does it mean?

Imagine an SM57 with more clarity, detail, depth, high end response and you won't be far off. The SM7b manages to sound professional and high quality while still maintaining some of the character that make the SM57 an industry standard - the sound it captures will often sit perfectly in a mix. As the mic's capsule is recessed a bit into the body of the mic behind a basket there's less proximity response available which in practice tends to mean less muddy low end. The only downside is that because the mic has no onboard transformer (which means better sound quality), the output is quite low so the mic definitely benefits from a good preamp - something with plenty of gain on tap, high input impedance and low noise. For this reason I'll knock a star off "features".

The mic performed admirably on my vocalist, taking high volume raspy male rock vocals in its stride. I've also used it with very good results on kick drum and guitar/ bass cabs. It feels very well built, with a solid metal case and a surprisingly useable mounting system.

Amazing

I read a lot about this Microphone before buying it and it has very long and impressive history in the history of recording. I wanted an alternative to the large diaphragm condensers that I already have such as the AKG c414 XLS. In my mind I thought I would use this Microphone primarily for loud male rock vocals in a studio setup but I was very surprised at how many applications I found for it. I have used this on female vocals with great success, also it is awesome on Guitar amps, like a supercharged sm57 with more detail. The only thing I would say is that this Microphone does need a lot of gain so if you have noisy preamps I dont think this would suit. All in all an awesome Mic and highly recommended. Every studio should own one.

Shure SM 7 B

Everything about this microphone does everything I need it for. It handles metal orientated vocals brilliantly but it is also great for recording my guitar amp as well. Clear sound, sturdy build and easy to use. I highly reccomend this to anyone recording harsher vocals but is also great for various other techniques as well.

Not a disapointment!

This Microphone certainly lives up to it's reputation!

Brilliant quality for a variety of applications

Harsh metal screams, melodic acoustic singing, amp micing etc

However does need a lot of gain for quieter applications,

but most affordable pre-amps and interfaces can supply enough!