Question / Help SHURE SM7B MIC NOISE

[Stream Advisor]

Hello! Im using a Shure Sm7B Microphone.
Its connected with an Scarlett Solo.
Which is connected again with my pc.
Im running obs and there is a noise on the background.
My room is quiet.
it only happens when i turn the gain up on the scarlett solo and when i turn up the gain effect in the microphone filter settings.
So it can't really handle allot of extra gain cause its making like weird background noises when i do so.
Nobody can really hear me on my stream without the gain effect.

Anyone who has an idea of how to fix this?
Many thanks!

 

[DEDRICK]

When you max out a preamp it gets noisy, when you then add more gain digitally you increase the level of that noise and the noise floor.

The SM7B requires a minimum of 60 dB of gain to reach nominal level. The Scarlett Solo can only provide 50 dB, less if it is gen 1, which is why people commonly pair the SM7B with either...

A DBX 286s and use that as the preamp and processor then feed it into an interface with a 1/4" TRS->TRS cable(Balanced TRS Cable), do not connect TRS->XLR
Or they buy a Fethead / Cloudlifter CL-1, an inline gain booster that uses the phantom power from your interface to add +25dB of gain.

The DBX is the better buy, it's $50 more but you get a 60dB preamp with a compressor, de-esser, exciter, expander/gate.

 

[BK-Morpheus]

When you get a dynamic mic like the SM7B, you usually want to get a Cloudlifter as well, because those mics require a lot of gain and most normal mic preamps will get a little noisy on 100% gain (and even more, if you amplify that noise by adding a software gain on top).

 

[Stream Advisor]

Alright thanks for the tips :)

 

[kerumbo]

When you max out a preamp it gets noisy, when you then add more gain digitally you increase the level of that noise and the noise floor.

The SM7B requires a minimum of 60 dB of gain to reach nominal level. The Scarlett Solo can only provide 50 dB, less if it is gen 1, which is why people commonly pair the SM7B with either...

A DBX 286s and use that as the preamp and processor then feed it into an interface with a 1/4" TRS->TRS cable(Balanced TRS Cable), do not connect TRS->XLR
Or they buy a Fethead / Cloudlifter CL-1, an inline gain booster that uses the phantom power from your interface to add +25dB of gain.

The DBX is the better buy, it's $50 more but you get a 60dB preamp with a compressor, de-esser, exciter, expander/gate.

When you max out a preamp it gets noisy, when you then add more gain digitally you increase the level of that noise and the noise floor.

The SM7B requires a minimum of 60 dB of gain to reach nominal level. The Scarlett Solo can only provide 50 dB, less if it is gen 1, which is why people commonly pair the SM7B with either...

A DBX 286s and use that as the preamp and processor then feed it into an interface with a 1/4" TRS->TRS cable(Balanced TRS Cable), do not connect TRS->XLR
Or they buy a Fethead / Cloudlifter CL-1, an inline gain booster that uses the phantom power from your interface to add +25dB of gain.

The DBX is the better buy, it's $50 more but you get a 60dB preamp with a compressor, de-esser, exciter, expander/gate.

I'm replying late but would be very interested to know your thoughts behind the advice "DO NOT connect TRS->XLR." That's how I had my DBX 286s connected to my Scarlett Solo, which seemed to work fine - I could set the Solo's properties to single channel, and the recording software (usually Audacity) for stereo, and get a good result (although, yeah, I don't really need stereo when recording). Anyway, the DBX just stopped working after 2 years (very distorted sound) - something in the DBX's processing broke so now it only works with Bypass on. But I would really like to know, because I'm getting another DBX 286s: Did my TRS-to-XLR connection, from the DBX Line Out to the Solo's Mic (XLR) connection, maybe help to bring the DBX to an early end? What are the benefits of using TRS-to-TRS instead? and how would I set the number of channels in WIndows Sound settings for the Solo, and in Audacity or other DAW? Using a TRS-to-TRS cable, I find that some combinations seem to work only partially or not at all (although it's hard to tell right now since I've got a misbehaving DBX 286s). Many thanks if you have time to answer!