My new Videocalls/Phonecalls/Podcast setup question

[Mrflamboyant]

Hi guys,

I just bought the Shure sm7b in combination with the focusrite 2I2.

I have some questions and I really hope you can help me out. The first question is. Did I buy the right Focusrite? I found out that the Clarett+ 2Pre should be way better but its more then twice the price.

My second question is that I read everywhere that I need a gain booster like the Cloudlifter or the DM2 TNT blue or maybe the red one? And which model is the best to buy? I love the look of the TNT on my Shure but quality is more important ofcourse.

And my last question. I am going to use this setup to make VoIP calls and video calls and I want my voice to be the very best as possible. I believe that when every detail in a sales conversation is perfect that the chance of winning the deal will be higher. I love to be perfect on this one.

I make videocalls (google meet) and VoIP calls on my Mac and I want my overall voice in every program to be tuned to perfection. I hope to find a program that could take over all of my Macs in and output so that every time that I use the mic that my voice will be perfect in every program, even when its Skype or Facetime. I want those perfect settings everywhere. I hope that I explained my question correctly.

Thank you so much for your help in advance guys!

[Drew Stephenson]

I'm pretty certain that no-one is ever going to notice the difference between a Scarlett and a Clarett with spoken word over a VOIP or video call. The Scarlett is fine.
Likewise you shouldn't need to gain booster. You'll probably be turning the gain knob on the Scarlett close to the maximum but that's fine, most of the gain is at the end of the dial.
The SM7B is a cardiod mic, which means (all other things being equal) that it has a noticeable 'proximity effect'. This means that the bass response will increase the closer you are too the microphone. Experimenting with the position of the mic relative to your mouth (above, below, to the side etc.) and distance from your mouth will give you all the tuning you need without requiring any additional software.

But what will make more difference to the overall quality of sound is the room that you're using.
There are two separate concepts to examine here, sound-proofing and sound-treatment.
Firstly, is it a quiet environment with little to no background noise? Our ears are always filtering out background noise in a way that a microphone can't do. Your voice could sound absolutely beautiful but if you've got significant road noise or computer hum intruding then it's a bit of a wasted endeavour.
If you don't have a quiet environment this might be a sticking point. Sound-proofing is difficult, expensive and requires a lot of expertise. It's easy to spend a lot of money for next to no benefit.
Secondly, what's the furnishing in the room like? A proper recording studio will have been heavily acoustically treated to control how the sound bounces around the room. If you're recording in a normal domestic room it will sound like it. The normal advice for a quick and easy improvement is to sling a couple of duvets over microphone stands to provide instant acoustic treatment, however I suspect that's not going to be the impression you're aiming for. Have a look at someone like GIK acoustics to see their acoustic treatment products.

All that being said, if you're on a video call your audio is probably going to be heavily compressed and treated by the call software. A good mic and interface, and some basic room treatment can make a noticeable difference but you will rapidly get into the realms of diminishing returns, so I would advice against going overboard on any of this.

And whether any of this will make the slightest difference to your sales numbers is an entirely different question.

[Mrflamboyant]

Thank you so much for your reply and explanation!
I understand way more about this subject now and no I dont have any sound detoning over here and I am (for now) not going to make some.

In my future house I will because I love the calm sound of a studio even If I am not recording anything.

Why it it that all those youtubbers say that I need a gain booster with this setup? They are talking about it all over the place. They are all saying that the sm7b is using heavy power and that a gain booster will help everything making it sound better.

But I like your story better. I like to think that Focusrite isnt stupid and they should know what their users are using.

Can you tell me more about this?

And do you happen to know some software which takes over all my mac inputs so I can tune my overall voice so that my voice is tuned to perfection in every program I use like skype, whatasapp, facetime etc?