Do I have enough gain for Sm7, or do I need a different mic? (Aggressive rap)

[crimsonhawk47]

I have a rode nt1a, but I feel like I am a very aggressive rapper, and it sounds like it's not useful in that context. I want to keep it around for softer stuff that needs brightness.

So I'm looking into the SM7B, as it sounds like it's a lot warmer and allows me to be much more "out there."

But I hear you need 55 db gain on your interface MINIMUM. I'm not sure which stats I check for that.

I use a vstudio-100 (which I'm considering replacing). I found the specs here.

Roland VS-100 (VS100, V-Studio 100) Audio Interface w/ SONAR VS

It says the microphone jacks go -60 to -16 dbu. Does that mean I only have a 44 db gain?

I'm not at all attached to the SM7B, so if I need a different mic that's fine. But can anyone recommend a different one? This is an example of some audio recorded about 6 inches from the mic, directly in (no angle or difference in height) and with a pop filter.

View attachment Vox Test (booth).mp3

From what I hear, mic placement like height and angling down will make my vocals really nasaly, and I'm actually not really sure what people mean by that. I would test it if I had a proper mic stand right now, but it's literally hanging through the hole upside down.

 

[bandcoach]

long and short of it the vs-100 is sufficient

 

[crimsonhawk47]

On that awkward note, I actually found a shure 57 in a wicker basket in my house...
Now i'm testing it out, and so far the response doesn't seem too different from my nt1a. Maybe because I was a good distance from the nt1a AND the shure.

 

[Salem Beats]

On that awkward note, I actually found a shure 57 in a wicker basket in my house...
Now i'm testing it out, and so far the response doesn't seem too different from my nt1a. Maybe because I was a good distance from the nt1a AND the shure.

The Grace m101 is hands-down the BEST preamp you can get for any Shure dynamic microphone -- whether that be a SM57, SM58, classic SM7, or an SM7B.



-Ki
Salem Beats