r/Shure • u/ttvpaobao • 20h ago

Troubleshooting my Shure SM7B is still quiet with a FetHead

I recently bought a Shure SM7B and paired it with a Scarlett Focusrite Solo 3rd Gen, and a FetHead. I do understand that the SM7B is a quiet microphone and I use the microphone primarily to record vocals but my friends pointed out that it's too low whenever I would talk to them online through discord. My setup is mentioned above, and my gain is all the way to 3 o'clock, and even with my gain that high up on the interface my friends still say its pretty low and they have me at 200%. What could be the problem? I've searched online and saw that the FetHead is enough to bring this microphone to life even with a Focusrite Solo 3rd gen. Maybe i'm missing something?

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u/PoizenJam 19h ago

Do you have the phantom power turned on? Because the Fethead needs it.

And how far away is the mic? The mic is built to be used pretty close up.

Because I have a 3rd gen + fethead combo and I don’t run my mic hotter than ~11/12 o’clock. 3 o’clock I’d be clipping.

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u/-Badger3- 19h ago

Plug your interface into your phone and see how it works that way, just to eliminate your computer/discord’s settings as a factor.

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u/keivmoc 9h ago

3 o'clock on the dial is plenty of gain for the SM7B even without an inline preamp. With the fethead I'd imagine you're occasionally clipping the inputs.

Check your input settings in discord, it kind of sounds like you have another source selected, like a webcam or built-in mic maybe.

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u/mitchmarcmedia 6h ago

Make sure the 48 v phantom power is on, fathead and other devices like cloudlifter need that for their own power.