Just asking for some input from you guys. Our resident golden ears @superliquidsunshine has admonished me again and again that I should have one of the aforementioned to go with my SM7B. Well it's upgrading time, so I'm going to get one of these bad boys to try and bring the best out of my mic. I looked up a couple topics about this on Gearslutz, but whenever this sort of thing comes up, reps from the companies in question tend to pop their heads in and then I feel the integrity of the conversation is compromised because people get squeamish about giving honest feedback.

So how about it? Have any of you tried both of these? Any input will of course be very much appreciated.


Btw @superliquidsunshine , I know RME is great and all but I'm really thinking about the Audient iD4 - it's everything I need and nothing I don't, while leaving me a few bucks for other necessaries like the FEThead/CL... plus ostensibly a sound quality upgrade. Most notably, the two headphone jacks and mute speakers button are a must for me. I've been disconnecting my monitors when I record and plugging a headphone cord into the monitor output, only inserting it up to the sheath to short out the connection and turn it into a mono signal so I get monitoring in both ears. That is the definition of "not ideal". I also think the direct-monitor-to-DAW-output fade knob is a brilliant idea. I've seen a presonus interface that has this, but shockingly nothing else. Hard to believe.

 

I can't talk about the Cloudlifter but I recently bought a FEThead for my SM7b.

First either or is necessary to get the SM7b really working, so you're on the right track. Where before I had my preamp cranked to max just to get to 0dBVU for vocals, now its at like 60%, same as where my Blue Blueberry would be. Cranking any preamp above 80-90% starts introducing a lot of noise.

I went with the FEThead because:
A) it was cheaper, around half the price
B) It connects directly to the mic so you don't need a second cable (since I'm running all Mogami that would get expensive quick)

I also have a theory that you want to amplify the signal early on in the cable for long runs (mines about 35ft to my booth). The louder the signal is going through the cable the less likely it is to be affected by interference.

PS. I also think you get a couple dB more gain from the FEThead, on the site it says "up to 27dB" for it and the CL1 says "up to 25dB".

 

Those are a couple really valid points. Unless someone shows up and drops some kind of unexpected knowledge bomb on me, I think you may have sold me on the FETHead.

Thanks a bunch, man.

 

Bought the FEThead. Thanks for the advice, MYC

 

Let us know how it works for you, Cav. I think one would be nice for my Cascade ribbon.

 

MYCbeats, you got me there. Gonna get me a pair of the phantom-powered version FETheads
I'll try them with my two 1" capsule condenser mics.

 

Hey Cav, the FEThead was a good choice, less expensive while doing exactly what you need to do to get the best out of your microphone. Those SM7b's just love a tube preamp and now you can gain stage to create different colors to your heart's content. Less gain more output = cleaner sound while conversely more gain less output imparts sweet tube harmonics to help your vocals sit easier in a denser mix with a tad less compression before it hits your converters and then ITB as the saturation will deal with the peaks (not a compressor substitute, but you get the picture). Experimentation is your new friend. The only great difference with the Cloudlifter would have been needing to use a second cable to connect. There was a shootout that I remember from a bunch of years ago that might have realized a slight coloration of the signal of the Cloudlifter, but for all intents and purposes it was fairly evenly matched. I dig my FEThead when I use the Tonebeast or the über clean preamps in the Babyface to amp the EV RE-20, which like your Shure SM7b needs like 60db to sparkle and shine. The Daking Mic Pre One has 70db of gain and I can get away without it as it is clean until you wring out the last available decible.

Likewise, the Audient iD4 seems like a good deal with a decent mic preamp, really clean and can be used for a different vibe if you want or need it that way, with fine Burr-Brown converters, etc, but beware of the fact that there is no separate output control for the headphones and that you must remember to turn the volume down as you switch from your monitors else you will blow out your ears and cans if you are monitoring at a good clip. The iD4 is really and truly a bare bones unit, and if you never ever want to expand or to record separate tracks at the same time with your brother or anyone else with a microphone then this should cover your bases. Latency could be an issue with this unit, but you can hopefully monitor the mic input from inside your DAW so that you could sweeten, add a little reverb, delay or compression as you lay down your vocals to create a superior monitor mix to help uplift your performance. The dry direct signal usually sucks grandma's balls to listen to as you lay down a performance, as a creative space is what the talent needs to do their best work. The direct/mix knob on the iD4 is absolutely useless for this reason. I had the same on the Saffire 6 USB when I first returned to recording, and when I realized I could monitor the direct signal from within my DAW with reverb and whatever, I kicked myself in the ass for being such an ignoramus for like a year. It made such a huge difference. Live and learn. You probably can do the same in Live or whatever DAW you use now and not have to do what you are doing, listening to either the monitors or your headphones, but I don't remember what interface you are using now. Maybe I'm wrong and there is no dedicated headphone output.

Good luck with whatever you decide. You'll make the right decision, whatever it is.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Oct 4, 2016

Just so you guys know you can order the regular FEThead (which blocks phantom), the Pass through version (for condensors) and both can be ordered with a custom low roll off.

 

@Cav Emp I also have an SM7b like yourself. Did you end up getting the phantom powered FEThead or the other model? Just curious for clarification purposes.

 

They all require phantom power for the gain to work, but he should not have gotten the one that allows pass through since the SM7B is dynamic.

Basically these inline preamps add the circuitry of condenser microphones responsible for gain to a dynamic or ribbon.

 

Thanks for the info.

So then conversely, if i had a condenser mic i would need the pass through model.

 

Correct

By the way @Funk U I had a strangely hard time finding a reputable shop that sells the damn things. Retailers on Amazon want $150 for it. Couldn't find it on Sweetwater or Musiciansfriend. B&H was out of stock. Etc. etc. etc.

Eventually I stumbled across it at ZenProAudio
http://www.zenproaudio.com/triton-audio-fethead

Apparently they include a bag of coffee with their orders ... which is pretty neat, but less important than the fact that I placed my order at about 11 a.m. and had a shipping confirmation and tracking number within a couple hours. So far I'm impressed. As long as what shows up in the mail is actually a FEThead I think I've found my new gear shop. I never was a huge fan of sweetwater. That tech support they love to brag about has ignored me on multiple occasions and my orders never showed up in my account.

 

Last edited: Oct 5, 2016

@superliquidsunshine a balance of barebones features and optimal sound quality is kind of what I'm going for at the moment. The two headphone outputs are just so necessary for me and my bro to both listen. Without dedicating a long paragraph to it, I could not properly describe to you how crappy my current set up is for monitoring with two people. I'm not sure I understand what you mean about monitoring the direct signal from your DAW though. I mean I understand that just about every DAW has monitoring, but I have never been able to use it in any practical way. I just can't live with latency, is the problem. And even at 64 samples I can't get in-DAW monitoring to a manageable (lack of) latency to the point that I could record a fast rap verse without being distracted by it. If it's audible, it might as well be a slapback delay for all the good it does me.

And yeah, one mic input and one DI is fine for now. If I ever need two at once I guess I'll break the Mackie Blackjack back out, but I'm not counting on it. I have no plans to open my home studio to anyone else. The local talent can't afford my time anyway

As always, grateful to have your sage advice.

 

No, only if you have a condenser microphone that actually needs a ton of extra gain which are far and few between, for extraordinary long feed lines of which I would venture to say is probably not an issue for you, and finally if your mic preamp is not putting out enough clean dBs to get a -12dB level coming into your DAW. You will be fine in any other scenario.

 

Glad I could be helpful (except about the knob thing, I might have been off base there, but....)

I use FL Studio. I go through TotalMix software (for routing the RME hardware, Audient has their own version of routing software but I do not think so for the iD4 as it has no driver, so yes, the knob!) to monitor my direct signal from a mic or line level signal. When it hits the DAW I have a choice of what I want to hear, that original signal that I send a bit to an auxiliary effect channel so I can monitor with an effect such as reverb, or not (the aux. which of course is routed to the main output otherwise I wouldn't be able to hear the original or reverb affected source) or I can choose the signal as it comes through the main output with a small amount of latency, in which case I turn down the original signal in TotalMix so I don't hear both the original and the one going through the DAW, or otherwise I have a horrid phasey signal to monitor. The latency that is produced is really tiny and I have no problem with performance if I want to hear what I am doing with a compressor plug in on the channel as well as the hardware one coming after my preamp. I generally am running a small buffer and latency is of no real concern. However, if you stack lots of instruments and convolution reverbs and such and need to bump up the buffer, than yes, latency might become your not friend. If you have latency issues, try printing your tracks and then do your vocal takes, or vice versa. The iD4 isn't the most latency friendly box out there and although YMMV, you will most likely need to use a considerable buffer unless you print, commit your tracks as they come and with no great track counts with instruments and effects in real time. I've never used the iD4 but it probably isn't too far off from a friend's Scarlett in terms of performance with which I have. The iD22 looks sweet but I know it is more than you need, and if you can't find use for it's monitoring choices, expandibility or dedicated headphone mix, then I guess it's smaller sibling will be great tool. It sure is inexpensive enough!

 

Poor Cav....I'll trade you a multi headphone amp for the FEThead.... .If your output has enough drive you can use a cable to split a headphone out. Most will handle the impedance change without hearing that much difference in your cans. Depends on the power coming from the headphone out. That just takes the right cable, or a couple connectors, some wire, and some soldering. I've had my Presonus for several years now. Versatile interface. No latency in the monitoring, and you have more than one monitor mix if you want it. (I use different EQ on different headphones and save everything as a labeled preset "scene".)

 

Yeah this is the real bummer - generally I bounce the beat from Live into Studio One and then record on a clean project. Still too much latency to be useful. So direct monitoring has been my friend. And believe me, for double time rapping there is no other way. I got the iD4 in the mail today. The difference in playback clarity is pretty noticeable. I guess converters actually do make a difference - so I stand corrected on a stupid contrarian argument I'd been making to the chagrin of everyone who knows anything about hardware.

The decision on whether to keep it or spring for something a little more upscale will be made after I have the FEThead, which is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Currently the mic is of course very quiet and I have to tip the direct/DAW mix too far to the input side to get the headphone mix as loud as I would like. However, for whatever reason, the direct monitoring sounds way better than it did on my Mackie Blackjack and of course it's much easier to control the balance, whereas on the blackjack I was turning my DAW's master fader way down and my headphones way up so I can hear the input monitoring (and a fuckton of noise). Fortunately the iD4 does have a driver, just not a fancy one with a bunch of options and a software mixing interface. No different from anything I've been doing though, so I can live with that. Latency is a tad better than it was with the Blackjack. I'm finding that the biggest headache is, as you pointed out, the lack of an independent headphone gain knob. However, it's a welcome trade for the ability to use a second set of headphones instead of jerry rigging headphone cable into a monitor output and leaving it halfway out of the jack for some unbalanced mono-ization .

@rhythmatist sorry friend, that ship has sailed. I have two headphone jacks and now you're stuck without a FEThead

 

I can't wait to hear your reaction when you first hear your new SM7B coming through your headphones. That FEThead should improve your quality of life a few notches. Gainstaging is fun.

And now you know that converters can make a difference. The gap between the "best and the lowliest" isn't quite what it once was but is discernable.The better your monitoring the more one can appreciate those differences. On a creative level and of course speaking only for myself, even though the vast majority of people listen to music on shifty headphones, earbuds, computer speakers or other chum of the audio experience, the ability of recordists to capture a high quality signal is still super important on a personal level if one feels it helps make better creative decisions. Also, these days spending 10X more cash chasing your defination of perfection definitely does not bring 10X a greater return, not even close. Enjoy your new tools and have fun.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Oct 7, 2016

Actually I don't expect the FETheads to be better than my best Mic preamp plus good cables, I rather consider them a compact and useful addon for battery-powered devices that don't have low-noise preamps but phantom power. I'll know more soon.

 

It is not a matter of better or worse. Your best preamp, the one you love more than your girlfriend (stupid analogy) might just push 60db of gain which can be problematic in a working scenario...

If you have preamps that can push 70db of gain, then yes, you are probably good to go when using an RE-20, SM7b, other hungry dynamic mics and for most but not all passive ribbons. You also need to remember that ribbons lust for something like four or five times higher input impedance than they are rated so as not to damper the ribbon, in this sense restricting the actual movement of the ribbon which will require still more gain to boost the signal which will introduce still more noise which will show up later down the line when and if you add compression as well as any other hardware/software (equalizers come to mind, boosting the highs to let the sweet sun shine in as ribbons classically attenuate the high end) that you introduce to the signal path. AEA and others offer high impedence, high gain preamps for this very reason. And while a fine low resistance cable will possibly create a brighter signal that will add to the "crispness" of the signal at the output stage, it still might just be a matter of personal taste and might or might not be the best choice for the application at hand (overheads or on cymbals where taming sizzle might come in handy). But to sum it up, a passive FEThead or Cloudlifter are not replacements for a mic preamp as they do not create dBs to drive a microphone, but rather they can be a fine and necessary tool to help us keep extraneous noise down in the signal path and to enable our high end dynamic microphones to sound as great as they can possibly be while capturing quieter sources such as vocals and acoustic guitars.