In subjective tests, the DM1 seemed quiet and clean, delivering plenty of gain for low-output passive ribbon mics, but after a few practical tests such as this, we decided that Hugh should introduce the DM1 to his Audio Precision test set, to see just how good it is on a technical level. This site and third party services use cookies to provide you with the best user experience and deliver offers that are relevant to you. Cloudlifter is known to power the ribbon and dynamic mics and you won’t have to install a USB interface.

Offering +25db of clean gain, the Cloudlifter is not only portable but ruggedly built to cope with the demands of regular use in the studio or on location. How did these two products come to be the go-to for anyone looking to boost the mic level, and why do some people pay more for the Cloudlifter? FetHead Phantom is also an indispensable toolfor mobile recording and a real upgrade for camera microphone preamps, because it lowers the noise floor.

A Cloudlifter (or alternative mic activator) is necessary if you’re using a low sensitivity dynamic or ribbon microphone and the preamps of your mixer/audio interface don’t provide the gain needed to bring your microphone up to the required level. All of our products are new unless stated and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 3-year warranty as standard. The TritonAudio FetHead is a low-noise, Class A JFET amplifier – characteristics which will appeal to the experts.

You should get an instant answer on whether your application has been successful, though in some rare cases Klarna or V12 may need to look at the application in more detail. As previously mentioned, it is also useful for raising the signal level of passive ribbon microphones, and, more generally, for limiting the amount of hiss certain preamps might produce above a certain threshold, by providing a “free” transparent boost. Your Fethead Phantom will latch straight onto any XLR equipped microphone, or anywhere else in the signal path between microphone and preamp/mixer.I tried a few different mic activators/preamps: The Triton Audio Fethead, sE Electronics Dynamite DM-1 and the Cloudlifter CL-1.

The contents of this article are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, whether mechanical or electronic, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. All of them had good reviews and what I also noticed was that some of them were directly connecting to the microphone, which means that I wouldn’t need extra XLR cable like with Cloudlifter, which is an external box. I’m always on the lookout for a bargain and a discount, so I thought to myself ‘ I’m sure there are alternatives,’ but the thing is, I’ve never checked and always defaulted to Cloudlifter. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent.Despite having a name that is reminiscent of an energy drink, McBoost delivers a robust boost with impeccable presentation. In addition to providing useful gain when you need it, the buffered circuity also makes the sE DM1 a practical choice when feeding long cable runs. This may be a blessing or a curse, as the highs are where both sibilance and presence resides, however with the right EQ this is a relatively quick fix if needs be.

That’s not just my opinion; many people who were starting their streaming channels or podcasts grabbed a Blue Mic (Yeti or Snowball) or a similar USB microphone. While you can argue the need for it in the studio, there is no doubt that the output impedance of 220 Ohms outperforms the Cloudlifter’s 3 k output by a significant margin.For the sake of a fair experiment, the variable element will be the activator, and the controls will be the interface (Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2 nd gen) and our microphone of choice (Rode Procaster which does really benefit from the boost of a device like these). Whether you’re making music, podcasts, or video recordings, having reliable gear you can trust is key. For more information on how the unit utilizes phantom power, see our article Does a Cloudlifter Need Phantom Power?