My buddy is looking for an inexpensive audio interface to lay down some basic tracks with his Shure SM7B mic.

When using the SM7B Shure recommends a preamp with a minimum of 60 dB of gain:

https://www.shure.com/americas/suppo...specifications

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is not an option because the mic input is only rated at 50 dB of gain:

https://focusrite.com/usb-audio-inte...t/scarlett-2i2

(My friend doesn't want to use a $180 Cloudlifter, which will cost more than the audio interface itself!)

The Mackie Onyx Artist and PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 look like they might fit the bill. However, I can't seem to find any info on the mic gain.

Does anyone know the mic gain specs for the Mackie Onyx Artist and PreSonus Audiobox USB 96?

Thanks in advance...

I see that the Tascam US 2X2 has 57 dB of gain, which should be enough for the SM7B:

https://tascam.com/us/product/us-2x2/top

Is anyone here using an SM7B with a Tascam US 2X2--without a Cloudlifter?

I run a 6 channel Tascam US-1200 which is from the same series and has nearly identical specs. I suspect the gain being lower on the 2X2 is because its USB powered.

The 1200 gets 68dB on each mic channel and uses Burr Brown preamps which are very good and extremely quiet throughout 90 of their range but the hiss ramps up and becomes quite noticeable in the last 5% of the gain knobs range. If you use it with something like a SM7, you'd be right on the edge of its maximum gain range and have very little flexibility using an old mic design like an SM7. You'd need to keep within 4 inches of the mic and you'd no doubt have to normalize the tracks up in volume. I do this successfully using a ribbon mic but I don't have a whole lot of gain in the headphones tracking. Someone new to recording? Good luck with that.

Personally spending over $400 on a mic and pairing it with a cheap assed interface is bass ackwards. I've checked all the 2 channel interfaces out there, and most of the 2 channel budget interfaces come up short for running something like an SM7b. Even the higher end UA Apollo series only produce 65dB gain. You'd be better off spending more on the interface/preamp and getting a moderately priced condenser.

There was one exception I came across, and I cant verify how well they work first hand because I've only used their mixers, which aren't bad.
The Mackie Onyx series specs say they have a mic gain of 100 DBFS, which is peak gain. If you use the conversion factor multiplying it by 70.7 to get the RMS level that should put you in the 70dB range. I simply cant tell you how noisy the preamp gets when you begin to push it over 3/4 of max where most preamps begin to hiss. I suspect it will work fine for the task, but maybe you can google up so reviews and get more details.

The SM7B was designed back when studios were all analog and you'd be using a great external preamp of mixing console to drive them. Most of your low end interfaces have preamps that target you budget condenser mics and in fact can sound far better then an SM7 can sound if hasn't got the proper gain levels to make it sound good. Typically you'd pair that SM7 with a $2000-3000 preamp and then you'd start to hear that thing take on some nice tones. You wont get jack from it making the same mistake of thousands thinking they can go cheap on the preamp and wind up slapping an in line preamp as a band aid. You'd be far better off matching a cheap interface with a condenser mic, any condenser because they have a built in preamp and don't need allot of gain to make them sound great.

Triton Fethead is a more budget minded inline preamp that essentially does about the same as a CL. I have the Fethead that I use for an SM7b and an inexpensive ribbon mic. The Fethead has a 10kohm input impedance which helps the high end response a bit. I like that it mounts on the back of the SM7b directly so as to not use an added cable.
There are also other budget options to the CL.

Two Canadian retailers I looked at were out of stock.
https://www.long-mcquade.com/101670/...icrophones.htm
https://www.axemusic.com/101670/Pro-...icrophones.htm

Yes, the Mackie Onyx Producer 2-2 looks like a good budget interface.

This review claims the Mackie Onyx Producer offers 55 dB of gain, but I couldn't confirm that number anywhere else:

https://www.harmonycentral.com/exper...midi-interface

It's annoying to have to hunt for these specs like they were state secrets...

This may be a hint regarding the Mackie Onyx Producer and an SM7b....

"With gain maxed out, it sounds okay but noisy as maxed-out pots tend to be. So I spilled another buck-fifty and ordered the Cloudlifter I probably should have purchased at the same time as the Shure mic. (but I was using a dbx 286 so didn't need it)"
Mackie Onyx Producer as DAC

I would believe 55dB gain figure cited from the Harmony Central review would be pretty close to correct. Most budget interfaces seem geared towards a condenser mic which only needs moderate gain requirements

Under $700, all interfaces are about the same sonic quality these days.

Perhaps I shouldn't rely too heavily on those gain figures then. It appears that the gain on most of these budget interfaces can't be turned up past 80-to-90 percent of maximum without excessive noise.

My friend already has an SM7B and would like to get an audio interface without spending more on a Cloudlifter device. If he can't get a budget interface then what's the least expensive interface he can get that will support the SM7B?

Perhaps the Audient ID4 with 58 dB of clean gain would be a better choice?

https://audient.com/products/audio-i...d4/tech-specs/

https://www.amazon.ca/Behringer-UMC2.../dp/B00QHURUBE
https://www.amazon.ca/Triton-Audio-F...sr=1-1-catcorr

$240(CA)

I just connected up my SM7b >> FetHead >> Behringer UMC404HD. Only needed the gain pot at about 12 o'clock to get decent levels in Reaper. Without the Fethead gain was maxxed and just a bit noisy. Behringer does have a couple cheaper interfaces which would work similarly, but they only a single mic input

https://www.amazon.ca/Behringer-UMC2...ruments&sr=1-1

The Motu m2 ($170) is a great option for the sm7b

offers 60DB of gain, and has a sweet loopback feature, great for online interviews or streaming sounds/music into recording