Episode 94
Microphone Battle: Shure SM7B vs Electro-Voice RE20
As a content creator and producer in the podcasting space, I am always on the hunt for the best microphones to make my voice and our client’s voices sound super fancy.
There are two heavyweights in the podcast industry that I was eager to pin against each other in a battle to the death.
Well, maybe not death. No microphones were harmed in the making of this episode.
Introducing into the ring, the Electro-Voice RE20 and the Shure SM7B. Both microphones are similar in cost (around AU$800) and they are probably the microphones that you see used the most in podcasting and radio.
But are they the best?
Who is the winner?
Would I even choose one of these microphones for my clients or our personal podcasting projects?
In this battle, I aimed to compare the audio quality, sibilance, plosives, suitability for vocalists and overall sound. I also had our Lead Videographer and Designer, Alex join me so that we could hear how these microphones performed with both male and female voices.
Choosing the right microphone for podcasting is a personal decision that depends on individual preferences, recording environments, and vocal characteristics. As always, these opinions are my own and are based on the tests I’ve performed with my voice.
This particular battle was conducted at a high-end studio in a controlled environment, so it’s important to be aware that if your studio setup is different, the results will vary.
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Transcript
I'm doing a battle today on the podcast
Speaker:between two microphones that are very
Speaker:well known in the podcasting space.
Speaker:It's not one of the ones
Speaker:I'm using right now.
Speaker:Right now I'm using the
Speaker:SEDCM8 and I'm in my studio.
Speaker:But when I recorded this episode,
Speaker:I was actually at the Gasworks
Speaker:studio here in Fortitude Valley.
Speaker:And if you want to see what that
Speaker:looks like, then you can totally go
Speaker:to our YouTube channel and check out
Speaker:the actual video version of this.
Speaker:So for the context here, uh, anytime
Speaker:I'm just talking, you'll be hearing it
Speaker:through the SM7B microphone, and I will
Speaker:make references to the points where I
Speaker:actually am using the, electro voice.
Speaker:Uh, E 20 so that you can
Speaker:hear the differences here.
Speaker:I hope you enjoy this.
Speaker:I think it's really cool to not
Speaker:even seeing what I'm doing and just
Speaker:be listening to the microphones.
Speaker:It gives you the best indication
Speaker:as to how they really sound.
Speaker:And if you're in a car, even
Speaker:better because the SM7B does handle
Speaker:car noise a little bit better.
Speaker:Differently.
Speaker:It has a few frequency
Speaker:issues that I don't love.
Speaker:So yeah, it would be interesting for
Speaker:you to hear that and see what you think.
Speaker:We'd love your comments on what you
Speaker:think the best podcast microphone is
Speaker:between these two and I hope you enjoy.
Speaker:Today we have a battle
Speaker:between the shore SM seven B.
Speaker:This is the microphone that you see
Speaker:absolutely everywhere, and we are
Speaker:also doing the electro voice re 20.
Speaker:These microphones are
Speaker:very similar in cost.
Speaker:We've got the re 20 here,
Speaker:that's, it's normally about
Speaker:a hundred dollars ish more.
Speaker:Then the Shure SM7B, we're
Speaker:looking at a price in Australian
Speaker:dollars at around 800 to 900,
Speaker:depending on where you're looking.
Speaker:This is for podcasting specifically
Speaker:that I'm testing these microphones.
Speaker:You will see.
Speaker:The RE 20 in more of a radio setting.
Speaker:I've definitely seen this
Speaker:on sort of radio stations.
Speaker:and then you see the
Speaker:SM 7B pretty much it.
Speaker:Everywhere.
Speaker:This microphone has been around
Speaker:for, oh God, I don't know,
Speaker:maybe 20 years, very long time.
Speaker:And it is what people would
Speaker:say the industry standard
Speaker:for podcasting at this time.
Speaker:And so I wanted to battle these two,
Speaker:because I feel like they are actually
Speaker:pretty close competitors in price point,
Speaker:but also in what people use them for.
Speaker:What I'm going to do is I'm going to test
Speaker:how they sound, how the sibilance sounds.
Speaker:So, sibilance, meaning how much of that
Speaker:sound that you hear when you talk, and
Speaker:different people have varying degrees of
Speaker:sibilance in their actual voices as well.
Speaker:So, depending on how you speak, sometimes
Speaker:if you have more, if you use more of
Speaker:your teeth, When you're talking, uh, the
Speaker:breath going through the teeth will mean
Speaker:that you actually have more sibilance.
Speaker:And also, you may have more or less
Speaker:sibilance depending on what side of your
Speaker:mouth you actually speak out of more.
Speaker:Yes, there is a side of your
Speaker:mouth that you speak out of.
Speaker:And so, as you move your head around
Speaker:a microphone, you can actually
Speaker:start to hear what's going on.
Speaker:where your voice sounds the best and
Speaker:where your sibilance is the least.
Speaker:So sibilance is also something that
Speaker:you can manage in post production.
Speaker:There are like, plugins that you
Speaker:can get to reduce your sibilance.
Speaker:You can also adjust it using EQ
Speaker:settings, and I may do a separate
Speaker:video on just how to manage
Speaker:sibilance as well for that purpose.
Speaker:But for right now, what I'm going to do
Speaker:is I'm just going to say the same phrase.
Speaker:And we're going to switch
Speaker:between these two microphones.
Speaker:I'm going to focus my attention
Speaker:on each mic as I go so that you
Speaker:can hear how the sibilance goes.
Speaker:Judge for yourself what you think there.
Speaker:And then I'll give my
Speaker:recommendation at the end.
Speaker:Electro voice RE20.
Speaker:If Moses supposes his toes are roses,
Speaker:then Moses supposes erroneously.
Speaker:That's front on.
Speaker:Now I'm going to go off axis.
Speaker:If Moses supposes his toes are roses,
Speaker:then Moses supposes erroneously.
Speaker:Sure, SM7B.
Speaker:If Moses supposes his toes are roses,
Speaker:then Moses supposes erroneously.
Speaker:If Moses supposes his toes are roses,
Speaker:then Moses supposes erroneously.
Speaker:Now, we're going to do a test
Speaker:where I do a popping sound test.
Speaker:The RE 20 does not have a pop
Speaker:filter that is appropriate.
Speaker:When I tried it without a pop
Speaker:filter at all, I was not happy
Speaker:with the amount of popping.
Speaker:And I will show you that.
Speaker:Electro voice RE20.
Speaker:Popping the popcorn and
Speaker:sizzling the sausages.
Speaker:And off axis.
Speaker:Popping the popcorn and
Speaker:sizzling the sausages.
Speaker:Now without the pop filter.
Speaker:Popping the popcorn and
Speaker:sizzling the sausages.
Speaker:Popping the popcorn and
Speaker:sizzling the sausages.
Speaker:Sure, SM7B.
Speaker:Popping the popcorn and
Speaker:sizzling the sausages.
Speaker:Popping the popcorn and
Speaker:sizzling the sausages.
Speaker:Now the SM7B, this has got
Speaker:the biggest foam on it here.
Speaker:There is actually another foam that
Speaker:is a smaller amount of pop filter
Speaker:that is probably the one that you see
Speaker:more regularly on this microphone.
Speaker:I'm using the big poppy one for
Speaker:the moment, the big filter on this.
Speaker:Next up, we're going
Speaker:to do a singing test.
Speaker:Electro voice RE20.
Speaker:Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high.
Speaker:There's a land that I heard of once.
Speaker:In a lullaby.
Speaker:Sure, SM7B.
Speaker:Somewhere over the rainbow,
Speaker:Way up high, now, we're gonna
Speaker:try and see how it sounds.
Speaker:If I sing up into my higher
Speaker:register with a lot of breath
Speaker:Electro voice RE20.
Speaker:sound, I wish upon a star and wake
Speaker:up where the stars are far behind me.
Speaker:Sure, SM7B.
Speaker:Someday I'll wish upon a star And wake
Speaker:up where the stars are far behind me
Speaker:So now we've done the singing test.
Speaker:So now we're going to get Alex
Speaker:in here, who has a lovely male
Speaker:voice, and he is going to tell
Speaker:you what he had for breakfast.
Speaker:RE20.
Speaker:This morning I had some porridge
Speaker:cooked by my lovely partner Brianna,
Speaker:whom you would have just seen on
Speaker:camera, topped with some homemade
Speaker:granola, frozen blueberries, banana,
Speaker:and then a drizzle of peanut butter.
Speaker:Now over to the 7B.
Speaker:I had some porridge this morning with
Speaker:some homemade granola, blueberries, some
Speaker:peanut butter, and it, uh, was delicious.
Speaker:Thank you very much.
Speaker:What a fun time.
Speaker:That sounds like a delicious breakfast.
Speaker:Someone who is really
Speaker:awesome must have made that.
Speaker:Now I'm going to give you my thoughts on
Speaker:these microphones to end off the battle.
Speaker:Who do you think?
Speaker:I'm going to crown the winner.
Speaker:Let's get into it.
Speaker:Let's start with the RE20.
Speaker:So the RE20 is a very high pitch,
Speaker:frequency, flat sort of sound for me.
Speaker:It has a lot more
Speaker:sibilance than the SM7B.
Speaker:It is definitely suited to someone who
Speaker:has a lot of depth actually in their
Speaker:voice, just on their own, who doesn't
Speaker:need a lot of help in that space
Speaker:because it's not going to give you much.
Speaker:Now I'm recording this completely flat,
Speaker:so as in there is no post production.
Speaker:All we will do here is a little bit of
Speaker:boosting to get the levels the same.
Speaker:So both of these microphones are being
Speaker:recorded into a John Hardy M2 preamp.
Speaker:We have the RE 20 set at a gain of 52 dB.
Speaker:And we have the SM7B
Speaker:set at a gain of 57 dB.
Speaker:So both of these microphones require
Speaker:quite a lot of gain to get them
Speaker:to a level that feels really good.
Speaker:That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Speaker:It's just that if you have a preamp
Speaker:that isn't the best, uh, then
Speaker:it means that sometimes even the
Speaker:preamp can't give you enough gain.
Speaker:It can't get you the gain that you
Speaker:need to power, to support, uh, such
Speaker:a hefty gain heavy, microphone.
Speaker:So you will need something
Speaker:to help boost that.
Speaker:Now, SE makes a booster called the
Speaker:Dynamite, and you can get that to help
Speaker:your preamp get the boost that you need.
Speaker:The SM7B has also come out with a
Speaker:new model, the SM7DB, Which actually
Speaker:includes what is essentially an SE
Speaker:dynamite inside of it, so that you don't
Speaker:need that extra boost outside because
Speaker:it's within the microphone itself.
Speaker:RE doesn't have that, and,
Speaker:it's still going to require
Speaker:quite a lot of gain management.
Speaker:in your preamp.
Speaker:So just be aware of that.
Speaker:If you're looking at buying a kind of
Speaker:higher end microphone like this, you
Speaker:need to make sure that the preamp that
Speaker:you have can support that much gain can
Speaker:get you what you actually need from it.
Speaker:If you have a Rodecaster Pro 2 or a
Speaker:Rodecaster Duo, if you have a Rode
Speaker:Streamer X, any of those will give
Speaker:you enough gain because they have
Speaker:Apex processing within the actual amp.
Speaker:amp that is in those systems,
Speaker:so that will be okay.
Speaker:But if you have something like a
Speaker:Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, or something
Speaker:that isn't a preamp that has a lot
Speaker:of gain in built, then you will
Speaker:need some form of boost to actually
Speaker:get you what you need from there.
Speaker:So same for if you were recording
Speaker:straight into the camera, you
Speaker:would not be using the preamp.
Speaker:boost levels that are on the camera
Speaker:because you're just nowhere near
Speaker:going to get what you actually need.
Speaker:So be aware of that.
Speaker:Even though these microphones
Speaker:are expensive, they are very
Speaker:gain hungry, which means you're
Speaker:going to have to negotiate that.
Speaker:Now, as far as what I like the sound
Speaker:of about the RE20 is I do like that it
Speaker:does have a nice kind of sparkle to it.
Speaker:It gives it a bit more clarity
Speaker:and a little bit more of that.
Speaker:You can hear what they're saying quite
Speaker:well, quite easily within the RE20.
Speaker:But I do find that it
Speaker:feels a bit flat for me.
Speaker:It doesn't have a lot of depth.
Speaker:It doesn't have much
Speaker:body in the bottom end.
Speaker:and it just feels a bit
Speaker:boring to me as a microphone.
Speaker:So I don't love the sound of this.
Speaker:I wouldn't buy this microphone myself.
Speaker:For my voice, because I don't think
Speaker:that it's, it's going to cut it.
Speaker:And also it does have
Speaker:quite a lot of sibilance.
Speaker:If you can hear even when I say
Speaker:the word sibilance, there's quite
Speaker:a lot there that needs managing.
Speaker:And from a, uh, EQ point of view, that's
Speaker:going to take me too long to get the
Speaker:sound that I actually want out of it.
Speaker:Now, if we move over to the Shure SM7B,
Speaker:I also don't love this microphone.
Speaker:So it's hard for me to pick a winner,
Speaker:but the SM seven B, if you can hear,
Speaker:it's got warmth, it's got depth,
Speaker:but I think it's got too much depth.
Speaker:It makes me sound too woo like,
Speaker:too, uh, I don't, it's like
Speaker:so hard to even describe the
Speaker:point that is sticking with me.
Speaker:It's good on access.
Speaker:And off axis, it's got a
Speaker:decent proximity effect.
Speaker:So as in, if you get closer to
Speaker:it, it still sounds pretty good.
Speaker:If you get further
Speaker:away, that's still okay.
Speaker:So the gain kind of aspects within
Speaker:this microphone, make it possible
Speaker:for you to be a little bit further
Speaker:away and it still sounds pretty good.
Speaker:Um, It doesn't have a lot in the
Speaker:high end that I like for my voice.
Speaker:It gives me more warmth than the RE20.
Speaker:And if I had to choose between the two,
Speaker:based off of this comparison, I'd have
Speaker:to go with the Shure SM7B because it
Speaker:gives me a little bit more, body and
Speaker:it feels more like my voice than the.
Speaker:RE20 does.
Speaker:So if you're looking for a comparison,
Speaker:if you're looking to buy one of these
Speaker:two microphones, then my pick for
Speaker:me as a vocalist, as a singer, as a
Speaker:female, I would say that this one wins.
Speaker:This one performs a little bit better
Speaker:from a singing standpoint as well.
Speaker:For my voice, I think this one
Speaker:gave me a little bit too much, just
Speaker:sparkliness, but no body, not enough
Speaker:in my sort of bottom end, uh, for
Speaker:when I was singing into it as well.
Speaker:So SM7B wins for me on this battle.
Speaker:They're pretty much the same price.
Speaker:You're going to need to manage your gain.
Speaker:Be aware of that.
Speaker:Make sure that you have a
Speaker:preamp that can handle it.
Speaker:And if you've got any comments,
Speaker:I would love to hear them.
Speaker:What do you think?
Speaker:What is your favorite for
Speaker:my voice, for Alex's voice?
Speaker:Who would you pick as the
Speaker:winner and give me some reason
Speaker:why, why would you do that?
Speaker:I would love to know.
Speaker:I've also got a video that
Speaker:puts the SM7B up against.
Speaker:The fake SM7B.
Speaker:That's gonna be an interesting
Speaker:one, so make sure you check it out.
