£269, shure.com
Shure is again with a brand new model of its hybrid USB/XLR microphone, the MV7+. We examined the unique MV7 in 2021, praising it for its vastfeaturesey and a sound high quality approaching that of the revered SM7B, from which the MV7 will get its styling ideas.
What’s new with the Shure MV7+?
Onboard sign processing expands on the present EQ, compression, limiting and auto-gain capabilities to incorporate reverb and a denoiser. Contact controls (which have been fiddly on the MV7) have been pared all the way down to solely management muting, with the contact show beneath monitoring incoming audio in a pulsing, vibrant means.
Shure has additionally tweaked the look and sound. A 1.5cm-longer foam windscreen gives much more of an SM7B resemblance. In the meantime, the uncooked sound from the seize is smoother than ever with a contoured high-mid vary that’s much less fatiguing than rivals like RØDE’s PodMic USB.
Shure MV7+
Identical to the unique MV7, the mic acts as an audio interface in USB mode, with a high quality headphone amp on faucet. The USB-C connectivity is helpful for contemporary laptops, however customers with solely USB-A would possibly want a powered hub to feed the MV7+ sufficient voltage.
USB and XLR alerts may be captured concurrently, though DSP is utilized to the USB stream solely.
What’s the Shure MV7+ like to make use of?
We love the sound of the MV7 and Shure’s revoicing of the MV7+ makes us smile much more. It’s not fairly an SM7B nevertheless it’s the closest you may get with the comfort of USB connectivity. Muting is straightforward and we welcome the colorful show meter of the dwell sign as a classy addition.
For voiceover work, we tilt the EQ in the direction of the darker finish for a clean outcome that thickens the voice with flattering proximity with out making it sound boring.
There’s, nevertheless, noticeable latency, significantly when the headphone degree is low. Our PodMic USB will get far nearer to ‘zero-latency’ monitoring even with DSP enabled, however maybe that is the pay-off for Shure doing smarter issues beneath the hood. For those who like to watch loud otherwise you’re much less delicate to latency, then it won’t be a difficulty.
Speaking of sensible options, the brand new denoiser is a surprise. Far much less uneven than a standard noise gate, it effortlessly removes preamp hiss and ambient noise with out getting in the way in which or being perceived as uncomfortable part trickery. And there’s no balancing act with thresholds, or complicated assault and launch controls. For capturing the spoken phrase with minimal room noise or hiss, you’d battle to do higher. In truth, getting reacquainted with the PodMic USB’s noise gate after spending time with the MV7+ looks like a primitive step backward.
Shure MV7+
However that every one falls half when utilizing the brand new desktop software program — MOTIV Combine — which controls the mic and presents routing and recording performance. Nonetheless in beta, it’s clearly unfinished. Sure, in a couple of clicks you possibly can entry virtually the entire DSP settings, together with customising the colors of the LED meters, nevertheless, there at present appears to be no approach to save settings through a consumer preset (or choose any useful ‘starter’ presets for various functions). Recording high quality and recording paths can’t at present be modified in MOTIV Combine. On a brighter be aware, the mic does retain its last-used settings.
Engaged on iOS, the tried-and-tested MOTIV Audio app permits faster entry to settings however can’t entry LED color settings. It can save you consumer presets although — hooray — however Shure should make each variations of the software program function in the identical means.
Disappointing too are the reverb presets on the MV7+. These are all dense, mono and have decay occasions within the vary of a number of seconds. We don’t anticipate onboard reverbs to sound oustanding, however a minimum of with atmosphere or smaller room settings you possibly can extra simply tuck the reverb in behind what you’re recording.
Ought to I purchase the Shure MV7+?
Shure reassures us that software program updates are on their means, however for the meantime, if you must customise recording high quality or want to save presets on a desktop app, then you definately’re out of luck.
Shure MV7+
If that doesn’t hassle you otherwise you’re completely happy to attend for them, then this mic is an actual winner. It appears to be like and sounds nice and almost all of the DSP capabilities are genuinely helpful for a bunch of functions, be it podcasting, music recording or on-line conferences, with the brand new denoiser being the stand-out function that’s absolutely set to turn out to be indispensable for a lot of a workflow..
The MV7+ ought to be incomes its rightful place as one of many best-sounding, most versatile USB mics obtainable at any value. It’s only a disgrace it isn’t but prepared for prime time.
Shure MV7+ key options
Hybrid USB-C/XLR dynamic microphone with onboard audio interfaceRecording qualities as much as 24-bit/48 kHzAvailable in black and white3.5mm headphone socketFoam windscreen/pop shieldIntegral yoke/standmountBuilt-in DSP with auto-gain, compressor, limiter, tilt EQ, denoiser, pop stopper and reverbCustomisable color meter displayTouch management mutingMOTIV Combine desktop software program / ??? MobileIncludes USB-C cable
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