Shure SM7B

[David3560 (David W. Reynolds)]

After being on a Campfire Call today (April 22, 2025) , I came across a note that reminded me of the wealth of expertise available here.

I’ve been trying to up my game a bit with the sound quality of my podcast episodes and I still have a lot to learn. I searched and read some discussions here in PC and as I didn’t find exactly what I was seeking, I am tossing two questions out to this tribe.

My mic is a Shure SM7B, a very good mic, yet I have not experimented with it as much as I should. Even with dozens of episodes completed, I find that I end up sticking with what I already know (not a lot, technically speaking, as most of my knowledge is process-based). Then I’ll decide to chase a topic in a thread (here or elsewhere) and when it seems like I’ve happened across yet another topic that could help me, I’ll dwell there a bit and occasionally make some changes. This post is about one or two of those potential shifts.

I am going to test these scenarios first and I really want to hear what you have to say, fellow podcasters.

Item 1: Shure mic settings - physical switches
I am going to capture 20 seconds of audio, reading the same content, with each of the four combinations below and after checking sound on playback, decide how to adjust the settings.
There are switches on the back of the mic. Bass Roll Off and Presence Boost .
Bass Roll Off starts ~300 Hz
Presence Boost works on all vocal audio in the 700Hz -7000Hz range (which may be a bit too broad)

1. Left up, right down – Bass Roll Off not activated (OFF), Presence Boost not activated (ON) [factory settings)
2. Left up, right up – Bass Roll Off not activated (OFF), Presence Boost activated (ON)
3. Left down, right up – Bass Roll Off activated (ON), Presence Boost activated (ON)
4. Left down, right down – Bass Roll Off activated (ON), Presence Boost not activated (ON)

These are all destructive filters, meaning you can never recover the original ranges of audio if these filters are ON. You will be able to do some correction post-production, but not a lot.

This is how I think I understand these mic switches and what they do.

What are your thoughts on these settings? (I know some of it depends on the vocal range of each person speaking.)

This might not seem like a very sophisticated question and/or one that I should already know the answer to, but “good enough” has been good enough at factory setting yet I wonder if a change could move “good enough” to “even better.”

Item 2: Shure mic “where”?
This question is about physical mic setup. Location, angle, distance from mouth, etc. Talk across it, down into it, mic below mouth, mic above, etc.
I vividly recall lots of practice during The Podcasting Fellowship, yet I once again settled into “good enough” and then relied (rely) on some post-production to edit it to “good enough+” - or so I think. My speaking voice is not the strongest or clearest and I am actually working again on some breathing and speaking tips from a recent Seth G post, but I still want to hear from all of the experts here regarding mic location and orientation.

Thank you, in advance, for any insights and tips you are willing to share.

[craigconstantine]

@David3560

What are your thoughts on these settings? (I know some of it depends on the vocal range of each person speaking.)

My first instinct would be to not enable either, and record raw. My thinking is a proper audio editor would be able to filter out anything down in sub-300hz range, and boosting the mid-range might change the sound of my voice.

…which leads to my next instinct: do exactly what you suggest and test all four combinations of setting on my own voice to see if I can hear the difference.

@David3560

Item 2: Shure mic “where”?
This question is about physical mic setup. Location, angle, distance from mouth, etc. Talk across it, down into it, mic below mouth, mic above, etc.

I’m a fan of (as everyone has seen over the years) mic just above my mouth. I do this to reduce the plosives striking the mic—the SM58s I use are very sensitive to plosives. The SM7B is very un-sensitive to plosives though, so you should be able to ignore plosives in your search for position.

The next layer is then about what does the mic really pick up when presented with a human voice. By far, the greatest thing I have ever read about recording the human voice is this article…

https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/facts-about-speech-intelligibility

(From a 5-year-old blog post, if you also want to see my comments, https://constantine.name/2020/09/30/microphones-and-the-human-voice/.)

I read through all of that carefully, and came away with: Place the mic 45° above, pointing down towards my mouth (and within 45° left-right of center) is best.

[steveh (Steve Heatherington)]

@David3560

Item 1: Shure mic settings - physical switches

Hi David, I would agree with @craigconstantine on going for neutral as a starting place but also experiment a bit once you know how to get back to ‘normal’.

The SM7B manual suggests this for a flat response

Mic position - I go for a hands breadth (about 4 inches) and also have it offset and angle it towards the corner of my mouth so breath from speech misses the mic capsule to avoid plosives. If you are too close, other mouth noises and essing will start to interfere. More experiments until you find a sound you can live with.

Fix it in post is always an option, but often I can make it different, though not necessarily better. Keep noise and unwanted stuff out of the recording as much as possible. The software you use will determine how easy and reproducible any fixes are, but that feels like another conversation.

Some videos I use in the Podcasting Workshop - in case they help answer some of your questions.

Recording - Overview

Recording - overview

Recording - Mouth

Recording - mouth

Recording - microphone

Recording - microphone

Hope that helps - shout if you need more or different @David3560

[Jey (Jey Jeyendran)]

Hey David

It was great catching up at the campfire. You’ve just become the first guest on my Fed Up Podcast, we joked about starting!

I researched the SM7B for a review I wrote a while back, so I had this information on file. I’m glad to share my take on this.

The SM7B is wonderfully forgiving, and a few minor tweaks can turn “good enough” into broadcast-grade.

Understanding the two rear-panel switches

Left switch	Right switch	What happens	Typical use-case
Up (flat)	Down (flat)	Factory default—full bandwidth	Start here for all tests
Down	Down	Bass-roll-off: gentle –3 dB around 200 Hz, tapering below 100 Hz	Tames proximity boom, HVAC rumbles, or chesty voices
Up	Up	Presence boost: +3 dB around 2–4 kHz	Adds articulation for darker voices or when your mix feels “muffled”
Down	Up	Both filters	A quick “broadcast” curve—great when you’re close-miking and still need clarity

As you mention, changing the settings is a “destructive” process, meaning you can’t restore what you’ve cut.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing because turning on the mic’s “brightness” switch right when you record is usually cleaner than raising those frequencies later on your computer. The mic makes just your voice a little louder before any background hiss sneaks in, onto the tape, so you’re turning up your voice, not the noise.

Testing Process (for the truly obsessed!)

1. Record your 20-second paragraph four times (one for each switch setting).
2. Level-match the takes (the roll-off will lower RMS level slightly (i.e., turning on the bass roll-off switch will make your recording a bit quieter overall), so you need to adjust for this to keep things even for comparison).
3. Listen on the same headphones/speakers.
4. Pick the take that you like.

If you find a setting that sounds better, you’ll also save yourself the work of tuning your sound in post-production.

Mic placement

The SM7B’s wide “sweet spot” is forgiving, but consistency matters more than perfection. There are a few options to experiment with:

Variable	Guideline	Why
Distance	4–6 in / 10–15 cm for conversational tone	Close enough for intimacy, far enough to avoid plosive overload
Angle	20–45 ° off-axis, talking across the grille	Keeps air bursts from plosives out of the diaphragm while preserving tone
Height	Capsule roughly lip-to-nose level	Minimises nasal airflow and chest reflections
Vertical orientation	Slightly above mouth pointing down ≈ 30 °	Useful if you read from notes—helps reject keyboard noise. But Joe Rogan and Lex Friedman use different angles. Just experiment.
Pop protection	You should not need one with the SM7B.	The foam filter and design is effective.
Room	Treat first the reflections—rug, curtain, bookcase	Remember your recording space changes what the mic captures so you should experiment with this. A $30 duvet behind you often beats a $300 plugin
Pre-amp gain	60 dB of clean gain or an inline booster (Cloudlifter, FetHead)	The SM7B outputs –59 dBV; many interfaces top out at ~55 dB. Make sure your interface is giving you enough gain to tickle the -12dbs level while speaking normally.

Putting it together

• If you’re 4 – 6 inches away and like a warm, intimate sound, start flat. Turn on the presence boost only if your voice still sounds muffled or too far back in the mix.
• If you work inside a treated booth/room but get too much low-end bloom, engage the bass roll-off and leave presence flat.
• For untreated rooms where HVAC or traffic is an issue, roll off the bass and engage the presence boost; it clears mud and pushes intelligibility without needing heavy post-EQ.