Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-1

Product Information

Again, a Cloudlifter can be a cheaper alternative to a dedicated preamp in the short run. We will discuss this in a later section of the post. 6. Portability I’ll presume this question comes from a podcasting point of view. The SM7B is a staple in most podcasting setups. You’ll often hear that the SM7B does fine without a mic booster, but in my experience, it is tremendously gain hungry and needs some legwork to get a decent signal level.

I’d like to make a casual reference to the MartiAudio Booster, Royer dBooster, Sanken HAD‑48, and a handful of other options that could have qualified as a viable alternative to the CL-1.

Features

Please note that this extended warranty is currently only available on products sold within the UK, EU or EEA, and is subject to the terms and conditions as detailed on the extended warranty certificate provided. Instead, we are left with a glut of entry-level to mid-market audio interfaces, mixers, and mic preamps that offer 50 to 60 dB of gain at best. People who use high-output condenser mics will neither notice nor squirm at this development as these microphones have sufficient gain to produce clean recordings, assuming phantom power is available. If you have passive ribbon mics, you need the Cloudlifter. If you have dynamic mics and a noisy preamp, you need the Cloudlifter. If you’re using a dynamic mic with a 16-bit USB mic pre, and you want to maximize your gain staging before bus-powered A-to-D conversion, you need the Cloudlifter. It’s an inexpensive tool that you’ll find more uses for than you might expect. Where to Buy So, when Cloud promotes the Cloudlifter as creating “ultra-clean gain,” they mean it! Test #2: The Cable Run from Hell McBoost provides 26 dB of ‘variable clean gain’, which means it has a rotary knob on the front panel to set the level of gain between 100%, 50%, or variable. The circuit and electrical isolation ensure that it does not add any noise or tone color i.e. transparent operation.

NEW products: 4% of the current new selling price to double the warranty from 1 year to 2 years. 4% for each additional year. It doesn’t add any color and the gain boost on dynamic or ribbon microphones doesn’t have any noticeable noise. The transparent gain and improved impedance loading are ideal for studio use or podcasting with low-output microphones. Verdict McBoost is rugged, compact, and almost twice as heavy as others on this list. It features an all-steel case with powder coating that is clearly built to last a lifetime. It also features hand-matched transistors and dual FET class-A circuits for optimal performance. Recording studios often use long cables to allow for the flexible positioning of artists. The problem with long cables is that they are more prone to noise and interference. So even with studio-quality preamps, there will still be too much noise in the signal. Once again, a Cloudlifter can really help bring the noise floor down to a professional standard. 4. Mismatched Gear USED products: 4% of the current new selling price to increase the warranty from 3 months to 1 year. 4% for each additional year.There are alternatives to Cloudlifter, some of which are less cumbersome and really are not much more intrusive than the XLR cables they interface. The hardest thing about the Cloudlifter is deciding on your cable length/configuration to figure out where to put the device.

If your preamps don’t provide phantom power, you can still get an external phantom power supply for your Cloudlifter device. How to use a Cloudlifter CL-1? Cloudlifter CL-1 Mic Activator is an easy to use, compact solution for common audio problems faced in the field and in the studio. Designed for all passive microphones including ribbons- the CL-1 safely uses any standard phantom powered microphone input device to provide up to +25db of ultra-clean, transparent gain.

Cloud Cloudlifter CL-1 Mic Activator Overview

You should get a high-performance interface or a powerful preamp in an ideal world. If neither option is financially viable or worthwhile, a Cloudlifter can be an interim solution for recording high-quality audio until you are ready to upgrade. 5. As An Alternative to Dedicated Ribbon Preamps The new Cloudlifters have updated circuitry; the changes improve noise rejection. We’ll get more into this in the review. I do a lot of on location recording of Classical music in the Chicago area and thanks to the CL-2 I’ve rediscovered the joy of using ribbons for spot mics. Because I want to set up my listening position far from the musicians and stay out of sight during concerts, my typical cable run is 100′ to 150′. The CL-2 handles that length with no trouble at all.

Performance-wise, it can add up to 27 dB of clean gain to low-impedance signals. FET-based designs have a reputation for sounding remarkably clean. The FetHead too has no issues with noise, assuming that the signal has clean gain at the primary level from the preamp. If you read my review of the original Cloudlifter, you’ll recall that I was getting some noise from the device when it was at the far end of a long mic cable, next to my DAW. The new CL-1 seems to be immune to this problem — I tried it with Cloud’s beautiful JRS-34 passive ribbon mic, before and after a 30' run of very questionable cable, and heard no RF noise in either configuration. Problem solved! Conclusion The boost varies between 20-25 dB because the precise amount is contingent on the output impedance of the mic feeding the Cloudlifter. Since Stephan Sank designed the Cloudlifter for ribbon mics, their input impedance is also optimized. Of course, the other application for the CL-1 is to use low-output mics with long cable runs. If you have problems with radio interference from long cables to your ribbon mics, then the CL-1 would probably help you.Now we know a bit more about the products and have analyzed how they work in a variety of tests, what have we learned? Well, the noise floor on the FetHead is higher than that of the Cloudlifter, however, that is to be expected as the FetHead provides a higher boost overall. Like the FetHead, this is a simple plug ‘n play device. Audio-wise, the performance is top-notch and the device does not add any noise or coloration. If you are looking for a unit to drive long cable runs, the DM-1 outperforms the competition with the ‘lowest in class’ output impedance.