Motu M2 vs M6 vs SSL2+ for voice recording

[NicklasK]

I'm pretty new to microphones and I'm gearing up for video recording for youtube, and I want to have decent sound quality, so I bought a Shure MV57 (edit: sorry, I meant SM57) mic and a Behringer UMC204HD USB interface. With gain at max, and Windows 11 mic levels at max, it just barely gives high enough volume when the mic is right in front of my mouth, which is not acceptable.

So my current plan is to get either a Motu M2, Motu M6 or SSL2+ instead of the Behringer, the M6 mainly because it has an option for an external psu.

Can I get the M2 or the SSL2+ instead and be guaranteed that they will have a high enough mic output volume even if they use USB power? My budget is $600 USD max.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Did you mean SM57? You can check out Julian Krause reviews on YouTube where he always does a short segment with the very insensitive Shure SM7b.

Dynamic mics often need a lot of gain. The umc204 claims 56 db of mic gain. The M2 is said to have 60 db of gain.

Also how are you listening. I seem to recall the umc204 has a low output signal level.

 

[NicklasK]

Yes, sorry, I meant Shure SM57.

I just watched a guide on audio interfaces by Julian Krause, and now it looks like the winner could be the SSL2, as it has about 3 dB higher mic gain than the Behringer (as tested by Krause), as well as an extremely low noise floor, and not being that expensive. The test where he used the Shure SM7B with it was also impressive.

I'm listening to videos after they're recorded using an external usb sound card.

 

[LevityProject]

I've played with many cheap interfaces over the years. What I've found after experiencing them and then seeing the technical reviews here, and on youtube (Julian Krauss espically) is that you are best to first deal with quality and volume at the source. Notice how Julian Krauss videos all sounds basically the same, because he has gain staged properly according to whatever he is testing.

The SM58 is fine, as long as you are pretty close to it. No more than a fist's worth away. For podcasts, I would say that an Sm58 is not the correct choice (but if it's what you have and it's not easy to change, go with it!).

For a similar price, I'd try any condenser mic and learn how to set up a gate (or expander) to minimize background noise. Dare I reveal, I used a $20 condenser I bought off of Amazon to punch-in on a vocal track that I had recorded on a studio condenser ... because the studio mic wasn't available at the time and I had to be quick. I meticulously gain staged it, recorded and re-created the profile of the original mic with EQ and multiband compression. It wasn't perfect, but it worked well enough in the context of the mix. So, it's possible to do anything with anything haha ... not really advisable, but possible. It is much easier to get good gear so you don't have to endlessly fiddle.

The problem with max gain on your interface is that preamps which aren't premium don't have the capacity to be driven to their extremes and still sound amazing. Most are designed to perform their best at line level (0bu, -18 dBFS RMS). So, I'd recommend finding a combination of mic and settings that lets you sit at 3/4 gain max to give you a signal that peaks at -10dbFS in your DAW, and that's likely where you'll find decent quality in what you've got.

 

[Eric Natural]

M2 user for the last 4 years here - it's been flawless. It does have enough gain to track my vocal with the sm7b just fine.
Best of luck

 

[utahj]

You probably don't need a new interface. Julian Krauss reviewed the Behringer UMC202HD (which likely has the same preamps as your 204) and he was able to get a perfectly good level out of the SM57 (check out the 5:08 mark of this video).

As LevityProject suggests above, try playing around with your levels, gain staging, post processing, etc. (Krauss has some tips along these lines in the link above.) I have the Motu M4 and an SM57 and I'll note it is much easier to get a strong signal from a condenser microphone -- if you want to upgrade your setup, an inexpensive condenser mic could help. But there is something to be said for learning how to maximize the gear you have before upgrading. This guy, for instance, believes you can do anything with an SM57 (he also has a take on cheap Behringer interfaces). Good luck!

 

[LevityProject]

Getting a good quality voice recording out of most modern interfaces is a matter of Microphone selection and gain staging. It's definitely possible to capture a clean talk recording with the Behringer units.

For more headroom (gain possibility) than the Beringer units, the next (big) step up for not a huge investment is probably Focusrite Scarlett Solo or 2i2, or the Motu M2 or M4 lines.

 

[NicklasK]

I ended up sending the Behringer back and buying a Solid State Logic SSL2 instead, mainly because of its higher gain and very low noise floor. It performed very well in the tests by Julian Krause. I kept the Shure SM57.

I also got a Cloudlifter CL-1.

Furthermore, I'm adding 10 dB gain in OBS Studio, and this gets the output to an acceptable level.

I'm sure that there are plenty of things that I can optimize, I still mostly don't really know what I'm doing.

I have uploaded two short recordings to dropbox, what do you guys think of the sound quality? Is anything immediately obvious that should be changed?

One made in OBS Studio with +10 dB gain:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

One made in Audacity with no gain:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com