No more ambient noise with Cloudlifter or FetHead? (audio myth debunked)

In this video I make a small test to see if a Cloudlifter or FetHead reduces ambient noise in your recordings.
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[@Podcastage]

I prefer Cloud Head DynaLifter.

[@DAAN_MUSIC]

I like to get Fet Head from some dynamite girl with clout.

[@MikeBroderick33]

Cloud Head DynaLifter - They sell a cream for that...

[@maximeheberttalbot4505]

😂😂

[@DrWurzeli]

These dedicated audio-myth videos are so great. The dynamic microphone self-noise one was already amazing, this one is a perfect addition. great work!

[@Ficip]

It does reduce electric noise though, for example on the UR22 MK2, with the help of a FetHead you can have your gain level set low enough so that there isn't much native noise from the audio interface signal itself. Compared to having to turn the knob to around 80% without the FetHead, the audio picks up a significant amount of noise while picking up extremely low signals from the mic. So, with the UR22 MK2 and Shure SM7B combo, a FetHead is pretty much needed.

[@iancraig]

I think most people would be buying a Fethead in order to help reduce preamp noise, not mic noise or ambient noise. To reduce ambient noise, a shotgun mic might help. Combining a shotgun with Fethead will both reduce ambient noise and preamp noise in one. Getting a better preamp is a good idea though. ;)

[@SkipperChongWarson]

My understanding is that shotgun mics are for distant sources. For podcasts, where you're close to the speaker, a directional dynamic mic is better because it rejects noise, isolates the speaker, and has a less obtrusive form factor, especially for video. If you can get close to your subject, why would you use a shotgun? +1 to the better preamp idea.

[@iancraig]

No mic is really that good for distant sources. The shotgun is highly directional and so cuts out a lot of side and (often) rear noise. Very often, they are used boomed for movie speech because of this. The back end of shotguns can be a little more sensitive, so when booming, the back faces the sky and you keep their excellent side rejection. It is their rejection characteristic that is most useful. Therefore they make things sound ‘better’ at longer distance, but not ideal for good sound. I often use a shotgun for speech outdoors because its rejection is really good.

[@SkipperChongWarson]

@@iancraig I see, gotcha - thanks for explaining

[@danboud8135]

An important myth to debunk. The truth is, to reduce noise, record in a quite environment and use good gear. And if you need to know what gear is good, well, welcome to this channel. :D

[@musicmarcom8973]

But it's not a myth at all. Cloudlifters don't claim to reduce "ambient" noise. That would be impossible. They reduce electronic noise introduced to your audio signal when you turn up the preamp, mixer or interface too loud. It does this by giving you more headroom so you don't have to turn it up as high. He's confusing ambient sound in the room with electronic noise.

[@KaneAmaroq]

@@musicmarcom8973 Not really necessary in his day and age, though. Any modern interface is going to have a near inaudible amount of electronic noise. Even the cheap Behringer stuff has pre-amp noise of of like -127 dB, which is inaudible to humans. The idea that cranking your gain makes your recordings more noisy is another myth people fall for, one that is also debunked on this channel.

[@musicmarcom8973]

@@KaneAmaroq Most serious audio people would disagree. You're talking about published EIN, which is a static value. Noise levels are amplified as gain increases. Compare preamp noise (and coloration) levels when pushed vs not and it can be night and day - especially with cheap preamps. This channel doesn't seem to know the different in electronic noise and ambient noise, so I wouldn't trust their debunking much.

[@Tephnos]

@@musicmarcom8973 That's because he is specifically talking about ambient noise here, and addresses electronic noise in another video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/immrqIGkf6admLM And since he measures the noise he can confirm the published EINs.

[@musicmarcom8973]

@@Tephnos Yes, that's my point. It's not a "myth" that Cloudlifters reduce ambient noise. That's not what they claim to do, nor can any electronic device. The entire premise of the video is misleading.

[@JGlassy]

Clear, helpful video. I love it when dispassionate folks debunk these myths. It’s basic acoustic physics and understanding how microphones work. Keep up the great work Julian.

[@MikeBroderick33]

I love how you use the names interchangeably Julian. Cloud-head, Fet-lifter. (0:51-0:52), Cloud-fit/Lifter-head (1:49). Funny. 😁

[@AnotherTekGuy]

Mike Broderick Voice Over he did make sure he hit all the names didn’t he 😂😂

[@MikeBroderick33]

@@AnotherTekGuy He had it well covered.😂

[@TukeShark]

Wow

[@RezaMolavi]

thank you Julian; I can always count on clear explanations ana accuracy from your presentations. I always learn a great deal from you.

[@RauBogdan]

You rarely find honest people these days. Congratulations on this and I wish you success with your channel.

[@radowl]

A couple times he looked for a moment like he wanted to break character and laugh as he jumbled fet head and cloud lifter. Very well done, Julian. Great info.

[@musicmarcom8973]

But it's not great info. The entire premise of his video is wrong. Cloudlifters don't claim to reduce "ambient" noise. That would be impossible. They reduce electronic noise introduced to your audio signal by turning up the preamp, mixer or interface too loud. He's confusing ambient sound in the room with electronic noise.

[@MikeG-js1jt]

I never even heard of this myth........... I don't see how someone could have assumed it reduced ambient noise

[@vrvretro]

I totally agree - never heard this before today. I don't even need to quote the Cloud website to explain what it actually does.

[@voicehead]

yeah honestly i was confused. i thought he meant self noise, but he meant room noise? how can you alter the falloff of the mic with an in-line preamp?

[@bahathir_]

THis is what Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) comes into the picture. To reduce ambient noise, reduce mic's gain level,, until it is low enough, or about between -60 to -50 dB. Then speak and move to microphone until we get about -24 to -12 dB. Hope this is useful.. Thank you.

[@leswright4108]

I have been using my new FetHead Phantom to improve the performance of a Behringer C-3 condenser mic. Alas, the mic itself has abundant intrinsic noise, so I have a situation analogous to what you have with ambient noise--basically sound coming through and from the mic gets amplified by the FetHead. This means that the preamp noise reduction due to low gain setting can be cancelled out by the mic noise amplified by the FetHead. Disappointing unless my sound source is pretty loud so the FetHead-enhanced mic doesn't need much gain on the recorder or interface. The FetHead phantom still does amazing work with my budget condensers and better dynamic mics.

[@carlopalese]

Just wondering about your issue...if you need to have a loud source ( probably getting closer) what the need of a fethead phantom is there?

[@howardanderson3061]

Love your videos and subjects that you cover!

[@harwin7430]

I know it's stupid, but I bought one just because I had to push my EVO 4 to 100% to get decent levels with my SM57 for spoken word stuff. For some reason I thought it was bad to push it that high. Oh well I can always return it. Live and learn.

[@leandronicolas8848]

Short and very clear, great as always!

[@seanwebb605]

I'm really enjoying watching your back catalogue of videos. This is really good stuff.

[@flipperpitstudio]

I'm so glad I made the right decision. 😁 Today, I'm sending back the fethead I received yesterday, and awaiting my dbx 286s which I finally ordered last night. Picking up my SM7b today. #ohboyohboyohboy! 👏😃 Thanks so much for the great advice! (And for the dbx 286s set-up video I just watched)

[@gaborkiss1425]

Do you use the dbx 286s and the SM7B, without any mic activator? How is it?

[@Slitter_the_Dubstep]

Never heard something stupid like that myth. Maybe this myth originates from people not knowing what the difference between ambience-noise and a recording-noisefloor is. This is the only way how i can explain this very weird mindset.

[@blakewilliams8304]

Yeah, this is the first time I've heard this.

[@seanwebb605]

There are many voice artist and book narrators that have channels to mentor newbies and they repeat these sorts of myths all of the time. They conflate room noise with device noise all of the time. Often they'll offer a software fix in post which drives me crazy. Not that you shouldn't know the tricks in software, but reduce the noise in your recording first. Buy a quality microphone. Understand the pickup pattern. Understand the audio interface or audio recorder settings. My biggest problem is that I'm a TV production and master control guy moving into voice over work and I have to deal with a sales person at an audio store intended mostly for musicians. They tend to think that their self taught understanding of audio for their pub performances is the same as being a properly trained audio engineer. Now I know that I'm not a qualified audio engineer for music. However, I QC media all day all long. I see all of the mistakes people make in video and audio recording and the cheap tricks they use to fix them. Most don't matter. The footage or audio is lost. Move on.

[@redrobbosworkshop]

Love your work. Just added you on Patreon :)

[@holgieselchen7033]

Wieder ein wertvolles Video von Dir. Danke Julian.

[@spankjamer]

Julian doesn't get the actual use of an inline preamp, you use it to not crank your preamp into an area where it is causing too much noise, some preamps are like that and that has nothing to do with the overall raise of the level, with the inline preamp you kind of prevent the preamp from running out of headroom where a lot of noise would additionally be generated. However, if your preamp is already handling the gain well then you don't need the fethead or cloudlifter but if your preamp tends to add much more noise when you run at high gain levels, you'll need it. I really enjoy is cheeky nature but he hasn't taken preamp self-noise into consideration running at high gains.

[@urbansnowtrax3733]

100% correct. Thank you.

[@gaborkiss1425]

What interface and setup do you use with your SM7B? You are fairly far from it, and still it sounds so powerful and clean.

[@MichaelW.1980]

That was a great video! Thank you so much! I can’t wrap my head around how people can believe this myth! Like you said, the ambient noise is parts of the signal the microphone outputs. I can only guess that’s because they cannot distinguish between self-noise and ambient-noise. Let’s say I had really low ambient noise, for example with a recording in a heavily sound treated room or even better a sound booth, then I would use a Fethead to attenuate the self noise to be below the ambient noise. But since that would be ridiculously low noise, with even rustling cloth on my Beta 58 being VERY loud in comparison, I don’t see a use case for me where this would be a real world benefit. I mention that microphone because the microphone’s pickup pattern and the way it’s placed is what can help to reduce ambient noise. Well... and sound treatment around the microphone of course.

[@tkgg]

I got a FetHead because of the noisy preamps on my UR22C. But this myth is kinda ridiculous.

[@yaikonsana6545]

i have also got noisy preamp(behringer um2) can i get one(fethead).. will it work on my interface..? to reduce noice getting from preamp...

[@DrWurzeli]

​@@yaikonsana6545 you should not spend 100+ bucks or more on an inline pre-amp if your interface itself is 20 bucks. save a little bit longer and get a better interface with that money. return the behringer if you can.

[@SianaGearz]

@@yaikonsana6545 If you have to get one, at least don't waste much money on it. Klark Teknik CT1 is an option. But please don't get an Alctron or an SS-1. Also i suspect your interface isn't even THAT noisy, like, as soon as you work around the interface noise, you are likely to find that the room noise isn't even much lower, presumably you're not in a treated recording environment. Maybe you're best ignoring the issue and using digital denoising. Depends what mic you've got running?

[@tkgg]

@@yaikonsana6545 The FetHead works with all interfaces. But to get the most out of your interface it also depends on what microphone you have. Getting a FetHead might not solve whatever problem you have.

[@gaborkiss1425]

@@DrWurzeli What do you think about the Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen? Does it have good enough converters? In front of it, there is a dbx 286A (the old, blackface one) and I am planning to get an SE DM1 Dynamite inline preamp for the SM7B.

[@RallenMan]

Good demo. I have a couple FET heads for use with my Casade FAT Head ribbon mics. It has a sensitivity 1.6 mV/Pa and for low SPL sources like speaking voice the extra 20 dB of gain can be useful to get a good level signal from the mic. But recording a trumpet no FET Head is needed. My rule of thumb is if the preamp has 56 dB of gain then a FET Head might be useful. If the preamp has 76 dB of gain then a FET Head is not needed.

[@skorpers]

I still can't believe Cloud Microphones made such a fake video in regards to Dynamic vs Condenser and with or without the Clouderlifter. Also I want you to know your use of Cloudhead/Fetlifter is appreciated. Some may not pick up on your subtle humor, but I think it's perfect for your videos.

[@snax_4820]

Great episode like always

[@WilliamJohnston]

How did you measure the ein? Saw one of your other videos on checking for noise but wondered how you get to an actual ein figure? Cheers, great videos!

[@tkermi]

I would love to see Focusrite Clarett 2Pre test 🤔!!! I'm wondering if/how much/which way it's better than MOTU M2 and SSL 2, please 🥺😆👍🏻. It's under 350€ so not super expensive. Great video like always, thanks! P. S. Would be using it mainly for voice-over + sound effects with Rode NT1 pair and HD58x and HD6xx headphones.

[@patdry]

awesome video!! just found your channel. great stuff man, keep at it. love your accent, is it german?

[@DragonboltBlastter]

Great explanation! Also could you compare the Triton Audio Fethead with the SE Electronics DM1? I wonder how big the difference in sound quality is, between those two.

[@roypatterson7866]

I just purchased fedhead for my PD-70 Presonus dynamic broadcasting microphone.

[@rsilvers129]

I am confused as to why this needed debunking. It couldn't possibly be true.

[@TheGeekZone]

The one dislike must be from someone who sells them?

[@vrvretro]

Julian, I've never heard this disinformation in the first place. Weird. Cloud is primarily used for preamp noise with dynamic mics in combination 99% of the time. In your videos you would normally give what something is actually for, to balance out the myth part. The balance isn't present in this script. I love your videos and your presentation.

[@gitarman666]

Noise gate time even UA has then for Apollo gear or izotope in post there are so many ways to reduce or eliminate unwanted noise Folks have to learn the basics of gain staging first, a topic too many new producers skip or simply don’t truly understand

[@SebasSant87]

I know that im gonna record in bad situations like coffee shops, restaurants and events, so i switch mics to the sure beta 58a wich is used for live performances and helps a lot, a nice post and i get very decent audio. My point is do your homework and think ahead of the rec situations and you can pic a more suitable gear, rather than the “popular once”.

[@bluearisto8249]

well i think u sould mention to treat the room with heavy sound reduction material

[@daniellaerachannel]

what tool do you use for recording audio ? is for macos available ? thanks, great video

[@Astrovic1]

Hei, Julian! Hast du schon mal damit experimentiert einen extra Bluetooth Adapter in ein Audio Interface zu stecken, um seine ear pods oder tragbare bluethooth Boxen damit zu verbinden? So kann man die Musik direkt hören wie die meisten seiner Zuhörer:)

[@flakez9924]

Ich habe das Shure sm7b mit einem DBX 286s und einem Focusrite solo verbunden und es rauscht immer noch :(

[@rafar8110]

Nice Cloudfet Headlifter

[@abenicolaas]

You sound like Alca Gaming, damn!

[@IvoGER.collector]

Cloudhead und Fetfilter hat mirgefallen😋 Mach weiter so. Du machst guten Content!

[@remektekmedia6641]

Get a Sound Devices MixPre Mark 2 recorder and the NoiseAssist plugin. Not a cheap option, but still cheaper than buying a Cedar noise reduction box.

[@LatreceASMR]

Hello, do you have a video of what you use to record your current videos? How you reduce and get rid of the white noise in your actual videos?

[@WolfgangDibiasi]

Heißt das, man muss immer die Phantom Speisung dazu schalten, wenn man einen Fethead Oder einen CL Benutzt?

[@JulianKrause]

Ja, genau, sonst funktionert es nicht.

[@WolfgangDibiasi]

@@JulianKrause Vielen Dank für die schnelle Antwort

[@taha_mirza]

Hello Julian, I have KSM44 microphone and it has 50ohm output impedance and I have U87 which has 200ohm output impedance, I connect them to Manley VoxBox preamp which has 2K input impedance, for KSM44 i need to use lot of gain on the pre where as for u87 I dont need much gain, both are condenser microphones, what shall I do to get louder output on KSM44, can I use cloudlifter in this case?

[@panosru]

Hi Julian, there are seveal fethead variations, couldn't the FetHead Filter with a high pass filter in it also reduce ambient noise?

[@camilovoiceover]

Pero el fethead no es para reducir el sonido ambiente, solo eleva la señal sin ruido propio

[@falothman]

Hi Julian, Have you experienced hiss with Cloudlifter? I've got SM7B, CL-2 and Motu4 connected to PC, using Mugami cables XLR. I recorded with Motu4 crancked up and it's cleaner than the CL-2 connected. Kinda bugged by that and seen others commented with same issue. Any chance I'm doing someting wrong from the PC or Interface side? Thx a lot :)

[@mdragee]

Brother I would like to ask you if I can use fethead or cloud lifter in my rode NT1 and focusrite 2i2 cos I have a bit hiss noise in my recordings !!

[@Magnulus76]

I experimented with this myself. While I got lower noise levels when using a dummy load, it did not translate into real world noise reduction with actual dynamic microphones. The only reason I could think to use a Fethead is if you are using a ribbon microphone or SM7B. In a typical room, the ambient noise is going to be more significant than even the noise of an inexpensive preamplifier (I have a Rolls MP13 and also an Event EMP-1), and both perform more-or-less the same in this area of performance, even though the Event EMP-1 has much lower self-noise.

[@sebasoilher8454]

Hi! Man . For you , Which audio interface has better audio quality and dynamic range, the native instrument komplete 2 or the audient Id4?

[@LongyYT]

do i need a fethead for the rode procaster

[@blakewilliams8304]

I have never heard anyone claim these things help lower ambient noise. They aren't advertised to do that either. So I'm not quite sure who this video is for lol

[@csselement]

It’s for noisy preamps, not ambient noise. What the?!

[@Han414]

can you review apollo twin x?

[@DarkPa1adin]

I thought so too.

[@mikelo303]

PLEASE TEST AudioQuest JitterBug and iFi iSilencer 3.0 USB Filters

[@Charles-Elie]

What model are your monitor speakers? They seem quite small, very nice for a home setup :) thx!

[@JulianKrause]

Hey, they are a pair of KEF iQ1.

[@mindtheyoutubegap]

#fetlifter 😂

[@saintsi6997]

Solid

[@JonnyBravo0311]

Who actually thinks putting an inline pre-amp in the chain will REDUCE any ambient noise? You've just added 25-30 dB of gain... so ALL noise - including your voice - has been amplified. Oh well... at least you've given a very definitive proof that such a myth is completely debunked.

[@gaborkiss1425]

But it won't amplify the preamp noise, right? That would kinda defeat the purpose.

[@blackjohnny0]

But it's farther away, so it should lower ambient noise. Meh, sadly it is not working in real life as I can see.

[@TeacherFlash]

I really disagree with this man. He told me that Steinberg ur12 is just as good as focusrite scarlett 2i2 when using condenser mics because noise of condenser mics. In fact I used them with NT1 and difference is tremendous. focusrite scarlett 2i2 amps are better way better. Steinberg sucks and is loud!

[@TeacherFlash]

of course he won't back down his opinion but I suggest him getting some quite mic as NT1 and give it a shot pal... you'll see the difference is huge. No hard feelings.

[@gravierxnd]

Did u say fetlifter and cloudhead? Lol

[@MorningNapalm]

Why can I only give a thumbs up, and not a smiley :)

[@JulianKrause]

Here you go: 😀

[@petermsull]

Julian, I viewed your earlier video as well so as not to speak inaccurately. For us field effects recording geeks, certain low-level sounds like winds, getting all the gain we can *before* hitting the mic pre's (I use the Sound Devices 302s for example) is quite important. Obviously this also brings up a *condenser* (in my case) or any other mic's self-noise but counteracts needing to turn up the trims on the mic pre's to full. Granted we effects recordists are 0.001% of the market, but for us they're (both dynamic FetHead and FetHead Phantom) valuable in certain quiet situations.

[@SianaGearz]

I am surprised that this had to be said at all.

[@bmcconnon]

Cloud doesn't claim to reduce "ambient" noise with a Cloudlifter. They claim that a Cloudlifter helps reduce noise introduced to the signal by turning up the gain on a preamp, mixer, or interface too high. This makes perfect sense since you have more headroom and don't have to turn it up so much. Very different issue than ambient noise.

[@amplifier2]

Do 2 preamps make your signal louder? Yes. Do 2 preamps make your signal more quiet? Probably not.

[@ShawnTBell]

Is your mic is on a light stand?

[@JulianKrause]

Yes, it is boomed above me just out of frame :)

[@henningkraggerud9124]

One question: I of course agree totally about what you say, but is there some scenarios you haven't mentioned where the ownership of a cloud lifter could get you less ambient noise without contradicting your examples : For me who record violin very close (which can be extremely loud and also extremely soft), to be able to get closer. With some of my 150-SPL-ish mics, they are the only ones which can handle that loud source without too much harmonic distortion, but these mics with very reduced sensitivity then gets way to soft in the soft sections to be usable in some situations. In those cases I have to extend the distance and rather use another mic. But if I had a cloud-lifter wouldn't that in some situations allow me to use the high SPL mic and hence never-the-less reduce the ambient noise for my actual recording situation by allowing an available mic situation to be used? And if all you have is a limited amount of mics and the only hypercardioid one you had allowing really close micing without distortion had 154SPL and the alternative was a more sensitive omni would then a cloud lifter be a relatively cheap way to be able to get quite a lot less ambient noise in practical terms?

[@Remixed_By_Mus-T]

ich hab mich schon oft gefragt, woher du das alles kannst und weisst :D so ein daher geholter youtuber, düfte sich normalerweise nicht so doll damit auskennen. denn das wissen was du dir offensichtlich angeeignet hasst, kann man eigendlich nur einem ton Ingenieur zuschreiben^^ Also klär mich mal auf ! :D und wenn du magst auch den rest deiner Zuschauer :D vielleicht könnte dass auch ein bestimmtes Thema für dein nächstes Video werden?!" P.S ich shreibe absichtlich auf Deutsch,.. MFG

[@JulianKrause]

Ein Großteil meiner Informationsquellen sind wissenschaftliche Papers, dann sind einige Freunde von mir Elektroingineure und ich experimentiere selbst immer wieder mit Audiotechnik. Das alles macht mir sehr viel Spaß und deshalb stecke ich auch so tief in der Materie :)

[@TukeShark]

Wrong ... what did you expect

[@jsd1982]

Why would anyone believe this myth in the first place? Lol it makes no sense.