Shure SM7B vs Blue Yeti Mic Comparison - Surprising results!

The Blue Yeti has been one of my favourite sounding microphone that I have ever used for the past ten years or so. Now days, the Shure SM7b appears to be the new favourite amongst many online creators. Naturally I'm curious to find out myself, but also I do want use a mic that I can connect directly to my camera without having to sync in post.
So was it worth the upgrade? Is it really 3 to 4 times than the Yeti? Let's find out in this episode.
The Blue Yeti audio was captured using the free software Audacity on my MacBook Pro. The gain was set to its lowest setting at the back with the cardioid pickup pattern. In post, I simply normalised the audio to 23 LUFS with no other processing.
For the SM7B - I recorded the audio directly in to my Canon C100 Mark II XLR port on the top handle with the gain dial set to around 6 out 10. Again the audio was not processed except normalising it to 23 LUFS for a fair comparison.
I have a TASCAM DR-60D MK II and the DBX 286S mic preamp processor (plus a Fethead on order) that I could have used for the SM7B; for a cleaner less hissing sound, but I wanted to keep this test as simple as possible. Hopefully this was the correct and fair way to test the mics.
I mean the SM7b already costs many more times than the Yeti, so I wanted to see what result we would get with the minimum necessary gear to make this head to head comparison video. I will definitely make future videos with the SM7B along with the above mentioned extra gear to see what it'll do to the audio.
Thanks for watching and feedback.
Shure SM7B Dynamic Microphone
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Blue Yeti USB Condenser Mic
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Camera Gear
===========
Canon C100 Mark II - amzn.to/3g3BOKn
Canon 50mm F/1.8 STM - amzn.to/3vpSWQF
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Audio Setup
==========
Shure SM7B - amzn.to/3bMkt7H
DBX 286S Mic Preamp - amzn.to/3bKgngk
Tascam DR-60DMKII Recorder - amzn.to/3bMq7Xt
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Some of the links in my video descriptions are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, I might make a small commission if you click them and make a qualifying purchase.
0:00 Intro
0:17 Disclaimer
0:30 Audio gear setup and room
1:12 Blue Yeti quick info
1:25 Shure SM7b quick info
1:58 Not using the Tascam DR-60D MK II & DBX 286S
2:15 Three reasons why upgrading (to SM7b)
3:40 SM7b background noise compared to Yeti
4:00 Background noise comparison
4:14 SM7b hungry for gain and future solutions
4:40 Closing thoughts
5:57 Outro
6:10 New camera teaser
#ShureSM7B #BlueYeti #Microphone

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Which mic do you prefer? I must say, watching it again during editing and the finished video. I’m very surprised how similar they sound?? Really didn’t expect this result. 🤔

[@vistauz]

Shure is picking more background noise..

[@scottsoriero9827]

Very similar sound. The differences are almost imperceptible. Great job and thanks!

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Thanks for dropping a comment. Really appreciate it! Question, what device/speaker/headphone are you listening it with?

[@PecanTreeOG]

Wow, I had to rewind to figure out when you were going to switch mics to start the comparison. Completely missed the switching at first until I noticed the labels in the upper right. This is extremely comforting for someone considering if I needed to upgrade from my Blue to the Shure (and all the gear I'd need to go from USB to non-USB).

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Hey thanks for checking out my video. What's your verdict? In all honesty, most mics sound great. It's more on the room and mic placement that makes a big difference. I'm not getting 4x better audio (quality) alone by upgrading. It's other factors like handling, physical design, what recorder I use, how I edit the audio, USB vs XLR. Many more questions/decisions to decide. Looking back the Blue Yeti (USB) is still fantastic mic for the price and ease of use. AND to be honest, since it's a condenser mic (sounds clearer?) vs the Shure dynamic microphone. If you're in a quiet environment and something that is affordable and easy to use. I think the USB options is still an amazing deal. Are you using the Yeti at the moment? Will you upgrade?

[@PecanTreeOG]

@@JoeLamOfficial my verdict is to stick with the Blue Yeti for now, which is what I'm using. The Logitech G Hub software mic settings adds convenient EQ on a simple plug and play USB mic, which made fine-tuning the sound even easier. Yes, I think placement, room dynamics, and post-processing likely makes much more of a difference than hardware at this level. I even had over-ear headphones on when I watched your video and couldn't tell any real difference.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Good stuff. To be honest, I kinda miss the Yeti mic, sounds clearer with my voice. As I have a muffly/nasally voice. The SM7B sounds much darker. But reason being, I have a untreated noisy room and outdoor sound. So the background noise rejection helps a lot. Otherwise, the Yeti served me really well all this time and is still a fantastically good mic IMO.

[@YuennyLam]

Very informative video. Makes me want to buy a new microphone too 😁 I would prefer not having to sync audio to video either. The Yeti does sound very good as is and the fact it lasted so long 👍

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Hey thanks! Isn't it weird how similar they sound right?? Do you think they sound similar? 🤔 But yeah, even if they sound very similar and the Shure being much more expensive, I like having the convenience of going directly into the camera going forward. Too much stuff faffing around when filming. 😕

[@YuennyLam]

@@JoeLamOfficial It's not easy to tell the difference even switching between the two in the same video. Maybe more different listening through headphones? Not having separate audio will make life easier for sure 😊

[@JoeLamOfficial]

@@YuennyLam I edit and listen with headphone mainly and I can't tell a huge difference besides from the hissing background noise. Otherwise the "tone" between sound very similar. Strange considering they are totally different in every way. Price, technology, connection. All different.

[@YuennyLam]

@@JoeLamOfficial Maybe nowadays a lot of gear are very comparable, no matter what price or how advanced.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

@@YuennyLam That's true. It becomes more affordable. More accessible to more people.

[@wtulin1970]

the sm7b needs a ton of gain, more clean gain than can be provided by your device, hence the hissing. In most use cases, the sm7b requires a cloudlifter or fethead inline preamp to provide clean audio. Really, the sm7b isn't meant for portable recording devices like that. If you want to stick with a black dynamic that looks and sounds good, you can pick up the Zoom ZDM-1 for about 80 bucks.

[@JoeLamOfficial]

Hey there. Thanks for your input. I ordered the Fethead and it has arrived now. Will be doing some test to see if it works with the Tascam. But to be honest. If it works with the C100. I will sell the Tascam. Was hoping the pro-sumer ish 60D would manage but it wasn’t enough. Plus my XT2 doesn’t have good pre amp or XLR port before. Whereas now the C100 has the option. I’ll love to be able to drive the SM7b directly into the C100 with the Fethead. It will also streamline my setup and filming process significantly.