Unlock the Best Shure SM7B Settings – (Tested Settings)

Well, if you’re looking for the best Shure SM7B settings, this guide will cover them entirely!

The Shure SM7B is a base microphone that requires a lot of adjustments to start sounding well and professional.

So, if you’re a streamer or content creator, you might be interested in some of the recommendations we’ve got to share and make your SM7B mic sound smooth and clear.

So, the best settings for Shure SM7B involve the mic setup settings (Gain of around -50 dB), followed by the Gate and Compressor settings.

Also, there are the mic’s equalizer settings, which can tune up your recording to perfection.

So, let’s get started, shall we?

The Best Shure SM7B Settings – (GoXLR)

So, the best settings for Shure SM7B microphones are typically the ones that suit your room and environment, considering the background noises and acoustics. 

This guide below will explore the settings in the most popular audio-interface software, GoXLR, and show the optimal SM7B microphone settings configuration.

Note: If you use a different audio interface software, the settings must be similar if not the same!

Best SM7B Mic Setup Settings:

The first step in achieving the best SM7B microphone settings is to configure the “Mic Setup”, which involves essential options such as “Gain.”

Before configuring these options, there is no point in tweaking anything else, as the “Gain” establishes the foundation of your mic recording.

So first, select your SM7B from the “Mic Profiles” and click “Mic Setup” to begin.

Next, set the SM7B as a “Dynamic” and configure the Gain to 50 – 58 dB.

Then, speak into your microphone while observing the audio meter on the right to verify the levels go to the green “Good” section.

Tip: You may want to play around with the “Gain” until you get the perfectly sounding recording!

Best SM7B Mic’s Gate Settings:

So, the “Gate” settings for your SM7B are strictly individual and based on how your environment sounds, background noises, and acoustics.

The Gate’s primary function is to cut out any noises from the room’s background while you are not speaking into the mic, so let’s review the settings.

SM7B Gate Threshold

This is the general Gate setting, allowing you to completely stop the Gate or set the limitation to a certain degree of decibels.

The first thing to do is set “Threshold” to “OFF” so you can look at your audio meter and determine how many decibels of background noise your SM7B is picking.

Based on your findings, you need to configure the threshold accordingly, so you can effectively remove the background noises while speaking.

If you’re in a quiet room, where only your PC or, for example, your air conditioning is audible, you’ll have about -45/-55 dB of background noise.

Tip: If you want a permanent option to never touch again, leave the “Threshold” to -35 dB.

SM7B Gate Attenuation

So, the Attenuation is basically how much the Gate would stay open whenever the threshold decibels are reached.

For instance, if the threshold is -35 dB, when you are not speaking and the background noise exceeds -35 dB, with 100% Attenuation, no sounds will go through.

However, that’s not the best option, so we recommend setting the Attenuation to about 75–85%, which will allow a little bit of noise to go through.

SM7B Gate Attack

The Attack is pretty much how fast the Gate should react when you start speaking, so you need this option as fast as possible.

We recommend no more delay than 10ms, which will make the Gate allow sounds as soon as you start speaking into your SM7B.

SM7B Gate Release

The Release is the opposite of Attack, hence how fast your Gate should activate after you stop speaking and apply the threshold and attenuation.

Here, it’s not necessary to go with the lowest delay, and you can have about 150–200ms. 

However, if you want an instant Gate application after you stop speaking into the mic, you can still set the Release option to 10ms.

That was the Shure SM7B best settings for Gate, so let’s move on with the compressor settings!

Best SM7B Compressor Settings:

It’s better to configure the compressor settings for your SM7B before going to the equalizer, so you have the pitch of your voice right, before tweaking and finalizing.

The compressor basically, flattens things out and compresses your inputs to achieve a balance in the high and low tones.

SM7B Compressor Threshold:

The compressor’s Threshold is the decibels your input must reach to activate compression, so when you whisper or shout the volume can stay the same.

Hence, we recommend setting your compressor threshold to about -25 up to -30 dB, which is going to balance out your recordings.

SM7B Compressor Ratio:

The compressor’s Ratio is the difference between the loudest and lowest tones whenever the threshold has been reached.

The best setting would be somewhere above the middle, at about 5.6:1, which is a nice and smooth setting, preventing your recordings from volume imbalance.

SM7B Compressor Attack:

Same as with the Gate, the compressor’s Attack setting is when the compressor activates, and here the best option is immediately.

Thus, setting the compressor Attack to 2ms will make the feature activate immediately after you start speaking loud or lower your voice and whisper.

SM7B Compressor Release:

The SM7B Release, same as with the Gate, is the opposite of Attack.

Hence, this will deactivate the compression when there is no change in the tone of your recording.

The best option here is to set the Release to 25–35ms, which is quick but a bit smoother than immediate deactivation.

SM7B Compressor Make-up Gain

When you have your high and low tones flattened out with the other compressor settings, you can add up some Gain to increase the overall SM7B audibility.

So, based on what the mixer is showing, you can add up some make-up gain to reach an optimal level of audibility at all times.

For most configurations, a make-up gain of 10 dB brings the best microphone recording output.

Those were the best settings for Shure SM7B compression, so let’s move on with the equalizer!

Best SM7B Equalizer Settings:

The equalizer is the setting for the SM7B that will make the biggest difference in the recording, so we recommend configuring them thoughtfully.  

SM7B Best Equalizer Bass:

So, the lowest equalizer settings are at about 30.0 Hz and are the lowest frequency tones, typically related to your environment.

Those could be fans, fridges, air conditioning, or other things but not your voice, since even when whispering the tones don’t go that low. 

So you can set the 30 Hz option to about -2 dB, just to have a little bit of that base ongoing and make it sound perfect.

As far as the frequencies from 60 Hz to 125 Hz, where your voice input comes in, it’s better to amplify things a bit by setting both to +4 dB.

SM7B Best Equalizer Mid:

The middle frequencies in the equalizer settings of your SM7B involve 250 Hz, 0.5 kHz, 1 kHz, and 2 kHz, which won’t sound good regardless of the setting.

These tones are typically muddy, so most people skip this configuration, but we recommend setting all of them from -2 to 0 dB.

If you increase the mid-frequencies too much, you’ll add a constant nasally sound, which won’t be comfortable for listening to for long periods.

SM7B Best Equalizer Treble:

The treble equalizer settings can add up to your recording clarity, and they involve the frequencies 4.0 kHz, 8.0 kHz, and 16.0 kHz.

Here we recommend a high setting of +6 dB for all of them but if you want to lower the initial tones and make a smooth transaction, set the 4 kHz to about +3–4 dB.

Best SM7B Filter/Presence Settings:

If you haven’t noticed yet, there are two switches on the Shure SM7B microphone itself, which are the Low-Cut Filter and the Presence Boost. 

• The low-cut filter will increase/decrease the low tones in your recordings, and the presence boost will increase/decrease the high-end sounds.

As per the configurations earlier, you can leave these two flattened out, for best performance.

Tip: To adjust these switches, you need a flathead screwdriver!

Final Thoughts

Hence, the best Shure SM7B settings involve configuring the microphone’s Gain to about -50 dB and adjusting the Gate and Compression.

Also, you must tweak the Equalizer settings to get the most out of your Shure SM7B.

We hope this guide was helpful, so follow us for more Shure SM7B articles!