Anyone else fighting noise floor on an SM7B into a Scarlett 2i2 (3rd Gen)? At about 60 dB of gain I’m reading about -62 dBFS A-weighted idle; a Triton FetHead adds about 18 dB but slightly hardens the upper mids and seems to lift HVAC by about 2 dB with the mic about 4 inches off, pop screen on, peaks sitting near -10 dBFS. Before I jump to an RME Babyface Pro or heavier treatment, what’s your practical gain and distance sweet spot to keep vocals clean without dragging the room up?
I’d turn “Air” off and work about 2 inches off‑axis; that buys about 6 dB SNR so you can pull the 2i2 gain back without leaning on the FetHead’s HF zing. If you still want a booster, a Cloudlifter CL‑Z lets you dial impedance to soften the mids and adds HPF; Shure’s notes line up: https://service.shure.com/s/article/how-much-gain-do-i-need-for-the-sm7b?language=en_US. HVAC is the loudest bandmate — are you already high‑passing around 80–100 Hz?
If the FetHead ‘hardens the upper mids’, try a Cloudlifter CL‑1; on my 2i2 it measured about 2–3 dB lower A‑weighted idle at the same -10 dBFS peaks and didn’t hype the top, so HVAC stayed tamer. Do you have the SM7B low-cut on? It can let you move an inch closer for free gain — like leaning toward the mic instead of the preamp.
At 4 inches, you’re throwing away SNR — throw on an A7WS and work 1–2 inches, slightly angled like @sophiawilliams94 noted; you can pull 5–8 dB off the 2i2 and that -62 dBFS idle drops while keeping “peaks near -10 dBFS” (A7WS - Windscreen - Shure USA). Babyface Pro won’t change the room and its pre is only about 1–2 dB quieter, so distance and placement are the cheap win. If you can ditch the pop screen for the big foam, even better.