Shure MV7 USB Microphone For Podcasting

I initially had a Rode Video Mic Go II that wouldn’t recognize my USB ports for some reason, so I decided to replace it with the Shure MV7+, and I’m thrilled with the results. The Shure MV7+ works flawlessly with my USB hub, where the Rode failed. It’s excellent at reducing background ambient noise like Case and rack fans, even without any additional Shure software installed. It was truly plug-and-play. OBS recognized it instantly without any issues.

The only thing I’m not a fan of is the LED lighting on the mic, but that’s easily fixable with a piece of black electrical tape. Aside from that, this mic is fantastic! I’m especially excited about the inclusion of USB-C finally, in 2024, a Shure mic with USB-C! Honestly, that upgrade was the highlight for me. Overall, it’s a great microphone, and I couldn’t be happier!

This podcast microphone is a game changer! The sound quality is crystal clear, with great noise cancellation and minimal distortion. It was super easy to set up and is compatible with my computer right out of the box. The build is sturdy and feels premium. I’ve used it for both solo recordings and interviews, and it delivers professional-level audio every time. Perfect for anyone looking to up their podcasting or streaming game. Highly recommend!

I’ll start right off by saying that the Shure MV7 is an excellent USB microphone, as the vocal clarity and general audio output are an (obvious) upgrade over your average laptop’s internal mic. This is marketed as a podcast microphone, though even I am not one of the users in that camp. Instead, I just needed a quality USB microphone for both video conferencing meetings and to record lectures at my college. My previous USB mic was a Zoom H1 recorder, and after weeks of online meetings day in and day out, I started to realize how much better these meetings would go without being asked repeatedly by a coworker to repeat myself or intermittently telling me that they have a hard time hearing me. So by no means am I an audio engineer with enough knowledge for a deep critique on the MV7’s audio output (I’ll let the other Amazon reviewers handle that area!), but Shure’s creators don’t intend for this to replace their higher end mics, such as the SM7B. Despite the fact that there is an XLR connection here, the MV7 isn’t meant for those trying to get perfect, industry studio-quality sound or music recordings, but that’s the point. Instead, if you’re needing a mic for podcasting, live-streaming, or surviving Zoom calls, this is one of the best options out there, with enough monitoring options and room for configuration to get the most out of this gorgeous piece of hardware.

The whole construction of the mic, right down to the attached mounting bracket, feels incredibly sturdy and premium. Despite only a few days of usage as of writing this review, I have very little concern about its long-term durability. Even the back, metal-rimmed headphone jack port has better quality than what you’ll find in most laptops these days (if they include one, of course). Knowing users may opt for a desk microphone arm stand, the included USB cables are thankfully long. When you plug it in via USB, it takes a few seconds to register on your computer each time; there’s a row of green lights that breathe while this happens. As a small note, I plan to purchase an arm stand in the future, but for now I have an On-Stage desktop stand that fits perfectly with this mic. It’s a simple stand, but I recommend it nonetheless.

As I mentioned earlier, I can’t speak to the nuances of the MV7’s audio quality compared to those who’ve actually had experience in the studio or recorded with decent sound mixing knowledge. But from my perspective of being the average person working from home and having a day filled with online meetings and lectures, I’m very impressed with how my voice sounds from this mic. Not only does my voice sound crystal clear, but even the echoes bouncing from my high ceilings and the inevitable street noise from outside my window are nowhere to be heard when I record audio from the MV7. Vocals are top priority for this product, hence the brand’s naming of this being a podcast microphone. I do agree with Engadget’s Devinda Hardawar – one of the first tech writers who wrote about the MV7 – that the plosives, or the “p” sounds, don’t sound as perfect as you’d hope compared to what you normally hear in broadcast audio vocals or some high-profile live streamers, but that could very well because of my own loud, bright voice. Likewise, an additional pop filter mask may alleviate this very minor distortion. The software Shure recommends you use is ShurePlus MOTIV, a desktop app available for free on their website. The desktop app is useful enough for users like me, as they include Auto Level settings, which includes configuring for vocal tone and adjusting for microphone position, and Manual settings that allow you adjust the audio gain, EQ, and amount of sound compression. You can save presets and, for macOS at least, the MOTIV app automatically recognizes the Shure MV7 device once you plug it into the computer. Those looking to configure every single frequency and fine-tune the settings even deeper should look beyond MOTIV. In the near future, I hope to update this review with more scientific audio tests, ones that include both USB and XLR output (I’m still looking for the right audio interface).

If there’s one gripe I have to make about the Shure MV7 so far, it’s that I’m not a fan of the touch interface built on the mic. There were plenty of instances where I had to tap an icon or swipe the volume slider multiple times in order for it to respond. The buttons, themselves, also could be bigger, because they were small even for my slim fingers to tap without accidentally touching the adjacent volume slider too. Though not entirely bad, I question why Shure didn’t just go with physical controls, such as the volume dial seen in the Blue Yeti Pro. Buttons, whether touch-enabled or physical, aren’t exactly needed, since the aforementioned ShurePlus MOTIV app is available, and contains the same controls along with a whole lot more options. Even the location of the touch panel won’t suit everyone. I imagine some users might be used to grabbing the middle of the mic to adjust the angle – and the middle just so happens to be where the touch panel is located. Fortunately, you can actually go without ever needing to use the controls if you end up not loving them like me: holding both the Mute icon and the Monitor mix icon for at least two seconds will lock the whole touch panel, indicated by a red light next to a lock icon on the same panel. Of course, it’s a matter of successfully getting those two icons to respond first! Perhaps Shure may release firmware that improves these touch controls in the future.

Everything else about the Shure MV7, though, is near-perfect. I think having a microphone like this for your computer really makes working with meetings from home much more manageable. The $249 price tag is a worthy investment and easily beats whatever laptop internal mic or cheap, uncomfortable headset you’ve been stuck with. I’ll update this review as time progresses, but for now I give it my highest recommendation!

[An important warning when first unboxing: for me, the screws holding the mic to the mounting bracket were NOT tightly fastened out of the box. One could easily hold it by the bracket and unknowingly cause the mic to wobble out and drop. Hopefully this is not the case for everyone, but you should keep that in mind when before grabbing the mic from the packaging for the first time; hold it by the mic, not the bracket!]

The single most incredible mic I’ve ever owned.
I never doubted it would be, I’m a research-a-holic. I try and find the best bang for my buck and budget. I always looked back at the sm7b and knew it was a bit out of my range for what it required and ALOT of people badtalk this mic because they expect the sm7b….well unless your willing to drop and extra 800 dollars on top of the 400 for that mic, sorry, you’re not going to get the sound you want. And people get critical of this mic, comparing to the sm7b.

Why? I’m sorry. But I have friends with sm7bs. As a content creator, having a clear and golden sound while live with the amount of sound that does play through whether it’s games or music or other people. This mic stands in a different category against them. This mic literally delivers damn near EVERYTHING the sm7b does, and obviously not quite that signature broadcast and output the sm does, but it’s close. And you don’t need to have a cloud lifter or phantom power. You don’t even need XLR, though it is always nice, but the micro USB alone helps it push SO much more than I ever expected . Let’s put it this way…
I’m a bit of an audiophile. I’m picky. I won’t deny it. I listen to others all day long and watch streams and videos all the time, and I can’t stand bad audio. Music even, singing, rapping whatever your are doing, can’t do the bad audio. Even for myself. I purchased a crappy cheap cardioid thinking it was going to help me push audio quality on another level than my headset mic. It didn’t. I have a Logitech g pro x with a blue mic and that mic was LEAGUES ahead of my snowball, and even my yeti frankly with the adjustments I could make. And that dives into another point….audio tuning. I’ve used audacity and voicemod for all my tuning. I plugged this mic in and put it through its paces. I downloaded motiv, used it a little and it is basic. I thought I needed more. I shut it down and used my good ol audacity andnvoicemod and I was told that the difference was noticeable but not that much. I had audio issues. I dealt with alot. Finally got fed up and deleted audacity and voice mod and all thenfilters and plug-ins I have in obs and said screw it, just gonna run it with nothing and so be it because I’m tired with how much time I spend working. And TONS of people literally said woah. I literally got told they could just listen to me talk all day because of how incredible I sounded. How clean, and strong my voice came out. It literally elevated my audio with NOTHING on to what I wanted, and blew my mind. And after installing motiv and using the basic stuff. Literally running at at far with the dark setting on simple instead of advanced, more and more people have come to just listen and just talk as they have literally said it just sounds incredible and it’s enjoyable and it’s so clear and it feels like I’m actually talking to you. It’s changed my life. For literally 250, yoy get one of the highest quality Podcaster and broadcasting mics you could ever own, which is reasonable. That is a bang for the buck. Don’t hesitate, just buy it.

Antes del review, un disclaimer:
En los amplificadores de audio existen varias fuentes de ruido
* Ruido blanco (cuando los equipos de sonido se calientan, por el mismo calor van metiendo ruido, entre más equipos procesen la señal, mas ruido)
* Distorsion (Vease curva del transistor y zona lineal, sobre todo en componentes mal polarizados o que saturan el audio y llegan a la zona no lineal de los amplificadores)
* Ruido de fondo (en el caso de micrófonos)
* Baja frecuencia de muestreo
* Baja resolución de bits
Con esos criterios, mi opinión de este micrófono:
Pros.
– Aisla bastante bien el sonido de fondo (recomiendo que la ganancia se configure automáticamente y hablar cerca del micrófono para mejor aislamiento)
– tiene un buen manejo de ganancia automática
– Incluye todo lo necesario para empezar con un podcast (procesa internamente la señal y entrega señal digital)
– Al incluír dentro del mismo micrófono el procesador de señales, la señal queda en digital desde el origen, por lo que no hay que preocuparse por nada mas, al haber pocas etapas analógicas, el ruido blanco es mínimo
– El software tanto en el micrófono como el incluído para mac y windows es excelente y permite todavía más procesamiento de la señal
– El formato digital es bastante bueno, buena frecuencia de muestreo para rangos vocales y buena resolución (32 bits según el manual, 24 bits según la página web, deberían dar la información correcta)
Contras.
– Deberían desarrollar la aplicación también para ubuntu

En conclusión.
– Es un micrófono muy bien diseñado para su propósito (podcast fuera de un estudio de grabación)
– Si decides comprar un micrófono más sensible (un capacitivo por ejemplo), vas a tener que gastar dinero en acondicionar un estudio contra el ruido y el eco y vas a tener que comprar equipos para quitar el ruido que está captando tu micrófono sensible.