I think quality wise..interface will win. I'd go that route.

Focusrite is your friend.

My Cloudlifter went bananas and I moved off the SM7-B to a Universal Audio SD-1 and am very happy. That said, I already have UA interfaces and their unison plugins have enough gain to bring up the SD-1.

If you’re using the SM7-dB, it might be worth looking into an entry-level (price not quality) audio interface, like a M-Audio or Focusrite. The benefits here are you can add a nice pair of studio monitors down the line if you want.

You can certainly move up from there for better A/D/A conversion into the UA, RME or MOTU stuff.

Classical music recording engineer here. Your podcast sounds great because you use good mic technique. Upgrading to an SM7B and an interface will probably yield diminished returns (unless you just enjoy it that much more) and add setup time.

If I were in your shoes, I would start looking into an interface when you would like to put some distance between you and your computer, as in a live sit-down talk. Grab some more cabling, and you may host as many people as you have channels and mics for. I recommend an interface that records to SD cards for field recordings - I hate dealing with computers in the field, but that's just me.

Hope that helps, and thanks for making another fucking Bitcoin podcast just for me.

How many local mic inputs do you need?

Anything direct connected to the computer will likely have high noise (especially when it's a laptop and it's plugged into power) external sound cards help a lot, and most come with good mic preamps built in.

Best bang for buck is probably an external audio interface like a scarlet. Puts all your audio i/o outside the noisy computer and gives you flexible physical cable routing for different scenarios.

Tbh most of the nuance in mic selection and preamp selection (other than signal to noise) gets destroyed when encoded for broadcast on most settings, and the other poster is correct : it's mostly about mic technique, proximity effect, and basic eq to get the sound you want across different listening environments.

It's worth playing with different mics (keeping everything else the same) to find one you like with your voice with minimal eq needed, but there are so many other variables with broadcast encoding and analog to digital conversion that might impact things, if you really want to dig in we would have to discuss the whole signal path from voice to earholes

It’s a brand new mic, but you should look into the Lewitt RAY large diaphragm condenser mic.

It will sound way better than the SM7B and it has extra features where it auto changes the gain of the microphone depending on your proximity.

It’s like a camera with auto focus, it keeps your voice consistent. It also can be used as an auto mute. If you have to cough, just move away from the mic and it will automatically mute.

I have not personally used it, it just hit the market, but it looks like the perfect mic for podcasting. Especially if you’re not an audio engineer or have good mic technique.

👋 film mixer here. Getting a good interface with decent preamps, like a focusrite Scarlett would be worth a look.

OR

If you want an interesting option:

https://www.sounddevices.com/product/mixpre-3-ii/

I record a lot of foley, ADR, and VO. It all starts with performance and mic technique. Remember that you are recording the AIR between the microphone and the sound source.

And when all else fails, there iZotope RX 😂

I don’t notice any significant difference. In fact I had edited and/or finished recording a podcast on the SM7B and switched to the MV7 and it wasn’t noticeable unless you were REEAALLY paying attention to the audio.

The one recurring difference is honestly that my XLR cable in my stand has some connection issues (or maybe it’s my interface, not certain) and so it pops and breaks up sometimes. Frustrating enough that I think I’ll be switching back to the MV7 until I figure it out. Sucks because I do like my SM7B a lot.

I have the MV7 and SM7b they do sound similar but SM7b is more versatile and easier to use with the capsule set far back and better foam.

The sound quality also gets an upgrade through a good audio interface. I use it through my Rodecaster Pro and Volt276 through a cloudlifter.

But after a while I fell in love with the RE20 instead. That mic suits my voice much better.

Combination of SM7B and the RodeCaster Pro II is AMAZING!

Would recommend it any time!

It's more on the pricey side, but sound is amazing...