Just wondering (and I’m not sure if I’m posting this in the right category), but might there be any Nyquist plug-ins (or work-flow tips) to help me get a Shure SM11 dynamic Lav mic reasonably closer to the warmth and low-end depth of its much bigger and much more celebrated sibling, the SM7B? Yeah, tall order, I know, because well, one’s a Lav and the other’s…well, an SM7B.
Trying to record a podcast outdoors with my son while walking, and the situation necessitates portability and simplicity, since we’re carrying and operating all gear ourselves. To this end, we’re each wearing a separate Zoom F3 field recorder w/an attached Shure XLR Lav mic and syncing our two mono tracks in post. The available mics in our kit are all Lavs: two Shure dynamic SM11s, two Shure omni MX183s, and two Shure cardioid MX185s. I do own an SM7B, but it’s just not feasible to lug it around outdoors. Plus, I have only one. Would like as much continuity between the two mics as possible.
Anywho, the sound of my SM7B is unmatched by anything else in my kit, but I’m on a pretty tight budget (read broke) and would prefer to make one of my three Shure Lav pairings work for this project. The good news is that since my two F3s have 32-bit float, I can jack the Shure SM11s as high as I need to in post without the need for preamps or Cloudlifters. But obviously that’s not the issue in trying to match the acoustics with a mic like the SM7B. The output I get from the SM11s is clean with zero noise floor, but it lacks low-end and warmth. No punch. Pretty flat and hollow-sounding. Lots of high-end. Any suggestions to help me get the best I can from these Lavs in post? If you’re wondering, I’m privileging the SM11s over the more expensive MXs because they’re dynamic and part of the same SM series as the 7B, while the MXs are condensers. That said, I’m not opposed to going with the MXs.
BTW: I built two headset mounts to get the Lavs close to our mouths, so I’ve made sure to address placement issues up front. No problems with cable noise, rustling from clothing, or wind.
Thanks much for any advice you can send my way. Blessings.
There are EQ-matching plugin$ which automatically make one mic sound like another…
TDR have a free plugin called “prism” where you can load in an audio file as reference EQ, but you have to manually adjust the audio playing to match it with a real-time equalizer.
Hi again, @Trebor. Guess I’m not as up on the plug-in/EQ process as I thought I was. I essentially just took the two spec data sheet EQ curves from Shure that you included for the SM11 and SM7B respectively, and I manually adjusted the SM11’s curve to match the SM7B’s as best I could, cutting the SM11’s 4db boost between 7-10kHz as you pointed out. Q: Was this what you were referring to when you said that one could match the mics manually?
Also, is there a way to highlight a track, have Audacity analyze it, and spit back its current EQ settings? Just wondering. Might be easier, I suspect, to work with actual data from my own files rather than trust Shure’s data sheets (as you pointed out).
And sorry if I sound like a total newb here. Regrettably, I am. I’m pretty proficient at installing Nyquist plug-ins and applying them for quick effect, but I’m not so well-versed in manually EQing tracks.
Also, wondering if the demo version of Nova GE allows for the precise mic-matching demonstrated in the first video you referenced. Or does only the paid version offer this feature?
Tokyo Dawn’s free PRISM plugin will draw a spectrum plot of any audio file you load into it. If you do two* of those: the 2 different mics recording the same person/location/script, then load them both into PRISM you can measure the (manual) corrections that need to be made so they match, e.g. using Audacity’s equalizer.
Thanks, @Trebor. Will likely to take you up on your offer to EQ-match my files. In the meantime, do you know if it’s possible to install TD Prism on a machine running Audacity 3.4.2 on Ubuntu 22.04? As far as I can tell, Tokoyo Dawn released only .aaxplugin, .dll, and .vst3 files for download. No .ny. Good for both Mac and Windows, but no love for Linux.
Two wav/flac files of 5 seconds would be sufficient,
files of that size can be attached to a post here.
Or alternatively use free audio-host incorporated into Audacity …
