Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-1

Product Information

For customers in outlying areas of the country, the price of the Extended Warranty may be marginally higher, due to the potential for higher collection and redelivery transport costs. Also, adding an extra device to the recording chain might not be practical, especially for field recordings. It leads to one more box to carry with its powering requirements, adding more bulk and wiring that can be avoided with a mic activator. I’ve spent a fat minute researching the inline preamps recently to find the best mic booster for my podcasting setup. I settled for the Cloudlifter CL-Z even though I would have done fine with a FetHead.

I’ve referenced the regular FetHead for this post. However, Triton Audio also offers FetHead Filter that has an extra HPF feature and FetHead Phantom for condenser microphones. 2. sE Electronics Dynamite DM-1 (Highest Gain) If your mic is noisy or buzzing, all is not lost. Make sure you read Why Is My Microphone Buzzing? (11 Common Causes) before you throw in the towel!) 3. Recording Studios Of course, the other application for the CL-1 is to use low-output mics with long cable runs. If you have problems with radio interference from long cables to your ribbon mics, then the CL-1 would probably help you. I do a lot of on location recording of Classical music in the Chicago area and thanks to the CL-2 I’ve rediscovered the joy of using ribbons for spot mics. Because I want to set up my listening position far from the musicians and stay out of sight during concerts, my typical cable run is 100′ to 150′. The CL-2 handles that length with no trouble at all. Unbeknownst to novices, the problem is that ribbon mic users must contend with noise level and gain issues while recording. Two possible remedial measures to boost the signal without raising the noise floor are:

What is the Cloud Microphones CL-1 Cloudlifter?

McBoost is rugged, compact, and almost twice as heavy as others on this list. It features an all-steel case with powder coating that is clearly built to last a lifetime. It also features hand-matched transistors and dual FET class-A circuits for optimal performance. The scarlet all-metal casing houses class-A FETs with gold-plated XLR connectors that yield a neutral and balanced sound. Being a direct-to-mic activator, the DM-1 plugs directly into the microphone thus eliminating the need for a second XLR cord. Performance

Unlike the CL-1 the FetHead can be plugged in at any stage of the signal flow. This is a major advantage as this means you can use the device with just one XLR. The CL-1 (used in our comparison tests) has a footprint of 4.9 x 4.9 x 12 cm, making it ultra-portable for mobile podcasts. The all-metal casing is sturdy, and no buttons or dials means that the CL-1 is more than equipped for a life on the road. The preamps of yore, that’s the 60s and 70s to be precise, were built to dish out 70 to 80 dB of gain boost without flinching. Fast forward to 2021 and the abundance of high-output capacitor mics has eliminated the demand for them.In case you are still unsure of just what is on offer with each product, we have compiled the most important specs into two convenient lists for you to come to compare further. No ribbon microphones were harmed during the course of this test. (That’s actually one of the features of the Cloudlifter.) Is there a difference between the initial release of the “CL-1” and those that came later or are all the same. This is in reference to your comment that “the new Cloudlifters have updated circuitry”, If so how can we tell? Are there serial numbers or…. But how do these two mic activators hold up in practical application? Well, we have run some tests to determine the noise floor and frequency response of each device. It’s been a total game-changer on a nearly-forgotten ’57 that actually turned out to be a very decent VO mic after all.