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Old 06-21-2022, 10:58 AM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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In that sort of use (just for fun self-jamming with myself or maybe a few others) this is what I use:

Home: I just play my acoustic, well, acoustically. For ad lib songwriting ideas or personal "sound checks" I'll sometimes use an inexpensive Zoom handheld or a smart phone. No mics (I use the phone or Zooms built ins) or extra preamps needed.

Studio Space: I use what I use to record as a mic preamp/mixer into powered monitor speakers or headphones. Advantage: I already own it, and of course if I want to record something that comes up, it's easy to do that too. My Scarlett 8 channel with 8 channel Clarett expansion is what I use. Most don't need that many channels, but I've needed more than 8 sometimes when recording with others. The Scarlett 8 channel unit actually works "stand alone" as a mixer, even without the computer on, but again is overkill for most solo guitar vocal people.

Except for likely needing a computer to power your interfaces (sorry, don't know that model off the top of my head) you could do the same. One nice thing about using a "recording setup" for just jamming, playing, and/or practicing is that recording software is a very flexible looper, backing track player, effects device emulator, soundcheck how well I've mastered a technique, song idea scratch pad device too. I think of it as an "audio smart phone" -- in that it can replace a lot of separate things with one solution.

Now on to your mics. I happen to own both, and you may have issues. The SM7B is a famous gain hog, and most small interfaces don't have enough. I use mine with a Cloudlifter powered off my interface's phantom power. Works great with the CL giving me a 20db gain boost. I think there are less expensive devices that do a similar gain boost to the CL, again driven off the interface or mixers phantom power. The SM7B works very well with some voices and I believe does a nicer job in untreated rooms than some other choices.

I bought a used SM81 a year or so ago. I was going to use it to mic cymbals (a classic use for this mic) but I tried it on acoustic guitar. It's not bad in that role, but again it requires more gain than most any small diameter condenser mic that I've encountered. And since condenser mics already are using phantom power for themselves, a CloudLifter or the like isn't a solution. You'll have to see with your interface how well it works.
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Guitars: 20th Century Seagull S6-12, S6 Folk, Seagull M6; '00 Guild JF30-12, '01 Martin 00-15, '16 Martin 000-17, '07 Parkwood PW510, Epiphone Biscuit resonator, Merlin Dulcimer, and various electric guitars, basses....
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