In large venues, it boosts the signal enough to drive your signal over long XLR cables ensuring optimum sound quality. I just got my new CL-1 a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been using it with a SHURE SM57 on some of my voiceover projects. We're lucky when three experienced audio professionals come together with their perspectives and experience for a deep dive into a product that deserves close attention.

From award-winning ribbon microphones to innovative Cloudlifter Mic Activators, our USA-made products redefine audio excellence, delivering unparalleled quality and versatility for a world of sound possibilities. The Cloudlifter CL-1 provides up to +25dB of gain that partners with your preamp in amplifying your mics' signal for clean, transparent recordings. 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. The CL-1 did indeed raise the output of the mic, allowing me to use a lower preamp setting for the recording. In fact, I used it extensively in my recent podcast microphone shootout, because it let me run my DAW inputs comfortably in the middle of their gain range, leaving plenty of headroom for matching gain across microphones.The CL lets you avoid that high-noise region of your preamp fader, but still get a nice strong signal. Burl Audio, under the direction of owner/designer Rich Williams, has developed some of the best new recording equipment over the last eight years. If the two tracks were truly identical, the waveforms (equal in amplitude but opposite in direction) would cancel out completely, resulting in silence. I have a Focusrite Solo and an Sm7B and it's pretty quiet right now and tough to work with in my DAW but not impossible.

Now, if I'm being honest, most of the time, the tone of the CL-1 feels just right, but that's not always enough for me. The Cloudlifter is a patent-pending, fully discrete amplifier circuit, using no resistors or capacitors in the audio path, built into a solid steel case with Neutrik XLR connectors, and is designed, assembled, and tested by hand in the USA. The CL-1 appears to be well-built, in a hefty little metal box a little smaller than an average passive DI box. While I had the unit, I also ran it through a number of similar tests, including an acoustic guitar recording with an old EV RE15, which is a dynamic mic with a notably low output. The Cloudlifter is a plug and "forget" device which does its job invisibly without any configuration in the background.

Lately, legendary audio innovator Bob Heil has become more well-known for his institutional sound reinforcement and broadcast products than for creations such as the Heil Talk Box and Grateful. Many preamps sound great until you push them, resulting in all the hiss and crackle produced by the amplifier itself ending up in the mix. I love how passive mics can change their tone based on which preamp I choose, and lot of that is due to the differing input impedances of the preamps. Experience excellence with Cloud's acclaimed ribbon microphones and Cloudlifter Mic Activators, trusted by artists, recording studios, broadcast facilities, touring companies, schools, and universities globally.

If you’re using a dynamic mic with a 16-bit USB mic pre, and you want to maximize your gain staging before bus-powered A-to-D conversion, you need the Cloudlifter. Cloudlifter CL-1 Mic Activator is an easy to use, compact solution for common audio problems faced in the field and in the studio. The Cloudlifter seems like an interesting solution to problems often encountered with certain microphones.The majority of decisions are given instantly, so you could get your new gear sooner than you thought! The CL-1 is designed for all dynamic microphones including ribbons to provide up to +25dB of ultra-clean gain.