AudioChainsDB
INPUT SCENARIO

Shure SM58 on a PreSonus AudioBox GO: three decibels short at a quiet voice, and three ways to get them back

No, not cleanly. The SM58 needs about 55 dB at speaking level and the AudioBox GO stops at 50. Those are the published figures. That is the practical answer.

The Shure SM58 runs out of preamp on the PreSonus AudioBox GO. Stay as close as you like and the take is still about 5 dB quieter than a comfortable tracking level.

Shure rates the SM58 at -54.5 dBV/Pa, the voltage from a loud 94 dB tone at the grille. A speaking voice is closer to 85 dB, so the preamp still has to find about 55 dB to land near −9 dBV. That −9 dBV figure is just a tracking level: high enough to use, with space before the converter clips.

Put a booster of about 20 to 25 dB on the mic cable, before the interface — a Cloudlifter or FetHead, or anything whose manual prints the decibels. Speak a hand's width from the grille. Gain you add later in the DAW turns the preamp noise up together with the voice, so it does not fill this gap.

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