Bought this to try mic-ing narrators at a combination volunteer community band and youth choir Christmas program. Past experience suggested that dynamic mics wouldn't deliver narrations through a 50-90 ft cord run. I placed the CL- 2 at the stage end of a 40 ft snake, ran 50 ft XLRs from there to the dynamic mics, turned on the 48 V phantom power, and the dynamic mics worked like they were in a small room with 20 ft cords. In fact, they worked so well as to cause some high pitch feedback to the 6 condenser mics in front of the choir. After minor adjustment, all was well. I will keep the CL-2 in my mic locker forever. Thanks John and colleagues at Sweetwater !

Not to mention super solid!

I record my podcast through my Rodecaster Pro. While the RCP gives me enough gain to get away without the additional gain, having the Cloudlifter is a huge benefit. The clean, noiseless gain allows me to lower my input level and get rid of any annoying buzz.

Ordered this to boost the signal coming from my Royer R-10s. Gave me much more headroom to work with before getting too much preamp noise. Solidly built, super easy to use, solid connections, compact, and made in the USA to boot. Definitely worth the money!

I got a Shure MV7 and a Sennheiser e 835. I got the C.L to give them a little boost in gain, the 25db gain that was advertised, no where to be heard, especially in the Shure mic. Whatever software you use to record, you're might have to raise the level yourself. DO NOT USE THE CL ON A Dynamic MIC, it will not do anything for you.

I purchased the Cloudlifter 2.0 to boost my Rode Podmic that I use with the Rodecaster Pro. I was not dissatisfied with the original set up. However, the Cloudlifter makes a significant difference in the strength of signal. Not only is my mic no longer maxed out for my typical session, there is no hiss on the line.

Beyond that, the Cloudlifter construction is rugged, the aesthetic clean and classic.

This device is as good as advertised. I am pleased and impressed.

This little box does exactly what it's advertised to do, and does it very well. Dead quiet, with at least double the gain on my ribbon mics, judging by the knobs on my preamps. Makes it much easier to match my ribbons with my condenser mics.

Needed some signal boost for a set of dynamic microphones we are using for a podcasting project, these did the trick marvelously!!! Thanks a million!!!

Well the reviews are right on. I put this a couple short xlrs away from the ribbon mic and dynamic mic that I have on my Princeton amp. It was like hearing it all again for the first time. Dropped my preamp around 20 something DB and pulled away from the noise. I"m pretty sure I will put one on every dynamic and ribbon mic I have.

This is a beautifully made, solid little box that provides extra gain for up to two dynamic microphones. I literally think everyone should have one, as it provides crisp, extra gain for a multitude of uses, whether in a live setting or in your studio. It does require 48 V phantom power, so remember to switch that on when using it with your audio interface. Well worth the price!

I"ve got a stereo Blumlein ribbon that was just a bit too quiet with my current preamps and the Cloudlifter has totally transformed it. Not only is it louder with less noise, the sound is much fuller and feels more three dimensional. Would highly recommend one of these for any ribbon mic!

A friend of mine bought one. Swore it was better than a preamp. Called him out and I was blown away. This magic box is incredible. No joke, well worth the money.

I find these units to be indispensable for dynamic microphones, especially in a home studio. Even top notch audio interfaces with pre-amps simply don"t provide sufficient power to get the best out of the microphone. This device provides assistance to two mics, which is also great when podcasting with a host and guest. Remember to flip on the phantom power — truly a needed item.

This little thing made my Shure SM7b and Sennheiser e609 come alive! Simply amazing!

I use this to increase the gain on two Shure SM58s into a Sound Devices 664. Sounds great.

I have an R88 ribbon mic Nd 2 Grace 101 preamps. Had to crank up the preamps too high for my liking and the CL2 remedied the problem in the best way: transparently!

As many others have mentioned, this thing does it's job and WELL! I currently only use 1 of the 2 channels with a Shure SM58 plugged into an Aphex Channel Strip. The noise of the pre-amp was too noticeable before and after plugging this thing in and feeding it 48v, I have more super clean headroom then I ever imagined.

I am a huge fan of Radial products owning several of their higher end products with Jensen transformers and this thing is of the same build & sound quality.

Highly recommended… you can NOT go wrong.

I've been doing VO work for many years and this little box is just flat out amazing. Paired with my set of SM7B microphones, this activator brought out more presence and life to the recordings. A seriously noticeable difference to the level and power that the microphones captured. Now my interviews and podcast recordings are taking on a new sound all thanks to this little box of clarity.

I purchased this to improve the sound from two Heil PR-40 microphones. I've had better interfaces in the past, but occasionally an amateur like me has to sell gear to raise money, so the interfaces I have left are old Roland FA-66 FireWire interfaces, bought from eBay. These do not provide all that much clean gain. When using a PR-40 with this interface, turning the gain up high enough to get decent peak levels introduces a lot of hiss.

The CloudLifter fixes this problem. I can reduce the gain on the FA-66 quite a bit, and still get nice peaks. That's the problem I wanted to solve with this box, and it solves it. I just turned on phantom power to power the Cloud Lifter, and it sits on my desk and quietly brings up the signals from the mics. It's been completely trouble-free. It sounds nice and clean. At some point when I can get a better interface, I expect it to sound good enough that I'll continue to use it.

First of all, Sweetwater Music's customer service is phenomenal. I recieved my Cloudlifter in four days, free shipping. Made it two days early, before I needed it for a long session. When you purchase a Cloudlifter from Sweetwater, it automatically comes with a two year warranty. Sweetwater will also do in house repairs for you. Although I've haven't had to send anything in, that's a nice feature. The Cloudlifter itself is fantastic, especially when plugging in an SM7B, or something similar. I haven't tested any ribbon mics yet, will probably in the future. Definitely get the two channel if you have a studio and are considering a Cloudlifter or something similar, that way you always have the option of using two mics simultaneously. Overall, I couldn't be more satisfied. Darius at extension 1769, thank you so much for everything, you're the man. I'll definitely be buying all my gear from Sweetwater!

Not nearly as good as claimed... Putting an oscillator equidistant to each of a pair of 1960 Shure 55S mics - I measured the DB boost with both at maximum level setting on the XLR midi-interface (Tascam). Rather than a 20-25 DB boost as their marketing claims, I got a 10-12db increase for each mic. At lower level setting on the channel input control on the midi-interface, the Cloudlifter did virtually NOTHING at all. Only on the highest volume input settings, (9-10 out of 10), did the CL2 kick in to add gain to the mics, at roughly HALF as much as claimed. I can still benefit from an added 10-12db boost - but am seriously conflicted regarding the $250 paid for adding 10dbs!!! Generally speaking, at least for these mics - it may not be worth the price paid. I'm not pleased with how it turned out... I was looking for the 20-25db gain...

The Cloudlifter CL-2 really brings life to all my dynamic microphones.

I have a small Mackie FXPro 8v2 Mixer. It works very well (recognized in Audacity under Linux right away). But it has limited gain, and with dynamic microphones like the Shure SM58 or the SM7B you have to basically max the gain and even then it's not so great. Buy an extra pair of short XLR cables and put this inline with your mics and boom, instant very clean gain. Really works well.

Wow, I was hoping this would do the job and it sure does. (application was dual ribbon micing of a Hammond/Leslie.) Huge improvement for passive ribbons.

If you have passive mics this is the solution.

I've been using Audient's id22 and asp880 preamps, which I love, but which only offer 60db of gain. I was definitely experiencing some noise as I cranked them to the very tip top of their gain range to use my ribbon mics. With the cloudlifter, my noise problems go away. Couldn't be happier with it!

Before I connected the cloud lifter to my interface I had to crank up the gain,now with this preamp hooked up the gain on the interface is turned back down to almost half,unbelievable!

I purchased two Electrovoice RE20's for my home studio. I have used them in the past in a professional broadcast studio, and anyone who has knows from experience why there the industry standard. With that said I used them with an m audio c600. The gain had to be just about peaked to get a good signal out of the mic's. Knowing this wasn't good I talked to my sales rep. Bob Furlong who I worked with for years now and he pointed me in the direction of the cloud lifter. I was hesitant because of the cost and wether or not this would be the answer to my problem. As usual Bob hit a home run with this. It's built to last. No plastic. Does exactly what it said. Gives it around 25db of gain. All plug and play. No brains required to use. Now my gains are about 1/4 or half in some cases and I get perfect signal. It's that simple. Build quality and results are amazing. Great buy for anyone. Awesome product. You won't regret this purchase.

This thing just works! Brings the Shure SM-7b and SM58 to life.

It does exactly what it advertises. Adds +25dB of clear uncolored sound. Well built and Made In America! Works wonders on all of my dynamic mics. This needs to be included in any engineer's tool bag.

I run a small broadcasting network, and our studio is a converted spare bedroom. Needless to say, there isn't much space - so the hosts record in cramped quarters. I use the Heil Sound PR-40 mics, which help with sound isolation between hosts, but their output is notoriously low, on par with the SM7B, if not quieter.

After plugging in the CloudLifter, our mics came alive! For the first time, I was hearing the mic itself and not my low-quality preamp. This thing adds gain, but nothing else. It's my best upgrade to the studio so far. The Machine couldn't run without a CloudLifter in our signal chain.

I put up a Bleumlein
pair of MXL 144 ribbon mics that I had changed the transformers and re-tensioned the ribbons to match
each other (one ribbon was much too slack when it arrived after shipping, good thing I checked!) I used
Lundahl 2912 transformers in them and then put them through the two channel cloudlifter you sold me.

Ed, I kid you not, the effect was nothing short of recorded reality. I would recommend that everyone have
a recording of a loved one's voice with this setup in case they ever lose that person and want to remember
every nuance of that person's voice with no trace of recording artifacts or coloration. Natural, relaxed, and
real. Recorded reality.

I had to turn the gain down on this microphone setup to lower levels than any of my other condenser or
tube microphones. Not a TRACE of hiss or distortion.

People thing that a ribbon will always do that high end roll off. NOT SO!
I love my high end, I am a flutist and a piccolo player. I love my high end and I know what high end
really, really sounds like. This Cloudlifter/ribbon setup goes beyond the audible range of hearing. (probably quite a bit beyond)
In comparison with my condenser mics, I can't hear any roll off and neither can the younger ears around here.

This thing is great!!!!

It's doesnt add anything to the signal besides volume

The Cloudlifter CL-2 solves the problem of power-hungry dynamic or ribbon microphones. Now when I use my Sennheiser 441 for live performances, I only have to use half the gain I once used, opening up the sound with a little more clarity. Even better yet, when I do field recording with my Korg MR-1000 used in connection with my Royer SF12 ribbon microphone, I have more than enough gain for capturing all the nuances of any situation. Wish I'd had this piece of equipment much sooner!

The Cloudlifter CL-2 solves the problem of power-hungry dynamic or ribbon microphones. Now when I use my Sennheiser 441 for live performances, I only have to use half the gain I once used, opening up the sound with a little more clarity. Even better yet, when I do field recording with my Korg MR-1000 used in connection with my Royer SF12 ribbon microphone, I have more than enough gain for capturing all the nuances of any situation. Wish I'd had this piece of equipment much sooner!

I bought a Royer SF-12 Stereo Ribbon Mic and a Presonus ADL-600 dual mic pre a while back, and love them both. I wanted to take my Royer SF-12 out and use if for some recording in my drummers live room. After a few recording sessions it was obvious that moving my very expensive, delicate and rather heavy preamp was not a good idea. I needed a more portable solution for preamping my ribbon microphone. After hearing about the Cloudlifter from my Sweetwater rep, David Hess, and hearing Ronan Chris Murphy from Ronan's Recording Show talk about these handy devices, I decided to give one a try. I setup my Royer SF-12 just like I did before, but now with the cloudlifter as a pre (using the ribbon as a drum overhead). I plugged the output of the cloudlifter direct into two channels of my RME Fireface UFX and activated the phantom power for the two channels of the cloudlifter. I got a very solid, and clean signal out of the Cloudlifter. This is a great tool to have available for ribbon mics, or to overcome signal loss from long cable runs. This preamp works.

If you have a mic pre with a relatively low input impedance and not a lot of gain, this box is killer for low output mics such as ribbons. Not only do you get 18+ dB of clean gain before your preamp, but this box provides an ideal load for velocity sensitive mics. With a 3 kOhm input impedance, the loading is just right to give a ribbon or a moving coil dynamic mic a fuller frequency response and a smoother top end.

Get ready to reach for the pads on your pres. I do a good deal of location recording and have been hesitant to break out the R-121's until Mike Picotte recommended the Cloudlifter. Also, I was hesitant to apply 48v phantom power anywhere near these mics, but this thing works, it really does. I wanted to use the mics for drum OVHDS and what a great choice for capturing the kit like it really sounded. I found I had gain to spare and actually applied a pad to each of the mics for reduction and tracking into ProTools. The unit's transformer does get warm, but I tracked for three solid hours without fail or coloring. Hear how your ribbons can really shine. For the price, you can't beat the Cloud!

Wow. I just blew out my headphones. well not really b/c they are really good monitors however i almost went deaf from the feedback. this little device is absolutely cool. I don't know if it just increases the signal 25 dB or adds something else in addition. I am using AEA's R84 mics (2 of em) with my CloudLifter connected to my Great River 2N-DV pre. It's almost too loud but you just have to tweak it a little bit. I had to change some of the plugins in my vocal tracks but this definately gives it more zest or (Sorry I lack the vocabulary of an audio enginner) it just adds more to the mix but its not amazing. Now I can actually see the waveforms in PT and Logic with my Vocal tracks and I'm using a Noise Reduction Plugin b/c this cloudlifter is very sensitive and you just need to activate the phantom power on your pre to get it to work. Don't worry about that with ribbon mics it does not adversely affect the ribbon mics so go ahead and turn that 48K on there. In conclusion I'd say this is quite nice to get such a rise in hertz or is it dB? At any rate don't go running out to buy this right away but if you dig ribbon mics this is a keeper. All in all its pretty cool. I like it.