Cloudlifter CL-1 with Electro-Voice RE27N/D: Noise Floor Test for Voiceover

00:00:00 - 00:00:23
I’m comparing the Cloudlifter CL-1 Mic Activator with an Electro-Voice RE27N/D, testing if you need it for voiceover recordings.

00:00:23 - 00:01:08
I’ll provide spoken word and noise floor comparisons with and without the Cloudlifter, using a Mackie Big Knob Studio+ at max 60 dB gain, then matching output with the Cloudlifter at 50–55% gain. Quality XLR cables matter—I’m using Audioblast HQ-4 Star Quad. See my XLR noise test video for GLS, Monster, and Blue comparisons.

00:01:08 - 00:01:38
Audio samples are unprocessed, with the RE27 in flat mode. I used a sine wave to match levels. First, spoken word without Cloudlifter: “Multicultural, multihistorical, spanning man’s faith across time, the final book is a controversial and blasphemous last chapter of humanity.”

00:01:38 - 00:02:00
Now with Cloudlifter at 55–60% gain: “Multicultural, multihistorical, spanning man’s faith across time, the final book is a controversial and blasphemous last chapter of humanity.” Next, A/B room noise tests.

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Amplitude statistics: Without Cloudlifter, noise floor is 81.07 dB RMS; with Cloudlifter, it’s 83.46 dB. The 2.5 dB improvement is slight, barely audible, and costly for a sub-80 dB noise floor.

00:02:50 - 00:03:36
I like running the Mackie preamp at 50–55% with Cloudlifter versus 90–95% without—it feels better, but stats suggest it’s psychological. The Cloudlifter isn’t essential for RE27 like it is for RE20 or Shure SM7B, but it offers slight noise reduction and peace of mind if every dB counts.

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Until next time, see you later!