Tritonaudio FetHead - Studio Preamplifier

Product Information

The FetHead is a popular Cloudlifter alternative because it provides a similar amount of additional gain a lower price point and it does so without needing an additional XLR cable. With the Cloudlifter, you need to plug your mic into it and then run another XLR cable from the output port into your mixer or audio interface. It’s still inline but perhaps less convenient than something like the FetHead which plugs directly into your microphone. Made of high-quality steel, it can also help protect older ribbon microphone styles that can be damaged by phantom power. Its portability makes it the perfect choice for the artist on the go. Performance

Regardless of what type of microphone you’re working with, a Cloudlifter can be added at any point in your setup to help cut down on noise while raising your noise floor. FetHead vs Cloudlifter: A Side-by-Side Comparison Overall, the key differences in the FetHead vs Cloudlifter debate come down to small use-case differences. If you’re constantly performing on the road in small venues, FetHead’s portability may convince you.As popular as they are though, alternatives do exist, some of which are more friendly on the wallet and others which have additional features. In this roundup, we’ll explore the different options available and detail the pros and cons of each. One of the biggest worries with mic activators is that they will skew the frequency response. However, this is not an issue with FetHead, as it adds controllable clean gain up to 27dB. In setups with long cables, however, FetHead does help reduce noise as well as Cloudlifter does. Verdict The construction is all metal and the XLR connectors are gold plated for the most reliable signal connection. Here are the specs:

Activators are essentially small inline preamps which takes the 48v phantom power from an audio interface (as dynamic mics don’t need phantom power) and uses it to produce a gain boost for those dynamic mics which need it.

Mic activators help us solve the gain problems of dynamic and ribbon microphone styles. One of the biggest draws of these devices is that they are considered a low-noise solution for quiet audio. This means you can spend more time recording and less in post-production working with audio you can barely hear. Your Fethead will latch straight onto any XLR equipped microphone, or anywhere else in the signal path between microphone and preamp/mixer.The electronics are housed in a robust metal chassis with a balanced female XLR input and a balanced male XLR output, rugged enough for use at home, in the studio or on tour. Good question! If you’re using an interface which is fairly standard in podcasting circles, a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 for example, it has preamps for each of the mic inputs built-in. These will be fine for a condenser mic which outputs a hot signal but to get to the level you need when using a dynamic mic, you’ll need to crank up the gain.

A Cloudlifter (or alternative mic activator) is necessary if you’re using a low sensitivity dynamic or ribbon microphone and the preamps of your mixer/audio interface don’t provide the gain needed to bring your microphone up to the required level. This has been our head to head for the two most popular products in the mic activation market. As you can tell, there are pros and cons to both devices. If you can handle a little extra noise in your recordings then the FetHead is the obvious choice, with its ultra-transparent high gain signal boost. If you are less concerned about coloration and are looking for a product that can prescribe gain based on what your mic needs, then the CL-1 is the activator for you. EIN is used for specifying noise levels in pre-amps. It’s quoted as a negative value in units of dBu, and the lower the EIN, the better.The aim of the FetHead is to boost the signal cleanly by up to 20dB before hitting the mic-pre so you can use less gain and have a cleaner recording. It does this by using double jFET configured as a double class-A amplifier which is super clean and is conveniently powered by the phantom power from your pre. Phantom power is not passed through the FetHead and so you can use it safely with ribbon microphones (a phantom version is available if you want to use a FetHead with a condenser) In short, we noticed an improvement on all tested dynamic microphones. A Shure SM57 or SM58 for instance sounds more responsive over a broader frequency range. When mated with a high-end dynamic microphone like a Sennheiser MD441, or Shure SM7 FetHead really shines. Ribbon microphones benefit greatly too because of a much better impedance match, which lessens the load on the microphone, thus giving it better transient response characteristics. FetHeads high quality, low-noise signal amplification also extends the usable range of a ribbon microphone, by making it more suitable for recording softer passages without introducing noise.