Shure MV7i Review

Introduction

The Shure MV7i might just be the cleverest microphone Shure has ever made.

Not to be confused with the similarly named MV7 Plus, which impressed me back in 2024, the MV7i packs the power of a proper XLR interface into the microphone, making it a convenient solution for instrumentalists and duo podcasters who want a quick and compact means of hooking up another device with ease.

Combine this with its classic Shure looks and sublime audio, and you’ve got a compelling microphone at its £329 / $349 asking price. That’s $50 more than the MV7 Plus, but with the addition of the interface.

Design

• Sublime build quality
• Clever built-in interface
• Lack of a stand is a shame

The MV7i looks and feels no different to the MV7 Plus model, but that’s no bad thing at all. It has the same compact pill-shape, with a sturdy metal frame, and half the chassis is taken up by a fabric wind muff.

It’s supremely well-built, as I’d expect from Shure, tipping the scales at 567g. Intriguingly, that’s slightly lighter than the Plus in spite of having some additional electronic gubbins inside to make the interface work. With this in mind, it feels fantastic, and definitely justifies its high price tag.

On-board controls come in the form of an RGB indicator around the middle of the MV7i that acts as a meter indicator if the audio of the mic is loud enough. In addition, it’s also a mute button, so with a simple tap, you can mute the MV7i, turning the indicator red.

The interface on the underside looks the same as the previous model, with an XLR port, USB-C and 3.5mm headphone jack. However, it’s here where this model differs against the Plus; whereas the Plus offered either XLR or USB-C connectivity, the MV7i’s XLR port is for using the mic as its own compact interface, providing up to 48V of phantom power if needed. You plug the mic into your PC with the USB-C port and included cable, and can then connect anything from a second XLR mic, such as the SM7B, to a guitar, to the MV7i, and the audio can then be fed to your PC via the USB connection. It is, in essence, a microphone with an XLR interface baked in. As well as this, the 3.5mm jack is for convenient on-board monitoring.

Much like the the Plus model, the MV7i in its basic form lacks a stand or arm to connect to. For this, you’ll need to source your own mountain hardware – for the price, the lack of a stand is a shame. I had no trouble fitting it to my boom arm, but you will have to watch out that this microphone uses a 5/8-inch thread, as opposed to a 3/8-inch one, so just make sure you’ve got the relevant adapter, which is included in the box.

Performance

• Rich, full-bodied audio
• Impeccable noise rejection with some virtual help
• Plug-and-play connectivity is convenient

Now the most important bit – how the MV7i sounds. Shure’s reputation for mics up and down the price ladder from the pro-grade SM7B to the more affordable MV6 and SM58 precedes them, and this latest model is no different.

In short, it’s sublime. Audio out of the box is crisp and detailed, even when I’m just sitting in my bedroom with no soundproofing. It’s full-bodied and works especially well for voices thanks to its cardioid pickup pattern.

In addition, the MV7i’s software tricks with its virtual pop filter, in tandem with its physical wind muff, meant any plosives were suitably dealt with. The addition of the virtual denoiser improved its noise rejection to no end, even though without it, it’s still perfectly usable. For testing this, I used my deliberately loud mechanical keyboard a few inches away while speaking into the mic, and the MV7i just allowed my voice to come through. It’s seriously clever.

It works plug-and-play too, being found when plugged straight into my PC without a hitch, and it worked completely fine in either Audacity or Adobe Audition, as well as in Shure’s software where you can make recordings.

Features

• MOTIV software offers access to a virtual mixer
• Allows for combined or separate mixing of multiple inputs
• No way of controlling RGB lighting

The MV7i works with Shure’s MOTIV Mix software, as it does with the Plus variant. The control on offer may be on the basic side, but it at least provides you with a virtual mixing desk for changing the gain level, as well as the volume of any headphones you’ve got plugged into the mic’s headphone jack for monitoring.

You can also control the MV7i on its own with more granular controls for the likes of tone and reverb, and toggle everything from a software-driven pop filter to the mic’s high-pass filter and its smart gate, which decreases inactive gain to reduce any cross-talk. It also allows you to choose the bit-rate, frequency and file type of recordings.

With this in mind, you can take full advantage of the twin recording setup that the mic offers thanks to that XLR port, offering the chance to record inputs in a few different modes. The Mixdown mode is the standard-issue option that mixes audio into one channel, while multi-track and stereo modes separate recordings into two channels, so you can mix them individually.

Other than this, MOTIV Mix is threadbare, with no way of controlling the small RGB panel on the MV7i. As this is a mic more aimed for professional use such as for podcasts, this isn’t much of a surprise, but still would have been pleasant to see.

Should you buy it?

FAQs