I had expected the impedance controls to do more and ended up a little bit disappointed considering the price of it. Maybe if you have a more trained ear, and more knowledge/interest in impedance this will work great for you!! I actually had already fell in love with my Soyuz Launcher Cloudlifter before this purchase, so I'm sure that played heavily into why I disliked this one. The Sweetwater team was super helpful in getting this returned after trying it out, with absolutely no troubles there. Fantastic service at Sweetwater, and shout out to Dan Vranic for helping me with the very swift refund process!!

While the Shure SM 7B is a great microphone, it is very low output. It only took a single use to determine I needed a boost for it and the Cloudlifter works beautifully!

I'm using this with an sE passive ribbon mic. Not only does it provide a good clean boost, but the impedence adjustment shapes the tone nicely.

Great tool to add to your favorite mic to get it to sound like an expensive condenser mic without any problems with feedback. Everything on the device does something big and you can hear it immediately.

Well built, well worth the cost, and simple to use. Something you don't find in a lot of products these days. It's not a gimmick it works, and the quality of the mic is not changed or colored. You just get more of what you had without noise and feedback.

Just imagine dialing in the sweetest tone that your microphones can possibly produce. Now...buy this box and imagine no longer. It's like getting a whole new mic locker with all of the different impedances, boost, and bypass you can achieve from the mics you currently have. And when they say a "transparent signal path," they really mean it. An absolute no-brainer at this price.

I managed to do the impossible...damage this unit. I know this because they are built like a tank and all the studios I know who have it in Bay Area keep it in use permanently and to my knowledge has never happened.

So I call up and get Scott (GM) who doesn't no me from Adam and I tell him the situation and he sounds surprised (as stated this doesn't happen), but without hesitation he proudly states "this is an American made product with a life time guarantee. We will ship you out a new one immediately". This conversation happened April 13th and today April 15th the new unit arrived in AM FED-EX.


No making me wait a month for it to get it back from repair.

No waiting till they get my unit before they ship replacement.

2 days later new unit here with a prepaid Fed label to ship back my unit in same box.

If only all companies where of this standard...

Equally, if not more important is the quality of the product.

If you have an SM7B or R92 (both I use regularly) you owe it to your recordings to get this unit. In fact, Sure and AEA should just package it together. 25db of extra clean gain that brings out the best sonics from these mics.

So happy to have my CLZ back plugged in!!!

Really helps dynamic mics shine. Also, built very well.

Pair this up with any mic in your arsenal and you'll be pleased with the results. I only wish you could get it in a four pack!

If you own a ribbon mic, you need this box. If you own a low output dynamic mic, you need this box. It does exactly what it says it will do, and it does it superbly. I have a cache of vintage RCA ribbons that just got a new lease on life. I'll be ordering at least one more Cloudlifter.

Let me start by saying the Z has vastly improved my guitar recordings. Match this with an SM57 (or any dynamic/ribbon for that matter) and prepare for a whole new pallet of tones. Obviously this has the clean boost of the CL-1, but the ability to vary the impedance and activate a hi-pass filter is where this thing is different. I'd pretty much lost interest in using SM57's until I tried this and now it's like having a brand new mic.

This is an amazing and innovative tool. I have been using Cloud Microphones Mic Activators for home recording for a while now, and I've had great success using the CL-1 and CL-2 with my dynamic mics like the SM7B and Shure 58s and my ribbons mic, also a Cloud RCA 44 clone called the JRS34. In fact, this whole line of products has revolutionized and revitalized my whole process. The CL-Z has upped the ante, though, by giving us further control of both impedance and a high pass filter! Thanks, Cloud Microphones, recording has never been so exciting at home!

My busted-up old 58 sounds like a million bucks with this thing - now it sounds better than my lead singer's Neumann. And wait until you see the expression on the engineer's face when you play live with it - they literally can never believe their ears.

Maybe I've gotten use to the idea that things are overstated in product descriptions, but this was understated. I purchased the CL-Z to bring up my levels when using my Royer R121. I have a mic pre with Impedance adjustments but it maxes out at 2500k. It also didn't have enough gain when recording quieter voices.

I can't find the words to describe my first impression, it was like going from a great mic to a mic that I should be able to afford! The tonal variation that you can get by adjusting the HPF and the impedance is astounding!

If you have a ribbon mic and want to get that perfect volume and tone, this might be your tool.