Shure MVX2U XLR-to-USB Interface with Headphone Jack, 60dB Gain, Zero-Latency Monitoring, 48V Phantom Power, ShurePlus App, USB-C Cable

1. 3 Shure MVX2U XLR-to-USB audio interfaces purchased, 2 good, 1 bad. 2. Great for a small recording setup, affordable. 3. Software to adjust/use the interface is untested, as well as the monitoring functions. 4. Audacity is used, on my end, in a Linux OS setup. 5. Not recommended for smartphone use, however, today's smartphones might be able to handle the load. 6. Stick to manufacturer purchases, if possible. I have been stung twice, one was recoverable. 7. Return process is not friendly, in my opinion. Review/Opinion: For my recording needs, this audio interface has been a great find for the money. I have not experiencing distortion or clipping when playing loudly into my mic. The interface/mic setup picks up every nuance in its vicinity and will help me tune my tone as I journey through the sax world. I cannot say how the interface matches up to a professional setup, however, matched to a SM58 Shure microphone and powered through a laptop using Audacity as the DAW, I have found no issues, IF you get one that works, lol. That is most likely an issue out of Shure's hands as one of the three was a 3rd party buy. I do not use a recommended operating system for their proprietary software to adjust or fine tune the interface during recordings, and frankly I do not need it, so I also cannot speak on the quality and usability of software. You are able to download that from their site if interested. On another note, this little sucker is heavy for its size- it makes me want to disassemble it to see what is in it! Setup: Overall, setup for me was super easy: plug the usb-c cable into a usb-c port, hook up the XLR cable to the microphone, check/setup input device(s) for the OS, check/setup Audacity inputs, test and troubleshoot where necessary. I have tried a usb-c to usb-a (USB 3.0) adapter that is rated for 10GB/s. This has also worked for me as well to power and communicate through the supplied usb-c cable. Microphone setup was seamless. Hook up the XLR cable, done. You also have the option of hooking this device directly up to the microphone's XLR port. Note: I have not tried this setup though, but it can be done. I will report in this review that the one MVX2U that did not work powered up, went green, but did not recognize devices. I thought about firmware, however, that was a moot point as the only fw available is out-dated. I figure someone burnt up something in the device, returned it, the 3rd party did a power test without checking for usability, and sent it back out. So, I will eventually send that one back but its not on my to-do list because it requires finding a Staples or UPS store to play tag with or pay for a label to have UPS pick it up, which is a PIA to me. Ease of use: My experience has been great with this device. It works very well through a laptop or old computer setup with Audacity installed on a lightweight Linux distro. I am not an expert on clarity and such, however, for my requirements, the clarity is fine for recording my instrument. It is not as sensitive to my voice as i would like. That, however, could be mic setup distance and/or my voice, as my voice can be quite soft especially when concentrating on the instrument. I am unable to speak on the monitoring features of this interface as I am only using it to record from the microphone. As a note: I was unable to do this setup through a smartphone, specifically the Samsung S8, which was to be expected. The product does what I want. It is easy to setup, just plug it in. It is affordable compared to other options available and the quality feels like it is there. Even with the hiccup with the bum device I received, I still give this 5 stars.

This A-D converter is a game changer! I record and produce hundreds of voice drops for a famous satellite radio provider using the MVX2U to a Neumann U87, and it sounds just as good as my UA interface. It's so small and USB bus powered, and provides 48v. Shure's Motive PC/iOS app provides levels when necessary. Sound is clean, no pops, cracks, even after recording multi-hour audiobook sessions. Never gets hot, and also has live low-latency headphone monitoring. Have also used it connected to a Sennheiser boom connected to an iPhone 16 Pro Max and recorded a few scenes for an indie movie that sound perfect. iPhone picks this up natively as long as you UNLOCK your phone BEFORE recording video. This is some seriously capable and reliable hardware. Just bought my second one and keep it in my travel studio kit.

I previously tried several box style audio interfaces, including the Universal Audio Volt 176, before settling on this one. It’s just so much easier to dial in the sound quality that I want with this Shure interface. There are no knobs to accidentally bump out of place. I like using manual mode: I bought two of these. The one I use for vocals with a Line Audio CM4 mic is set to heavy compression and a little bit of EQ. I am using another one for a totally different purpose with a LOM Audio BasicUcho mic to record ambient sounds for a security camera. That one is set to low compression and the 75Hz high pass filter to reduce the background rumbling noises from the street. This is also great physically because I can use a thin USB-C cable to the computer instead of a bulky XLR cable strewn across the desk. This saves its configured settings even when powered off, so you don’t need to re-configure when power is restored. You don’t even have to use it with a computer. For my security camera I only used the computer to do the initial sound settings, and then I use the headphone jack to output to the 3.5mm jack on the camera. Power is supplied by a small USB-C adapter. Great audio quality, quick adjustments for the most essential features, great form factor, very versatile. Highly recommended!

Paid for this myself to use with the Shure SM7. it's great. It really is plug and play with anything. Since it has USB-C out, you connect it to computer, tablet or phone and it's picked up instantly. I would argue that this unit (for the SM7B) is better than the cloud lifter as the app that comes with it has presets, vfx, and adjustable levels built in. The build quality is very good. It feels heavy in the hand but solid. No shaking pieces or loose connections on it at all. It's also really small for the amount of features and extra power it provides. This devices has unchained my workflow to allow me to use my mic on the go, which I couldn't do before without lugging my preamp. This unit is a preamp replacement and personally, I think it's just as good. Great value.

This is a great plug and play interface. The only thing lacking is the supporting software. I bought this for my Shure SM7dB and it works great. Setup time was instant. Once I plugged it into the computer my Mic was functional. It has a very slim form factor so keeps the desk clean of a traditional interface. I'd recommend this product if you're just looking for a quick, compact, plug and play interface.

Love this little thing! Got it for the future Grammy award winner that lives with us. Very convenient- works with an iPhone so she can record to social media through her phone with a real mic. Headphones plug right into it. It will punish the phone battery, as you would expect.

I'm testing this with an MKH-416 and Earthworks Ethos and it's been fantastic for video conferencing use. Note that while this DOES work on an iPhone 15 Pro Max via USB-C, the Shure MOTIV app currently DOES NOT support this model as of Nov 28 2023, so as far as I know, the DSP settings won't work -- not sure if config is saved on the device, meaning that one could configure this on a PC then plug in via mobile and have the DSP still work, or if it only does phantom power, but it definitely does do phantom power on mobile which is huge -- no batteries or external power supply or bulky interface required. The form factor is phenomenal, it fits in a shirt pocket, on a boom pole, on the end of a cable, or wherever you need it. The built-in monitoring option is excellent, again here for tasks like interviews or mobile film-making with pro-level audio. I haven't had a chance to see if two of them would work with an M1 iPad Pro or something, but that might be a viable alternative to something like a CEntrance Mixerface / PASport VO if you need two mics and don't want to run something bigger like a RodeCaster Pro ii. I'm glad I waited for this version and didn't settle for the original X2u that was sold out for a long time. The onboard limiter, compressor, EQ, and high-pass are great for amateurs and pros alike, and these were very easy to configure using the desktop app. One small improvement for the app could be some nice simple metering to show the impact of DSP changes in real-time, but it's easy enough to do your own testing to figure out what works for your setup. In terms of the preamp, it feels very much "good enough" and I didn't notice any discernible difference between it and the MixerFace that lives on my desk for conferencing, which has their high-quality "Jasmine" preamps. This plus an SM58, SM7B, RE20, S-Mic 2, MX183, DPA 4066, etc is going to be a million times better than using a junky headset or Blue Yeti type mic, and the fact that it has built-in DSP that does what used to take some serious rackmount equipment to handle well cannot over overstated. Great job Shure, now just add support for this to the mobile app! In summary, if you want to plug a nice real XLR mic into your computer, phone, or tablet and have it sound great with minimal fuss in a super-compact package, this is the one to get. Nothing else on the market at the moment compares at any price, since this form factor is pretty unique.

Works great as intended. Quality and functioning is superb.