Klark Teknik Mic Booster CT1

This gives me around 1/4 turn more, on (most of) my pre gain knobs, audio technica mic.
I have listened hard and cannot hear any conceivable sound colouring to my voice/harmonica, but mic'd up guitar/mic booster does sound a little "compressed", a few tweaks on the eq and the guitar sounds great. Passive DI & electric guitar, with this inline are "OK" too, but passive DI's tend to compress a little.
I like to see people at the back talking while I perform, so I don't "blast" the punters, any small variations in my "preferred sound" are not too important. A little Sound colouring doesn't matter at all to most live performer's.
So this mic pre is a great weapon to have in the bag when using "house PA's".

EDIT: These are very prone to breaking. I have gone through 2 of them. The release switch for the XLR cable is what tends to go. It is pretty scary when one of these is stuck inside of a microphone worth 10x the CT1. Maybe invest in something else. Also, just add an extra cable between the mic and the CT1 if you are going to use it.

I was living in constant fear of accidentally feeding my ribbon +48v Phantom Power by accident; now I don't. This is a great solution to protect your delicate mics while also reducing the need to add incredible amounts of preamp gain to hear them properly.

This is one of the products I use the most, especially in live music settings. It’s very powerful, and I have to say it solves most noise-related problems. One of its main advantages is that it reduces the need to push the mixer’s gain, resulting in a much cleaner and more controlled sound.

It’s an affordable piece of equipment, yet it delivers a level of quality that feels genuinely professional. At this point, performing live without it is almost unthinkable.

It operates using phantom power, so you do need to be careful—especially if your mixer doesn’t provide phantom power individually per channel. In those cases, activating phantom power across grouped channels can potentially damage instruments that don’t require it. This is something to pay close attention to.

That said, this unit is incredibly useful and solves many common problems, particularly for those starting out with smaller projects or live setups.

I bought this booster for my Rode Procaster because my Steinberg UR22 mkII interface is quite noisy at maximum gain. When connected directly, the noise floor is -95dB at 1kHz and -98dB at 10kHz. With the booster, it’s a bit quieter: -98dB at 1kHz and -103dB at 10kHz.

However, the low frequencies of my voice became weak. The signature 'broadcast' sound of the microphone disappeared, making it almost indistinguishable from a t.bone SC450 (I really like t.bone sc450). After opening the device (voiding the warranty, I know), I discovered that the input capacitors are only 2.2uF, which is too low for male voice. I replaced them with 22uF capacitors, and now it sounds excellent.

I’m not encouraging everyone to do this, but I want to suggest that the manufacturer increase the coupling capacitance for better low-end response.

The first thing you notice when you pick up the mic booster is it's weight. It's very heavy for it's size, which is a good thing. It has a premium feel, even though it's price does not set that expectation. The connectors can be a bit stiff, but may loosen.

But the most important thing remains: the sound.

It's simple: you won't notice it's there. There is no hiss, hum or buzz whatsoever. It gives a massive boost in signal, with no noticeable side-effects. Yes, if you crank the gain up to 11, you might hear a slight hiss. But that's true of most audio equipment.

For the price, you cannot go wrong!

Converting 48v phantom power into "clean" gain is ok, but
compared to Behringer UMC202HD's midas preamps, this thing is noisy. However, the noise seems to be not the typical high pitched whine of preamps, but rather a little bit lower one.

You also need a patch cable to connect it directly to the interface, because the male part has a very thick layer of metal around it and would siply not fit. Respectively, if you're ok with plugging it in the back of the mic, then no extra cables are required.

Conclusion:
If you have a decent enough preamp in your interface you dont need it. If you dont, then you probably will not care about a few extra db of background preamp noise. In the end, it does what it advertises to do, and for the price, it is enough.

In comparison to the Triton Audio Fet Head, this is darker in sound because of lower input resistance, so it lacks in "air",
so I have a Fet Head for vocals and acoustic instruments and 2 CT1s for electric guitars or room mics, which was the most value-for-money solution, when the CT1 was 29€. But for 45€, when the FetHead is 66€?

Moving on, handling could be better, the female plug can be a pain to lock and the male plug can only be plugged into cables and not into snakes, consoles or interface inputs.

Conclusion: For 29€ it was definitely worth the money, for 45... I'd definitely buy a Fet Head instead.

It's so nice to have a booster that can directly be attached to the mic rather than having to connect an extra XLR wire. I'm using a Scarlett 2i2 as well as my newly arrived Shure SM7B. So far, it does the job splendidly. The boost is quite helpful and clean. No need to dial way up on my Scarlett 2i2. I would definitely recommend this booster for the price! Just a small caveat though: I work at a place with a radio station, so it picks up a bit of the transmission, but it's too quiet to be noticeable. It can easily be removed using a noise remover on your DAW. The vocals are pretty clean regardless. Go and get this!