Alright, many of you know HasanAbi has a pretty nice sound so we’re going to dive right in and show you what mic he uses and what his processing chain might look like. So, what mic is HasanAbi using? HasanAbi uses the famous SM7B which is also used by so many other internet personalities like DisguisedToast. HasanAbi is famous for his political talk show and his sound quality has really jumped up over the years. That is primarily because he is using the legendary SM7B as his mic. However, we also believe that he is applying some processing to his SM7B. So, we are going to show you how HasanAbi processes his SM7B so we can match his sound signature. Lets get started.
Setting Up The HasanAbi Noise Gate
The first thing we’re going to do is add a noise gate to our chain. We’re noticing that HasanAbi doesn’t have very much room noise which is very good. So, we’re going to try to replicate that with a gate. The SM7B hardly picks up or produces any room noise but if you don’t have the best preamps there may be some unwanted hiss coming out of the mic. With this gate, we are able to remove all of that noise when we are not talking and it sounds really nice. We are using very mild settings here with a reduction of about 15db at a ratio of 3:1.
The HasanAbi EQ Settings
The next thing we’re going to add is some EQ to our SM7B. We are doing this because it sounds like HasanAbi is taking some of his low end out and boosting the highs. So, what we did was apply a low cut at 140hz and boosted 1dB at 9000hz. Ultimately, this makes our sound less muddy and helps it cut through the mix. Feel free to play around with the low cut as this will largely depend on how close you are to the mic. If you are using the SM7B like HasanAbi is, you want to be right on the mic. These settings are designed for that.
Adding The HasanAbi Compression
Alright, now that the EQ is done we’re going to add some compression. Once again, HasanAbi has a pretty compressed sound. So we’re going for a fast release and a fast attack on our compressor. We’re also going for a 3:1 ratio and about 4dB of gain reduction. This will help give us his “podcasty” sound which many people love. The compressor and the EQ are probably the most important parts of achieving HasanAbi’s sound quality. If you don’t have the Fabfilter plugins, that is not a problem. You can apply many of the same settings to free plugins inside of OBS or Fl Studio.
A Little Extra “HasanAbi”
The final step for the HasanAbi sound is to add an optional de-esser to our chain. This really helps the SM7B because sometimes it can get sibilant especially since we took a lot of low end out of our mic. Also, it sounds like HasanAbi is using a de-esser. When we were listening to his sound, he doesn’t seem to have any harsh frequencies. A de-esser fits the SM7B perfectly, especially for this chain.
Good Content Is Accompanied By Good Sound
We just replicated HasanAbi’s sound! This one was pretty fun to do and we think we came pretty darn close to replicating his sound. HasanAbi has an excellent voice but he also has a superb mic. The SM7B is one of our personal favorites and it is such a common piece of gear these days. We absolutely love the sound that the SM7B produces and we love hearing this bad boy. We hope you learned something about HasanAbi’s sound! Thanks for hanging around. Cheers and have a lovely day. Buy HasanAbi’s mic here. And, check out our other news stories here.
