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Cloudlifter CL-Z is a single-channel mic activator with variable impedance, adding up to 25dB of ultra-clean gain plus a continuously variable Vari-Z control and a variable high-pass filter. Where the CL-1 is deliberately transparent, the CL-Z lets you reshape the microphone's character before it reaches the preamp.
Impedance as a tone control, on the input side where it actually changes the mic.
Loading a microphone at a different impedance genuinely changes its frequency response and transient behaviour. It is not an EQ applied after the fact, it alters how the element itself behaves. Ribbons in particular can move from dark and thick to open and detailed purely on impedance, and dynamics respond in the midrange.
The CL-Z pairs that Vari-Z control with continuously variable high-pass filtering at 6dB per octave, so proximity buildup can be dialled out at the source rather than fixed in the mix. Two gain settings deliver up to 25dB. The circuit is the same patented Class A discrete JFET design, built in the United States.
At a Glance
| Brand | Cloud Microphones |
|---|---|
| Model | CL-Z |
| Channels | 1 |
| Gain | Up to 25dB, two settings |
| Impedance | Continuously variable Vari-Z |
| Filter | Variable high-pass, 6dB per octave |
| Circuit | Patented discrete Class A JFET |
| Power | 48V phantom power |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Warranty | Cloud Microphones limited lifetime warranty |
What Does Variable Impedance Change About a Microphone?
Impedance loading alters how the microphone element itself behaves, changing frequency response and transient character at the source. On ribbon microphones the shift is dramatic, moving from dark and thick at low impedance to open and detailed at high. It is not the same as EQ, which is applied after the signal already exists.
How Is the CL-Z Different From the CL-1?
The CL-1 is deliberately transparent and adds only gain. The CL-Z adds the Vari-Z impedance control and a variable high-pass filter, so it is a tone-shaping tool as well as a gain stage.
What Is the High-Pass Filter For?
It removes low-frequency buildup from proximity effect, rumble and stage vibration before the signal hits the preamp. Because it is continuously variable rather than switched, you can set it exactly where the source needs it.
Why Cloud Microphones
Cloud Microphones builds in Tucson, Arizona. The company grew out of Stephen Sank's restoration work on original RCA ribbon microphones and Rodger Cloud's engineering, and it holds the patent on the discrete JFET circuit that every Cloudlifter uses. The Cloudlifter created the mic activator category outright and remains the reference product in it. Ribbon elements are cut, corrugated and installed by hand, and the whole line is manufactured in the United States.